Introduction
Employers often need to apply additional kinds of recurring payments to employees that should be identified as a different kind of earning. Sometimes it's appropriate for this be setup on an automatic schedule so that a payroll administrator doesn't have to manually add these additional earnings on employee checks every payroll.
In Empeon Workforce there are two tools within the employee's profile where an administrator can set up additional automatic payments: Fringe Benefits and Auto Pays. This article outlines how to use both tools and under what circumstances it is most appropriate to use one or the other.
Fringe Benefits
The Fringe Benefits card is usually the most appropriate tool to use for recurring secondary earnings needs. Located in the Benefits section of the employee profile, an administrator can apply this earning at a specified frequency, set an over-time total amount goal, and apply per-check limits.
Important Note: Payments from the Fringe Benefits card setups are only applied when an employee is given any other kind of pay on their check in the payroll batch, like a salary or a per hour rate for regular hours. For any instance where an employee is not paid, Fringe Benefit setups will not apply on the check.
To set up an additional earning using the Fringe Benefits tool, navigate to the section for Fringe Benefits within the respective employee's profile you wish to set this up for: Benefits > Fringe Benefits.
To add an earning, click the blue 'plus' sign in the top right corner. If there are no earnings set up, like shown in the picture, you may also click the grey bar that says "+ Add Fringe Benefits". You will then be prompted with the following fields to enter:
- Earning Code - Select the coding to be used for this Fringe earning. The options from this dropdown will show all Earning Codes that have been set up on the company level. Review Empeon's Adding Earning Codes article for information about how to add earning codes to a company.
- Amount - Apply an amount to be applied on the check from this scheduled earning. This can be applied as a flat dollar amount or as a percentage based on the employee's gross.
- Units & Rate - The Units and Rate fields work in unison and can be used instead of the Amount field if needed. If a fringe earning needs to be an hourly rate, the number of Units (hours) also has to be identified for the system to calculate the resulting amount on the check.
- Occurrence - Choose the occurrence (frequency) that the fringe earning will be paid. Selecting Every Check means the fringe earning will be paid every check, even if there are multiple checks paid to the employee within a pay period. However, by selecting Other, there are additional frequencies that can be assigned such as once per pay period or monthly. It's best to apply a OncePerPay frequency for fringe earnings that should only be applied once per pay period. If you need a frequency that is not one of the dropdown options, contact Customer Service for assistance.
- Payee - A 3rd party payee (Agency) can be assigned to a fringe earning which will result in the Agency also being sent the payment amount. It is rarely appropriate to use this field. An example where an Agency may be applicable is if you are applying a fringe memo type of earning that doesn't actually pay the employee but tracks an employer non-cash benefit. Using this field Empeon can send payments to the 3rd party provider on the employer's behalf. For more information about setting up agencies see Empeon's Agency Service article.
- Payee Reference - This is only relevant if the Payee field is used. When paying a 3rd Party agency, if a reference number is needed for the Payee to know where to apply the payment, key it into this field.
The next section of the Fringe card setup is Fringe Limits. This section will allow you to set an earning goal if over time, there is a capped amount that the employee should receive for this benefit. Here, you'll also have the option to define limits per paycheck and per year.
- Earning Goal - If the fringe earning is a set amount over time that should cap once a total amount is reached, enter the total amount as the Earning Goal. By setting this as the Earning Goal, the recurring fringe earning will automatically stop once the Earning Goal amount is reached. The Earned field will update the total amount applied so far when setting an earning goal. By clicking the Edit link, the Earned amount can be a manually overridden for cases where what was earned towards the goal needs to be adjusted.
- Minimum Per Check - Usually only appropriate to use in conjunction with a percentage-based earning, the value keyed here will be the minimum dollar amount given on the check.
- Maximum Per Check - Usually only appropriate to use in conjunction with a percentage-based earning, the value keyed here will be the maximum dollar amount given on the check.
- Maximum Per Year - Set a capped amount that can be earned within a calendar year. Use this field instead of the Earning Goal when there should be a yearly cap, which resets at the beginning of each new calendar year.
The final section of the Fringe Benefit card setup is to identify the Allocated To if needed. Only use this section if the fringe earning should apply a Job Info record (Department, Position, Location, etc.) that is different than the employee's default Job Info identified in their profile.
Auto Pays
The other tool available for additional recurring payment needs is the Auto Pays card. Please note: The Auto Pays has a few key differences compared to Fringe Benefits. An Auto Pay set up will automatically apply the payment to the employee's paycheck regardless if the employee has regular pay or other earnings applied in payroll. Auto Pays are applied on the employee's batch check every time, there is no option to set a different occurrence/frequency. The one option that is available for Auto Pays that is not available for Fringe is that you can set an Auto Pay to apply to only a specific Check Type.
To set up an additional payment using Auto Pays, navigate to the section for Auto Pays within the respective employee's profile you wish to set this up for: Payroll > Auto Pays.
To set up an earning or a deduction through the Auto Pays tool, click the blue 'plus' sign in the top right corner. If there are no Auto Pays set up, like shown in the picture, the grey bar that says "+ Add Auto Pays" will also initiate a new setup. A window will then appear, with the following fields to enter:
- Auto Pay Code - Select the pay code to use for this secondary Auto Pay.
- Amount - Assign the amount to apply on every batch check.
- Units & Rate - The Units and Rate fields work in unison and can be used instead of the Amount field if needed. If a fringe earning needs to be an hourly rate, the number of Units (hours) also has to be identified for the system to calculate the resulting amount on the check.
- Apply Only For Specific Check Type - If the Auto Pay should only apply to one Check Type, use this field to identify it. Check Types are often custom per Empeon client with certain functionalities such as blocking deductions or setting special tax frequencies. For more information and assistance in setting up additional Check Types reach out to Empeon Customer Service.
The final section of the Auto Pay card setup is to identify the Allocated To if needed. Only use this section if the fringe earning should apply a Job Info record (Department, Position, Location, etc.) that is different than the employee's default Job Info identified in their profile.