Terminated Employees: Getting the Final Check Right

Processing a terminating employee’s paycheck correctly can be difficult. Not only is there a landmine infested area of state and federal wage and hour laws but the withholding or taxation may even change for this one payment! Therefore, many questions need to be answered before that final check can be processed.

Here are some examples:

• If the employee is terminating voluntarily rather than involuntarily, would that change the date the payment would be due?
• If the employee is now deceased would that change the taxation of their final check?
• What if the employee owes vacation pay, can I take that back?
• What must be done if the terminating employee has a child support deduction?
• The terminating employee has not returned tools, equipment, or uniforms. How does that affect the final paycheck?

To ensure compliance payroll professionals must know the answers to all the questions that might arise when processing an employee’s final paycheck.

Areas covered in this program:

• How federal and state wage and hour laws affect termination payments
• State-by-state review of when and how to pay final paycheck
• Accrued vacation when it must be paid state-by-state review
• Proper handling of deceased employee payments
• State-by-state review for recouping negative vacation balance and overpayments from the employee’s final paycheck
• Deducting for missing or unreturned tools, company property, or uniforms
• Processing child support, tax levies, and creditor garnishments from the final paycheck
• A brief discussion of the effects fringe benefits can have on final paychecks including stock options and deferred
• compensation
• Year end and record retention concerns