A client asks you to remove two hours from an employee’s timecard. Another wants to exclude an evening training session from payroll. A third asks whether a departing employee can wait until the next regular payday for a final check.
Each request may arrive as a processing instruction. Each can also depend on facts and legal obligations that a payroll calculation cannot resolve. For CPAs supporting payroll clients, the useful first step is to identify the disputed assumption, preserve the relevant records and arrange an employment-law review when needed.
The following hypothetical situations illustrate when that handoff matters. The workflow recommendations concern client service and documentation; the legal examples identify federal or California sources rather than supplying tax or accounting guidance.
An unexplained time edit
Imagine a client’s supervisor changes an employee’s clock-out from 6:15 p.m. to 5 p.m. The employee says she stayed to complete a customer order. The supervisor says overtime was not approved.
Before processing the instruction, ask what the edit is intended to correct. A duplicate punch and a disagreement about whether work should have occurred are different problems. Ask who made the change, when it was made and what supports the revised entry.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet 22 on hours worked explains that work an employer suffers or permits can count as working time even when it was not requested. For covered nonexempt employees, a lack of advance approval does not by itself establish that time actually worked can be excluded.
Preserve the original punch, the edit history, the employee’s explanation and relevant supervisor messages. Retain the schedule as context, while recognizing that scheduled hours and actual work can differ. Avoid overwriting the only available record while the issue is being reviewed.
If the client disputes whether the activity was work, route that question to qualified employment counsel. Separately ask whether the same editing practice affects other employees or earlier periods. Correcting one entry may leave the underlying process unchanged.
A disputed unpaid training session
A client holds a two-hour evening session on a new customer-service system. The invitation calls attendance voluntary, but supervisors track attendance and tell staff they need the training to perform their jobs. The client asks you to omit the session from payroll.
Do not rely on the invitation’s label alone. Ask what employees were told, whether attendance affected assignments, what the training covered and whether employees performed productive work during the session.
Under the general federal rule described in Fact Sheet 22, excluding attendance at lectures, meetings or training requires four conditions: attendance occurs outside normal hours, is voluntary, is not job related, and involves no concurrent work. Specific exceptions and applicable state rules require separate consideration.
For the handoff, collect the invitation, course materials, attendance records, supervisor communications and employee accounts of the instructions they received. Identify where participants worked and whether their classification or circumstances differ.
The payroll task then follows the supported determination. Do not let a preset “unpaid training” code make that determination by default. If the client’s policy conflicts with actual practice, the review should address both the affected payroll and future sessions.
A final pay disagreement
A California client dismisses an employee on Tuesday and asks you to include the final wages in Friday’s regular payroll. The client also wants to deduct the cost of equipment it says the employee has not returned.
This requires prompt escalation. California’s final wage guidance states that discharged employees generally must receive earned wages, including accrued vacation, immediately at termination, subject to applicable exceptions. A payroll provider’s normal processing schedule does not establish the legal deadline.
California also limits deductions from wages. The Labor Commissioner’s deductions guidance explains why an employer’s claimed loss does not automatically authorize recovery through a paycheck. Have counsel review a proposed equipment deduction rather than treating it as an ordinary adjustment.
Record the separation date and circumstances, hours worked, applicable pay information, vacation balance, amounts already paid and the proposed deduction. Ask which amounts are disputed and why. Do not assume a disagreement permits withholding all final wages while it is resolved.
Outside California, check the applicable jurisdiction’s final-pay and deduction rules. Avoid applying one client’s state requirements across an entire payroll portfolio.
Make the handoff actionable
A short referral record can help the client and counsel address the question without reconstructing the file. Include:
- The employee, work location and payroll periods involved.
- The requested change and the factual or legal assumption behind it.
- Original records, subsequent edits and the client’s explanation.
- Relevant payment deadlines and any pending payroll run.
- The person responsible for obtaining the determination and communicating next steps.
Distinguish facts from allegations and unresolved questions. Ordinary payroll correspondence should not be assumed to become privileged simply because someone copies a lawyer.
Confirm who will authorize the payroll action, what determination supports it and how the result will be checked. Where a recurring practice caused the problem, assign responsibility for reviewing its scope and correcting the process. Your client receives more useful support when the question is resolved and the next payroll reflects that resolution.
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George S. Azadian is President of Azadian Law Group, PC, a California employment law firm representing employees in wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, harassment and wage disputes.
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