Introduction
Employers often need to apply additional types of recurring payments to employees, which should be categorized separately from their regular earnings. Sometimes it's appropriate for this be set up 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 section of the Employee Profile 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 a recurring earning at a specified pay frequency, set an over-time total amount goal, and apply per-check limits.
Important Note: Recurring earnings set up within the Fringe Benefits section for an employee will only be applied if the employee is being paid for any type of earnings recorded on their check. In most cases this is their Regular Pay. For any instance where an employee is not paid, any 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 this should be set up for: Benefits > Fringe Benefits.
To add an earning, click the blue 'plus' sign in the top right corner. A window will then appear, prompting for the following fields to be entered:
- 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.
- 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 amount.
- 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 a preferred frequency is not available from the dropdown options, contact Customer Service for assistance.
- Payee - A third-party payee (Agency) can be assigned to a fringe earning, resulting in the payment amount being sent to the agency. This field is rarely used, however an example where an Agency may be applicable is when applying a fringe memo type of earning that doesn't pay the employee but tracks an employer's non-cash benefit. When this field is used, Empeon can send payments to the third-party provider on the employer's behalf. For more information about setting up agencies see Empeon's article Agency (Third Party) Payment Service.
- Payee Reference - This is only relevant if the Payee field is used. When paying a third-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 within this window is Fringe Limits. This section will allows for an earning goal to be set, if over time, there is a capped amount that the employee should receive for this benefit. Here, there is also 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 within this screen 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 Employee 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 and 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 Benefits, is the ability to set an Auto Pay to apply to only a specific Check Type.
To set up an additional payment using Auto Pays, navigate to the Auto Pays section within the respective Employee's Profile this should be set 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 earning should be applied toward a Job Info record (Department, Position, Location, etc.) that is different than what is assigned as the employee's default Job Info settings identified on their Employee Profile.
