A Guide to Understanding What Makes Up Payroll Taxes

A Guide to Understanding What Makes Up Payroll TaxesA Guide to Understanding What Makes Up Payroll TaxesOnce you hire staff, you must start paying payroll taxes for each new employee you take on. Payroll taxes include federal income, Social Security and Medicare. Depending on where your business is, this may also include state and city taxes. Before paying taxes, all businesses must acquire a Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the US government. Once a business has an EIN, they can file payroll taxes with the government. Employers are required to withhold the full amount of federal income tax. Employers are also required to withhold half of the Social Security tax and half of the Medicare tax from each employees paycheck, and pay the remaining half of Social Security and Medicare taxes themselves. What Factors Make Up Payroll Taxes Federal Income Tax To figure out federal taxes, employers should have employees fill out a mandatory IRS W-4 form. This form is used to figure out federal taxes, and state and city taxes where applicable. To calculate total federal tax, use the employees W-4, Employers Tax Guide and Supplemental Employers Tax Guide. Social Security Tax Social Security tax makes up one half of FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act). The tax rate for Social Security during 2018 was 6.2 percent of each employees salary, with the employer paying a matching amount. Both the employer and employee are only responsible for a limited amount of Social Security tax. This amount is paid for anything earned up to a wage base of $128,400 for the year 2018. Medicare Tax The other half of FICA is Medicare. Employers must withhold 1.45 percent of each employees salary for the Medicare tax. Also, employers must pay a matching amount. Unemployment Tax In plus-rechnen to the payroll taxes listed above, employers must pay an unemployment tax for each individual that works at the company. This is called State and Federal Unemployment Taxes (SUTA and FUTA). The tax rate for FUTA is 6.0percent, and its applied to the first $7,000 paid in wages to each employee during the year. Employers who pay their SUTA on a timely basis receive an offset credit of up to 5.4 percent. SUTA taxes vary by state. State Income Tax Depending on the state where a business is located, employers and employees may be required to pay state income tax. Taxes vary by state. City and County Income Tax Though there arent many cities or counties with an income tax, a few, like New York City, do have this tax. Check with the local government to see if there is an applicable local tax. Penalties for Non-Payment of Payroll Taxes The requirement to submit payroll taxes is enforced by a system of strict penalty assessments. Companies receive an automatic penalty from 2 percent to 10 percent for not paying federal payroll taxes properly and promptly, and state and city taxing entities assess similar penalties. A business will also receive additional penalties f or not filing monthly, and quarterly payroll tax returns, and forgetting to submit a W-2 form for each new employee could cost $50 per form that wasnt filed promptly. The IRS enforces a much more severe penalty for companies that dont submit their withholding and social security tax fund payments as required. The IRS will dienstgrad a penalty of up to 100 percent of the unpaid amount to any company or individual, such as a corporate executive in charge of making sure the payments take place.

8 ground rules for meetings that make people want to be there

8 ground rules for meetings that make people want to be there8 ground rules for meetings that make people want to be thereWeve all been in meetings where we check our watches. Our time is valuable. A well-run meeting makes people feel they are a part of progredienz not process.Lead progress by first establishing a safe and productive environment with meeting ground rules. Email the rules to participants before the meeting. Post them in the room. People will come prepared to contribute to something that matters not observe, yawn and hope they dont walk away with more on their to-do list.8 killer ground rules for meetings1. The purpose of the meeting will be evident in the invite and placed where participants can see it. All relevant information is invited, and no other issues will be discussed.2. Everyone has a chance to speak without interruption.3. After everyone has spoken all will get to share final thoughts.4. No idea is a bad idea. All ideas and opinions will be respected.5. Id eas and opinions are encouraged to survive the Relevant Test.Youve stated the reasoning behind the idea/opinion.Youve given a specific example.Youve shared any personal intention or benefit to you.6. All participants are invited to ask questions of an existing point of view.7. The focus will at first be on goals, not solutions.8. Once participants agree on the goals, the group will jointly design an action plan that demonstrates the level of commitment and resources necessary to succeed. Only then will solutions be created by repeating this process.A solution is a strategy of how you meet your goals. The group will create solutions after all agree on the goal. The best people at creating innovative strategies dont allow themselves to get lost in an opinion or solution until they have gathered all of the information on the problem.MaryLeeGannon, ACC, CAEis an executive coach and corporate CEO who helps busy leaders get off the treadmill to nowhere to be more effective, earn more, bem ore calm and enjoyconnected relationships with the people who matter while it still matters.Watch her FREE Master Class training on Three Things to Transform Your Life and Career Right Now atwww.MaryLeeGannon.com.

4 soft skills you should have mastered by age 30

4 soft skills you should have mastered by age 304 soft skills you should have mastered by age 30By the time youre blowing out the candles on yur 30th birthday cake, fruchtwein professionals have been working for a solid eight years. Throw in internships from college (remember those days?) - and you might have upwards of a decade of experience as you reach the end of the first third of your life. Gulp.While youve likely been working tirelessly to learn an invaluable hard skill - coding computers, writing, strategy, analytics and so on - how do you measure up on the other half of your job performance?Soft skills are not as discussed as technical proficiencies, but as career expert and entrepreneur Christopher Kingman explains, soft skills are related to the interaction between two or more people and speak volumes about your ability to be a leader.Here, the indisputable soft skills you should have mastered by the time you reach the big 3-0Active listeningWe all have someone in our li ves - whether a treasured best friend or a parent or sibling - who just seems to get you. No matter what earth-shattering or minuscule issue youre going through, what you need advice about or achievement you need to celebrate, he or she is fully present with an open heart - and ears. Kingman says these types of people have mastered the art of active listening.While it might seem like anyone can do this, if they, ya know, listen - the keyword here is active. He explains this method refers not merely waiting for your turn to throw in two cents in but listening with a purpose.This is listening with the intention of seeking to understand what the person is telling you with and without words, he continues.To test if youve nailed this, Kingman says to pay attention the next time someone discusses something of importance with you. Instead of considering your response, stay right in the moment.Pay attention to the words, timing, cadence, pauses and emotion in how they speak. Once they a re done, validate what they said, and repeat back their version of what they told you, he suggests. If you really did hone in on words, timing, cadence, pauses and emotion, youll be able to recount their story, and its impact clearly. Active listening is about ingesting and processing what people are saying, and demonstrating that their message resonates with you.Servant leadershipEveryone has a different leadership style but others are more successful and accepted than others. For career expert Joy Altimare, managers are most effective when they direct with a mind towards servitude. As defined, its a concept that suggests that true leaders understand the importance of the following characteristics as it relates to building and managing a loyal, high-performing team listening, empathy, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building community.Altimare says this style composed of many soft skills is a refreshing, desi rable quality. It is important for leaders to go beyond their corporate values, and become invested in encouraging an environment that supports performance, collaboration, and camaraderie, she adds.Effective communicationThis seems like a no-brainer, but its surprising how poorly some people can communicate. Now, Im not talking about varying degrees of vocabulary despite what grade school made you believe, most people dont speak or write with complicated words. Im talking about peoples ability to convey a message, or to get to the point. The challenge with communication is that just like anything else its a skill, one that gets stronger as you develop it. Kingsman explains that one of the false assumptions is that it is inherently a skill everyone has, but, expert communicators are those who get their message to listeners so they understand it.They do it directly, succinctly and with little meandering or wavering. Simply put, they get the point across, he adds.To improve your commu nication skills, Kingsman has one very important tip thats easier than you think pause. Much like your parents recommended you think before you speak when you were growing up, the same advice applies throughout your professional career, too. Kingsman suggests simply counting to three.Youd be surprised how many thoughts pass through our brains in three seconds, let alone the ways to say what you need to say, he continues. When you leverage that pause, think to yourself, what am I saying? and Will it be understood? Being conscious of what you say and how you say it is the mark of a good communicator.Emotional intelligenceOf all the skills to master before you enter your thirties, emotional intelligence is the most difficult and demanding, according to Kingsman. While it encompasses many aspects, Kingsman says, generally speaking, this is your ability to recognize and be aware of your emotions, others emotions, and practicing empathy for them. Sometimes this is an easy task crying indi cates sadness, while smiling usually means happiness. But when you really develop your EQ, as Kingsman puts it, you have the foresight to dig deeper.Besides seeing and recognizing emotions, this skill helps us navigate social situations, make complex choices, and is arguably one of the key factors in our success, he explains. We need smart people to do things like run electrical grids and design clean energy, we also need people to interact in meaningful ways. Having emotional intelligence, both being aware of your own emotions and others, helps bridge the gap between people and situations.When youre able to pick up on the obvious and dubious signals people send, youre more likely to gain their trust, foster stronger connections and overall, be perceived as a thoughtful, sincere human.

The Best Way To Prepare For A Phone Interview

The Best Way To Prepare For A Phone InterviewThe Best Way To Prepare For A Phone InterviewWell, heres a bad thing that happened lets call our guy, Mike. Mike was out to dinner around 6 pm, and his phone reihe with a number he didnt recognize. He answered and it was an HR person from an organization he was interested in in his job search. She wanted to conduct a phone interview. Mike excused himself, stepped into the restaurant lobby, and answered her series of questions.Lets talk about the several things wrong with that scenario it wasnt quiet enough, Mike wasnt ready, and he definitely didnt give his greatest answers, because he was doing the phone interview on the fly.Moral of the story dont let this be you. A phone interview is not to be taken lightly. Treat it with the exact same level of regard you would an in-person interview. Now that you know not to do all this while youre out to dinner, lets talk about the best ways to make sure youre ready for a phone interview.Youre Allowe d To Not Take The CallThis can be a little bit scary, and its definitely counter-intuitive. Though it may not be something you want to do, if the interviewer calls at an inopportune moment, dont take the call. Either dont answer the phone just based on the fact that you dont recognize the number, and let it go to voice mail, or if you do answer, tell the person you cant speak right now. Then ask if youd be able to return their call at 10 am the next day.Its highly unlikely that the persons going to say, No, absolutely not. Its right now or never. Thats not a professional response. You can more reasonably expect, Of course. Im sorry for the late hour. Lets talk tomorrow at such and such a time.I realize that when youre in the midst of job search you dont want to miss anything. But guess what? If you allow yourself to be caught off-guard, and dont perform your best, you just maximized your chances of not hearing from those folks again.Youre Allowed To Have A Pleather PortfolioArm your self with a nice leather / pleather portfolio. It needs to be a portfolio so that you have a hard surface to write on. You need that hard surface because you need to be up and walking around, which conveys more energy that, I promise you, the interviewer can hear through the phone. Put your resume on 1 side and stories that you want to tell about your successes on the other side. Make sure those stories are written in bullets, not paragraphs you dont want to sound like youre reading.When youre interviewing, one of the things that makes you not perform well is that youre trying to remember things. Your brain is working so hard to remember this or that, and it makes you not speak in a natural way. You have a story thats core and natural to you just tell it. Dont read it. Dont remember it.Youre Allowed To Ask Whats NextThis applies to phone interviews and in-person interviews. Too often, candidates wonder whats going to happen afterwards. Dont wonder. Ask them what the next step is, or say, Listen, Id like to follow up with you in two days, three days, or whatever makes sense. Take control of this thing. Thats how you job search like a bossLearning next steps and timing eliminates 75% of the anxiety associated with this process. You go in there, you perform well, you want to know whats next. Make sure to ask that question.Did you know that it takes the average candidate 17 interviews before hearing 1 offer? Im giving a live online presentation on how to maximize the interviews youre going to get. 5 Secrets Smart Jobseekers Age 50+ Know That Make The Job Search EASY will teach out what to do online, on LinkedIn, and throughout your job search so that you are talking to as many recruiters and decision makers as you can, in order to land the role that you really want.

Why Everybody Is Wrong About Free Resume Templates for Microsoft Word

Why Everybody Is Wrong About Free Resume Templates for Microsoft Word A Secret Weapon for Free Resume Templates for Microsoft Word The creator is extremely fast and intuitive to use. The resume creator will ask you to put in your information into the blanks offering a detailed strategy to writing. You are able to enter your social websites profile address for an extra point of contact. Quite a few documents are available here in order to direct you through the recruitment approach. All its services are completely free and you may acquire them from any component of the planet. You may indeed utilize distinctive formats and templates based upon the culture of the organization or organization to which youre applying. For those reasons listed above, you will want to begin with a resume template. Resume templates may also help you format your information when providing unique visual flair which will help your resume stand out. A template is merely for structure and fashion. Utiliz ing a resume template is now an acceptable and smart practice for quite a few explanations. Simple doesnt need to mean uninspired and boring. Free resume template is an ideal minimalistic and clean. The whole selection of resume templates is composed of an array of creative resume designs. Download our creative resume templates and you are going to have professionally designed CV in no momentMicrosoft Word includes a collection of templates designed for many varieties of resumes, but if youre unhappy with the default selection of resume templates, you may download others in Word. You only have to select your template Utilizing Word, you can produce your own templates for just about any application, including resumes. It is possible to download the resume template at no cost and can readily edit the template using Microsoft word. Two even columns for the rest of the page give you lots of room to woo the company by means of your experience, skills, and education. You need to b e accurate to the point when it has to do with writing a resume. The second page may be used to discuss things about yourself, while the third one may be used for anything you want, including a preview project youd love to do over at the new company that youre applying for employment for. Double check to make certain that everything on the last version of the resume is about you. You likely have lots of personal and skilled information that you want to share to your upcoming employer. In order to acquire your preferred job you should have an effective resume. Professionally, our resumes are often the very first impression a possible employer gets of us. Also think of whether there is anything else you can do to assist your resume stand out. 7 Another totally free Word resume example made by MOO together with Microsoft. A few of the templates are free while others cost a couple of dollars. Our creative templates enable you to stick out from the crowd. Whats more, you will di scover templates for both freshers and expert nurses.What follows is a wide selection of professional resume samples for jobs in numerous industries. You also receive a totally free job interview tracker for a bonus. If youre looking for a job for a nurse, a nurse resume template would be excellent for your career. If youre looking for work in the accounting sector, an accounting resume template would be beneficial for you.

Work-Life Rigidity Partially due to Individuals, not Strictly Organizations

Work-Life Rigidity Partially due to Individuals, not Strictly Organizations Up to now, fruchtwein criticism and calls for enhanced flexibility regarding the work-life balance of employees were aimed at organizations and management, but a volley of new findings from workplace and academic experts is revealing that risk-averse employees frequently contribute to the lack of flexibility in their lives. Cali Williams Yost, a leading thinker on workplace issues and founder of the Flex+Strategy Group, opines Weve spent nearly the last two decades calling out the companies and management for the need for work life flexibility. Many have responded, but now employees also need to step up and assert control by making small, subtle, practical choices that no one will notice but them.Brad Harrington, Executive Director of the Boston College Center for Work and Family adds, For over 20 years, our Center has str essed the importance of organizational culture, the right types of management support, and the most effective human resource policies and programs needed to facilitate work life fit. But I have always stressed my belief that ultimately it is the individual who must solve this problem, must determine their fit, and must manage the process of achieving it.Research performed by Yost and ORC International, however, found that three-quarters of the population believes that work-life flexibility is only obtainable by its provision by their employer/boss. The most commonly listed obstacles to work-life flexibility in the research were lack of a sense of empowerment and stress from increased workloads and shortened deadlines. But both Yost and Harrington feel that the workplace is much more flexible and supportive than in the past.Major life events matter, said Yost, but its the everyday routine we crave and where employees struggle the most with managing work life fit. We cant wait for HR or the boss to solve this conflict for us. Employees themselves need to manage work life fit as a daily practice. And while it may be counterintuitive, it starts by thinking small by yes, sweating the small stuff.