Frequently Asked Questions

Form W-2 , the “Wage and Tax Statement” is an IRS tax form used to report wages paid to employees and the taxes withheld. Employers are responsible to complete a Form W-2 for employees paid a salary, wage, or other compensation in connection with an employment relationship.

Job descriptions are not required by law, but they’re certainly great to have and serve several purposes. First, a job description, when accurately written, should reflect the actual work done. Second, a well-written job description will list the essential functions of the job and the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to do it. Finally, a job description should indicate the basic expectations for the person in the position, including how many hours per week you expect from an employee, whom they report to, and whether the position is non-exempt or exempt.

Form I-9, or “Employment Eligibility Verification,” is a form provided by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office, used to verify the legal authorization to work in the U.S. Employers must complete and comply to Form I-9 requirements for each employee hired in the US using an appropriate,  valid version of Form I-9. 

To be covered under FMLA, private sector employers need to employ 50 or more employees for at least 20 calendar workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year. The 20 calendar workweeks do not need to be consecutive.

When counting your employees, you would include any employee whose name appears on your payroll any working day of calendar week, regardless of whether they received compensation for the week.

Once your organization meets the 50 employees-for-20 workweeks threshold, it remains covered until it reaches a point at which it no longer employed 50 employees for 20 (non-consecutive) workweeks in the current and preceding calendar year.

Form W-4, or  the “Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate,” is an IRS tax form completed by an employee to designate tax exemptions and status to the employer, and to instruct the employer regarding the proper amount of tax to withhold from the employee’s paycheck.

While there is no legal requirement to pay employees anything above and beyond their actual hours worked, it can be nice to financially reward employees for working on a holiday. A few suggestions for doing so are: pay time and a half for all hours worked on the holiday, add an extra 8 hours to the checks of employees who worked, or place 8 hours into a “floating holiday” bank for employees who worked so they can take time off at a later date.

An introductory period is a period of time put in place for an employer and a new employee to evaluate each other and determine if the employment relationship is a good fit.

For employers who have an introductory period, we recommend using the time to provide thorough onboarding, enhanced training, and extra coaching. It’s also a good idea to have a review at the end of the period to discuss how the first few months went and what your mutual goals are for the employee’s continuing employment. However, if there are any performance issues, we recommend addressing them as they occur rather than waiting until the end of the introductory period.

Even if an employee has exhausted their FMLA leave for the year, their condition may fall under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).