
We Hired a Remote Worker. How Can We Ensure a Smooth Onboarding Experience?
Recruiting and hiring talent and ensuring a smooth onboarding process to welcome and assimilate them to your company culture and connect them with existing workers was already challenging prior to the pandemic. Now those problems seem to pale in comparison to the issues we face in the ongoing time of… Read More

Have You Been Sending a Form 1099 for Your Company’s Legal Fees? If Not, You Should Be!
When most people think of a Form 1099 (i.e. Form 1099-MISC for prior tax years or beginning in 2020 Form 1099-NEC for reporting non-employee compensation), generally they associate the requirements for its use to report payments made to independent contractors. Many people are not aware that they are required to… Read More

Our Experience Applying for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loan
by Joshua Robinson, President, CheckmateHCM Solutions Last Friday morning, April 3, 2020, I submitted Checkmate’s PPP loan application to our banking partner. The application package included: The SBA PPP Loan application Copies of Checkmate’s articles of incorporation and bylaws. Copy of a completed Loan Application Checklist with all items marked… Read More

2020 Vermont Labor Law Poster Updates
Effective January 1, 2020, the required labor law postings for Vermont will be changing. The Vermont Earned Sick Time poster is changing to include a website that workers can access for more information on the law including exemptions for some employment types. The posting is included on Vermont Combination Labor… Read More

Vetting Your Payroll Service Provider to Prevent Fraud and Employee Losses
In September, many employers and employees suffered significant hardships due to the alleged fraudulent activity of MyPayrollHR and its CEO, Michael Mann. The suspected misdeeds of one person have caused a ripple effect that caused the demise of a financial institutions – Cachet Financial – and potentially others. This has… Read More

Is Your Use-It-or-Lose-It PTO Policy, Using and Losing Your Employees?
As many companies face their year-end crunch, many employees are facing a critical crunch of their own under their employer’s Use-It-or-Lose-It PTO policy. And with employers grappling with workforce shortages, existing employees are left shouldering greater workloads and that extra work can make it seem like there is no feasible… Read More

Payroll Fraud Alert: Direct Deposit Scam
Recently, there has been a significant increase in the number of employers across the country who have been targeted by payroll fraudsters. Scammers continue to get more resourceful, cunning and technically savvy in their attempts to defraud victims by gaining access to financial accounts as well as valuable personal information. Read More

Processing the Final Paycheck for a Deceased Employee
As an company owner, HR representative and/or workforce supervisor, there are many undesirable challenges that come with managing people. Sometimes things like finding the words to address an employee’s body odor, having to solve personality conflicts that remind one of being back in high school or terminating a single employee… Read More

2019 EEO-1 Reporting Deadline and Requirements
As part of compliance regulations, applicable employers must submit their EEO-1 reports to the EEOC each year. Typically, the deadline for the EEO-1 survey is March 31, 2019. Had this year been a typical year, the date would have moved to April 1, 2019, since the deadline falls on a… Read More

What Should I Do With That Returned W-2?
Tis’ the season for employers to be in the year-end scramble working diligently to finalize budgets, prepare their own company tax documentation and produce and send a slew of individual tax forms to employees. The W-2 is the first such form (along with 1099s), which must be mailed to employees… Read More