13 states ring in new year with new minimum wages

Companies with workers who earn the minimum wage will be paying more in many states starting last Wednesday.

Many states raised their minimum wages, effective Jan. 1 – with several more on the way. And some with several waves of changes in some states.

Here’s the rundown of the changes:

• Arizona: $7.90 (as of Jan. 1)
• California: $9.00 (on July 1, with a jump to $10 an hour on Jan. 1, 2016)
• Colorado: $8.00 (as of Jan. 1)
• Connecticut: $8.70 (as of Jan. 1. That will rise to $9.00 on Jan. 1, 2015)
• Florida: $7.93 (as of Jan. 1)
• Missouri: $7.50 (as of Jan. 1)
• Montana: $7.90 (as of Jan. 1)
• New Jersey: $8.25 (as of Jan. 1)
• New York: $8.00 (as of Dec. 31, 2013)
• Ohio: $7.95 (as of Jan. 1)
• Oregon: $9.10 (as of Jan. 1)
• Rhode Island: $8.00 (as of Jan. 1)
• Vermont: $8.75 (as of Jan. 1), and
• Washington: $9.32 (as of Jan. 1).

Not only will you want to make sure Payroll’s systems are updated but that your company is taking other key compliance steps, such as posting the newest minimum wage posters displaying the new rate.

But the work doesn’t stop there.

Review those retention guidelines now

Whether you’re in these states or not or have minimum wage workers or not, now’s the perfect time to make sure your payroll recordkeeping is in compliance.

That means reviewing the current record retention guidelines. After all, now’s the time of year when many companies are boxing up or scanning their payroll records to clear space for a new year’s worth of documentation.

And you want to make sure your finance staffers are walking the fine line between storing enough documentation to keep you audit-prepared and not holding onto so much that you’re bogging down your departments in excess paperwork.

To that end, here’s a checklist of current payroll-related record retention best practices to share with your staffers to keep your company’s compliance up:

Keep 7 years:

• cancelled payroll checks
• cancelled checks for payroll taxes
• electronic payment records
• payroll journal
• time cards and daily time reports
• garnishments
• employment agreements
• payroll tax returns

Keep 3 years:

• internal payroll reports
• Form I-9 (from date of termination)

Keep 2 years:

• payroll-related correspondence

Keep forever:

• All IRS or Department of Labor correspondence
• financial statements
• general ledger
• Form 5500
• IRS or state adjustments