7 THINGS EMPLOYERS SHOULD DO AFTER HIRING AN EMPLOYEE

1. Get a W-4. This is a federal tax form that tells you how much federal income tax to withhold from an employee’s wages. The amount of federal withholding is based on marital status and withholding allowances, but your employees can specify a dollar amount to be withheld from their wages that is in addition to the standard withholding amount. Ask all new employees to give you a signed W-4 when they start work. Make the form effective with their first wage payment. You do not need to get a new W-4 from employees every year; they remain in effect until the employee gives you a new one.

2. Record the employee’s name and social security number. Businesses are required to get each employee’s name and social security number so that at the end of the year, you can show this information on the Form W-2. The W-2, also known as a Wage and Tax Statement, is the document an employer has to send to all employees and to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) at the end of the year. The W-2 shows both the amount you paid the employee for the year and the amount of taxes you withheld from their paychecks.

3. Verify their work eligibility. Employers must verify that each new employee is legally eligible to work in the United States using the I-9 Form. The employee must attest to their employment authorization and also must provide you with certain documents showing their identity and employment authorization. You must review the document(s) and then fill out the employer’s section of the Form I-9. This form does not have to be filed with the government; just keep it in your records.

4. Report them to the new hire registry. Employers are required to report new employees to the Florida New Hire Reporting Center within 20 days of the employee’s start date. This is to help with collection of child support. You can report online to the Florida Department of Revenue’s reporting website, or you can file a paper copy of the Florida New Hire Reporting Form with the Department of Revenue. You will have to report the employee’s name, address, Social Security Number, and date of hire.

5. Tell Your Insurance Company. Report all new employees to the insurance company that provides your company’s workers’ compensation insurance policy. Because workers’ comp is based on payroll, adding a new employee will increase your premium. But it is better to start paying the increase immediately rather than waiting until your payroll audit and having to pay what you owe in one lump sum.

6. Make sure the employee’s pay meets minimum wage and overtime requirements. Employees must be paid at least the Florida minimum wage for all hours worked and must receive overtime pay of at least time and a half their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek. There are some exceptions for executive, administrative, and professional employees who make at least $684 a week in salary and have certain job duties.

7. Report the new employee’s pay on your next quarterly unemployment tax reports, both state and federal. Employers are required to pay unemployment tax on the wages they pay employees. There is a federal unemployment tax and also a state one (which is called reemployment tax). Both taxes are paid quarterly and are based on the prior quarter’s total payroll.

FUBA members with questions can email us at FUBA@fuba.org or call the FUBA offices at 800-262-4483 and ask for Karen or Mallory.


IRS TAX FILING DEADLINES EXTENDED DUE TO HURRICANE IAN

Hurricane Ian victims throughout Florida now have until February 15, 2023 to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments. Individuals and households affected by Hurricane Ian that reside or have a business anywhere in the state of Florida qualify.

Various tax filing deadlines falling on or after September 23, 2022 and before February 15, 2023 are now postponed until February 15, 2023. As a result, affected individuals and businesses have until February 15, 2023 to file returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period.

This means individuals who had an extension to file their 2021 return now have until February 15, 2023 to file their tax return. But because the tax payments related to the 2021 returns were due on April 18, 2022, the actual tax payments are not eligible for this extension.

The February 15, 2023 deadline also applies to quarterly estimated income tax payments due on January 17, 2023 as well as the quarterly payroll tax returns normally due on October 31, 2022 and January 31, 2023.

The IRS automatically provides filing and penalty relief to any taxpayer with an IRS address of record located in the disaster area.


INSURANCE POLICIES NO LONGER PROTECTED FROM CANCELLATION

After Hurricane Ian, insurance policies were protected from cancellation in Florida, even if the policyholder was behind on their premium payments. This cancellation moratorium expired 11/28/22, and insurance companies may again resume issuing cancellations to delinquent policyholders. If you have questions about the status of your insurance policies, contact your local insurance agent for assistance.


WORKERS’ COMP INSURANCE RATES WILL DECREASE AGAIN FOR 2023

The price that insurance companies can charge for workers’ compensation insurance is set by the State of Florida each year. On average, Florida businesses will see -8.4% reduction in their workers’ comp premium in 2023. This is the sixth straight year the state has ordered a reduction in the price of workers’ comp.

Your company’s workers’ comp premium is determined by multiplying the payroll for your business by the rate for the classification codes on your policy. The new rates will be applied to your policy when it comes up for renewal in 2023. Please note:  The -8.4% decrease is an average over the hundreds of different industry classifications. The specific rates for the individual class codes on your company’s workers’ comp policy may decrease more or less than -8.4%.