Active manual deductions
An employer can set up deductions for their employees for services that may be done outside of Justworks. A few examples of typical deductions include: HRAs, medical, dental, and vision coverage, and transit benefits.
These deductions can be set-up on several frequencies. Frequencies include: first pay period, second pay period, first and second pay period, one-time payments, and every pay period.
The first and second pay period option applies to the 15th and last day of the month pay periods for semimonthly pay frequencies, and to the first two pay periods in a given month for biweekly and weekly pay frequencies.
One-time payments will apply to any one-off payments scheduled.
How to schedule deductions from the Justworks dashboard
From your dashboard, search for the employee you would like to set up a manual deduction for. Once in their profile, scroll down to the 'Settings' tab and then down to 'Manual Deductions.'
Next, select your desired Deduction Type and the amount. You can also add a label for the deduction, in case you’d like to specify the provider or enter more granular information than the deduction type. Then, select the frequency.
The available frequencies for manual deductions consist of the following:
Be sure to choose the frequency and the amount carefully. For example, if you’d like to have $150 deducted from an employee per month to go towards their health insurance, you can enter a flat amount of $150, and apply it to either the first or second pay period. Alternatively, you can enter an amount of $75 and apply it across two pay periods, like so:
The deduction frequency of every pay period will apply the deduction to every regular scheduled payroll. Keep in mind that employees on a biweekly or weekly pay frequency may have a variable number of pay dates a month.
You can use the frequency of one-time payments if you would like the deduction to apply to off-cycle payments such as bonuses or commissions that are scheduled through the Payments Center. Deductions with the one-time payments frequency will never apply to regular payroll, and deductions created with any frequency other than one-time payments will never apply to payments scheduled using the Payments Center. To learn more about applying manual deductions to off-cycle payments, please refer to the 'How to apply deductions' section of this article.
Enter a start date for when the deductions need to begin. Keep in mind that this date needs to be no later than the pay date for the the first payment to which the deduction should apply, and must be set up prior to the 2pm EST on the processing date. You can reference the 'Upcoming Payments' section from your dashboard to double-check processing and pay dates if you need to.
You can optionally select an end date for when the deduction needs to stop, or leave it blank to have it last indefinitely. You can always enter an end date at a later time if you ever need to stop the deduction. If entered, the end date should be on the last pay date to which the deduction should apply.
You can use the start and ends dates to create a deduction that only runs for a particular number of payments. For example, if you wanted a deduction to apply only to the employee's next four paychecks, you could create a deduction to start on the processing date of the first pay date and end on date of the fourth pay date, after which the deduction will no longer apply. Similarly, if you wanted a manual deduction to apply only once, you could create a manual deduction with the start as the payroll processing date and end date as the pay date to which the deduction should be applied.
Please note that Justworks will not automatically cap any contribution for benefits other than those for 401(k). It is up to the administrator and employee to ensure that deductions are stopped once an employee has reached the limit for any benefits where one might apply.
How to apply deductions to one-time (off-cycle) payments
When scheduling a one-time payment (any payment that is not an automated salary payment or a timecard payment), you will have the option to choose whether or not you'd like to apply your Active Manual Deduction.
When scheduling a payment through the Payments Center, checking 'Make All Deductions' will apply any active manual deductions set up with a frequency of one-time payments to that payment along with any outstanding insurance premiums and perks deductions for that month, and any applicable 401(k) contributions and wage garnishments.
Please note that if you check 'Do Not Make Any Deductions', Empower contributions will still apply in accordance with your plan documents. Additionally, medical, dental, and vision deductions will not be applied to supplemental payments if they are scheduled to deposit on the same day as regular payroll.
How funds from manual deductions should be remitted
When a manual deduction is applied to an upcoming payment, a matching credit is applied to the corresponding invoice. In practice, this means the funds from the manual deduction remain in the company's bank account, thereby enabling the company to manually remit the deduction amount to the applicable provider. Justworks does not facilitate transfers of manually deducted funds to any third party on your behalf.
Disclaimer
This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, legal or tax advice. If you have any legal or tax questions regarding this content or related issues, then you should consult with your professional legal or tax advisor.