Page 239 - Essentials of Payroll: Management and Accounting

ESSENTIALS of Payr oll: Management and Accounting
location of a new employer (if known). The agency needs this infor-
mation to track the employee and continue to enforce the court order.
If an employer chooses to ignore a court order, it will be liable for
the total amount that should have been withheld. This means that an

employer must act promptly to begin withholding by the date specified
in the court order, and must withhold the full required amount, taking
into account the rules noted earlier in this section.

Deduction of Prior Pay Advances
Employees who require more cash than they earn on their normal pay-

checks sometimes ask their employers for an advance on their pay. The
need may be nonbusiness-related, such as a sudden medical crisis or to
purchase a home; or it may be to buy something on behalf of the com-
pany. The most common example of the latter case is to receive funds
for a company trip, for which the employee will be reimbursed once an
expense report is submitted. In this case, it is most common to reim-
burse employees through the accounts payable system if there is a short-
fall between the amount of expenses incurred and the original advance.
However, if an employee neglects to turn in an expense report, then he

or she is liable to the company for the amount of the advance that was

T IPS &T ECHNIQUES

Keep a calendar that itemizes the amount of each garnishment, the
declining balance on each debt, and the date on which the last
deduction and related payment to a third party is due. Also, because
there may be some dispute regarding the start date of the deduc-
tions, which are frequently tied to the date of receipt of a withholding
order, mark and initial the date of receipt, as well as the postmark
date, on the withholding order.

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