Pink Payroll

August 31, 2020

Official PPP Loan Forgiveness Reports in the iSolved Software:

Please follow the image below to retrieve reports for your forgiveness application.  We want clients to retrieve these reports themselves, so that they insure they are collecting the date range needed.  We find that many clients ask us for a general date range or give non-specific info, and we don't want our clerical staff making assumptions on this info as it has a financial consequence.  We want you to get exactly what you need:

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act supports certain employers that operate a business during 2020 and retain employees, despite experiencing economic hardship related to the COVID-19 crisis, with an employee retention credit. The refundable tax credit is equal to 50% of qualified wages paid to employees after March 12, 2020, and before January 1, 2021. If you paid any qualified wages between March 13, 2020, and March 31, 2020, inclusive, you will include 50% of those wages together with 50% of any qualified wages paid during the second quarter of 2020 on your second quarter Form 941, 941-SS, or 941-PR to claim the employee retention credit. Do not include the credit on your first quarter Form 941, 941-SS, or 941-PR.

Please CLICK HERE for an article on the CARES Act Congressional Bill Passed 3/26/20.  This article has information on some paycheck relief programs you might be interested in, so please take a look.

Here is the start of the article.....Congress passed a hotly-contested stimulus bill last night, designed to rescue America from a self-imposed economic stall. There's been a lot of talk about just how much money is wasted on items not related to COVID-19 and shoveled into the pockets of big-government bureaucrats, however, this bill is also very helpful to America's small businesses. Below we outline some of the programs available.

Please understand, we aren't offering individual consultations on this, but are here for information and supporting you on providing valuable information during this time.
 

Please note, it is yet unclear how time off will be compensated by the Federal government between now and April 2nd.  We will update you as more information is received.

In general, here are some options:

SBA Disaster Relief Loan - call your bank and ask for the commercial lending department handling this

NOTE:  It appears you can use one of the above two options, but not both

California State - Payroll tax delay up to about 60 days, documentation required.

Payroll Tax Credits for Wages Paid to Workers on COVID-19 Leave or supporting a family member.  This is a bit complicated, and larger companies may be more willing to take advantage of this, or companies with a high volume of affected workers.

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March 19, 2020:

1.  Generic termination checklist from our HR partner that we offered online access to. Please customize for your particular situation. Please see the attachment named "termination checklist generic hr.pdf"

2. California Unemployment Program brochure at this link

March 18, 2020:

Dear clients and friends, today's update includes important resources to answer questions you and your employees have on wage and benefits.

Resources and Links

Vital Links to Stay Updated in California:

California Governor Newsom's "Newsroom" page

HR Updates from our HR Provider, Mammoth HR - includes the article, "Families First Coronavirus Response Act: What We Know So Far

Cal/OSHA Interim Guidelines for General Industry on 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

California Payroll Tax Waiver Program

When the Governor declares a state of emergency, California employers directly affected by the emergency or disaster may request an extension of up to 60 days to file their state payroll reports and to deposit state payroll taxes with the Employment Development Department (EDD), without incurring penalty or interest charges.

Employers must send a letter to the EDD specifically requesting an extension of time.

Link to payroll tax waiver program and filing request forms

Workers Comp Claims

Link to interpretation of whether employee claims will be approved. *This is not legal advice, contact your insurer, it is purely informational* Click Here for the online article.

Guide for injured workers, file a claim:
Click here for the California Department of Industrial Relations

Support for Employees with Reduced Income

Unemployment Insurance Benefits.  The state will be waiving a couple key components of the unemployment insurance benefits program: 1) waiting period and 2) proof of looking for work.

You may provide this link to your employees to file for benefits.

We have been asked by employers, will our UI rate go up? If you recall the recession of "2008-ish", the payout of unemployment claims caused most employers rates to go to the top rate of 6.2% on $7000 of wages per ee a year, and then the Federal government added a penalty as well (when California was unable to pay back Federal unemployment loans), that started at $42/year and went up by that amount every year.

State Disability Insurance.  As you may know, 1% of employee wages (with cap) goes to the CA State Disability program. Employees may be eligible for disability payouts.

From the state website, partial information below. Click here for the CA SDI site:

Eligibility for California Short-Term Disability Insurance (SDI)

To receive benefits, you must meet all of the following requirements:

• You must be unable to do your regular work for at least eight consecutive days. (There is a seven-day waiting period, during which you may not collect benefits. On the eighth day, you become eligible for SDI.)
• You must have been either employed or actively looking for work at the time you became disabled.
• You must have lost wages because of your disability. For example, if your employer moves you to a light duty position and continues paying you the same amount, you won’t collect any benefits.
• You must have earned at least $300, from which state disability insurance deductions were withheld, during a previous period.
• You must be under the care and treatment of a licensed doctor or accredited religious practitioner.
• You must complete and mail a claim form within 49 days of the date you became disabled.
• Your doctor must complete the part of the form that provides medical certification of your disability.  

Paid Family Leave Benefits.    The CA EDD State info can be found on this link.  Some excerpts of the program are as follows:

California Paid Family Leave (PFL) provides partial wage replacement benefits to employees who need to take time off from work to care for a seriously ill family member (child, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or registered domestic partner) or to bond with a new child entering the family through birth, adoption, or foster care placement. More than 18 million California workers are covered by the PFL program, paid for by California workers that pay State Disability Insurance (SDI) taxes in the past 5 to 18 months.

If eligible, you can receive about 60 to 70 percent (depending on income) of wages....

This is abbreviated info, please see the program on the EDD site at the above link.

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March 17, 2020:

Dear Clients

First, our hearts go out to all of you and your families and businesses affected during this time. Here is some important information about your payroll services and some helpful crisis information.

At Pink Payroll, we know you are already swamped with information about COVID-19, so we've been trying to avoid contributing to the communication overload.

Pink Payroll is open for business and is operating more or less as normal.  We have full remote capabilities and will be open at 100% capacity no matter the situation. 

Please see each of these sections in this announcement:

#1   We are in the Cloud to serve you remotely
#2   Remote Work Tips FREE BOOK offer - Checklists and How Tos to Work Remotely

#3   Daily 8am Q&A Webinar (payroll, working remotely, support, brainstorming...your call).
#4   Small Business Loans
#5   Direct Deposit - changes to system
#6   HR Questions

#7   Updates

If you have any questions  please feel free to reach out to us at (858) 547-3599 x400 (processing team) or visit us on our announcements page at:  
https://pinkpayroll.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/3000097959-daily-update-march-17-2020-pink-payroll-to-clients-updated-as-changes-occur-

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#1 - We are in the Cloud. Years ago, we had put nearly 100% of what we do into the cloud. We have prepared for an instant remote situation. This is allowing us to maintain our level of service to you. Some staff are working from home, others in the office. However, everyone is able to pick up and work 100% at home on 5 minutes notice with printers and paper for checks to send to you. We had an emergency meeting last week, and are fully prepared.

#2 - Remote Work Tips FREE BOOK offer - If you want to go remote and need help, download my attached e-book FREE FOR CLIENTS now on Amazon and being sold on the internet.  You do not need to pay, grab the attachment.

This just received from another payroll company owner after reading my book:  "This is brilliant. You’ve answered all the questions and concerns that I’ve had about having my staff, and myself, be able to work remotely. I’ve always been concerned about not having a backup plan in place in case we need it and now I have the formula to put this together. " 

Remote Work - The Complete Guide to Instant Teams at Home: Disaster and Pandemic Planning for the Successful Small Business Owner This is being updated daily as I can add more help. If you just get a few tips or checklists that help, than that's a win.

#3 - Daily 8am Q&A Webinar (payroll, working remotely, support, brainstorming...your call)

For those of you that have questions, I will be setting up webinars, starting at 8am every day for 30 minutes for an indefinite period of time.  WE can discuss any questions you have.  As a business owner for 32 years, I have been through 3 recessions and am prepared to look for the opportunity and provide support:

Here is the zoom link:  https://zoom.us/j/5629535710     

#4 - Small Business Loans - Go over to the SBA to see offers for Small Business loans to business who need assistance during this time:
https://www.sba.gov/disaster-assistance/coronavirus-covid-19

 #5 – Direct Deposit – With these uncertain times we have been asked by our banking partners to make some adjustments in how payroll is processed to ensure payroll is completely funded prior to disbursement to employees and tax agencies.

Customers that utilize direct deposit will have to fund their payroll using the following methods effective 

Monday March 23rd:

1. Submit a direct wire to Pink Payroll’s banking partners for the full amount of the payroll draft
2. Switch to live checks.  We can courier or USPS these, although pick up is only offered if absolutely needed, and we can accommodate at this point.
3. Submit payroll on a 5 day window (example Monday for Friday check date) without wire.

FAQ: How will I know the total amount to wire your bank and where to wire?

Answer: Pink Payroll will provide you a wire instruction sheet that will have all the applicable information and amounts.

FAQ: When will the funds come out of my account if I wire?

Answer: The day you initiate the wire which must be 2 days prior to your check date (Example Wednesday for Friday)

FAQ: If I submit payroll on Monday when will the funds come out?

Answer:  Tuesday (or the next day).  This includes all taxes.

We expect these changes to be temporary but in effect for the next two to three weeks.  Please plan accordingly, and we will update you as the situation changes.

#6 - HR Questions

I would like to call your attention to the importance of the HR Support Center for our clients who have non-family employees. 

If you are not already using it, the HR Support Center is an extremely valuable tool. We HIGHLY recommend that you sign-up for Federal Law Alerts, as well as Law Alerts from each state you are in. There is an abundance of legal and HR information at the HR Support Center, including some really great information to help you handle the current crisis. In fact, a Federal Alert was sent just a few hours ago that I hope you all saw.

Here is the sign-in link:  https://pinkpayroll.myhrsupportcenter.com/users/sign_in 

If you don't have a login, email us at our helpdesk [payroll@....you know the rest] and ask for a FREE login. Please allow our staff to respond by email to help us support you all quickly.

We do have a paid version for unlimited PERSONAL support with an HR person.   If you are inclined to purchase that, we are offering an special right now:  $499 for one year (normally $799) plus 2 extra months so 14 months.  While budgets may be tight right now, we have to pay for the service so do need to pass along a cost, but this may save you from paying $1000 to $3000 to an HR person at $75 to $125 an hour, or even attorney fees at $275 to $350 an hour for Q&A. 

#7 - Updates

It is completely understandable that everyone is asking questions about what this means for them. This is a really strange time, the likes of which none of us has ever experienced. We are humbled that we are in a position to continue serving you.

We will be updating our online help file when information changes on this page: https://pinkpayroll.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/3000097959-daily-update-march-17-2020-pink-payroll-to-clients-updated-as-changes-occur-

Thank you, as always, for being one of our valued clients.  Stronger Together.