The Importance of Payroll Documents

Direct Deposit eliminates the need to deposit a paycheck into a bank account.  However, you don’t get the "pay stub" that the check would come with.  The pay stub shows the gross pay and lists the deductions (and additions, if you’re lucky) that explain how the net pay was determined.  Gross pay, net pay and deductions are shown on the pay stub for both the current pay period as well as year to date (YTD) totals.

Employees who participate in Direct Deposit can access a virtual pay stub on the payroll provider’s website.  It’s a good idea to download each pay stub from that website as soon as it’s available.  As well, any tax documents (such as the W2) and benefit summaries also should be downloaded.  Why?  Because if you're ever fired or laid off, you’ll have no time to get them before you exit – your employer will escort you directly to the exit.  Your access to the payroll site is through your computer account, which would be disabled.  The employer might set up special, limited-time access to the website, but there’s no guarantee they will do so.

Why do you need pay stubs?  Loan officers might ask to see them to verify employment and salary.  Your state’s department of labor might need them to determine eligibility for unemployment benefits.  I like to use the last pay stub of the year to estimate my tax refund – if I think I’ll get a large refund, I might be motivated to file early.

The W2 probably will be mailed to you.  But you might as well download the PDF so that you don’t have to scan in the paper copy for your records.  Some tax preparation software might be able to read the PDF file and enter the values for you.

The payroll site might have other useful documents.  One in particular is the Total Compensation Summary.  It would list the value of insurance (health, dental, life, etc.), cash bonuses, stock awards¹ and tuition reimbursement (etc.) and then sum them up for you.  Unless you receive only a fixed salary and no other benefits, this can help you compare job offers against your current (or former) job.

It’s so easy to overlook or ignore pay stubs and other payroll documents.  But I hope you don’t.

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¹ Including the value of stock awards on this document is misleading because:

• Companies usually award restricted stock, which cannot be sold immediately; it has to be vested first.
• The amount of the stock award is based on the share price at the time of the grant, and that price could be much lower by the time it’s vested.  In fact it could be 0 if the company goes out of business.

Longing for Layoffs

  I long for the good old days when a company would lay off its workers. When revenue was down, a company would eliminate the excess workers. The employer would pay them a severance – perhaps one week’s pay for each year of service. It costs money initially, but the company would save money in the long term. As well, the workers would be entitled to unemployment benefits. Ahh, those were the good old days indeed.

  Now it seems that employers are too cheap to do that. They’ve found other ways to reduce the workforce without resorting to lay offs. Not only can they avoid paying severance, they keep the cost of unemployment insurance at a minimum. ^{1 2}

  My employer brags about how it doesn’t lay off its workers. Instead, it imposes a “salary sacrifice” during business down cycles. Then, when the up cycle arrives, it makes amends by giving everyone a salary reward greater than the sacrifice. The reward is paid with shares of stock.

  But the company doesn’t brag about how it finds excuses to fire workers or put them on probation, which allows them to avoid paying rewards and bonuses. It starts by assigning an employee an impossibly large workload outside of the employee’s area of expertise. As the employee invariably fails to “meet expectations,” it gas-lights him or her into believing he or she is underperforming, unworthy and deserving of probation. The paper trail starts with a written warning and is followed by probation. ³

  What can an employee do in this situation? According to Workplace Fairness, it’s important to build your case by gathering paperwork and witnesses. ⁴ Personally, I think it’s a good idea to look for a new job.

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¹ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unemployment_insurance_in_the_United_States
² https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experience_modifier
³ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disciplinary_probation
⁴ https://www.workplacefairness.org/building-your-case/

More Than 1000 Wordle Games Played

Recently I completed my one thousandth game of Wordle.  Here's a screenshot of my stats:

 

I win nearly every game I start.  The win percentage of 99, which I consider too low, is because I've missed a game every so often.