COVID-19 FAQs – General Employer Questions

This article presents FAQs that may be of particular use to client admins in light of COVID-19.

STAY UP TO DATE:

Always stay up to date with COVID-19: Consolidated Appropriations Act Updates for 2021.

Please see below for a current list of COVID-19-related FAQs for employers. 

For additional FAQs, also see:

• COVID-19 FAQs - General Employee Questions

• COVID-19 FAQs - Paid Sick Leave

• COVID-19 FAQs - Paid Family Medical Leave

• COVID-19 FAQs - Tax Credits, Quarter-End Forms, and More

• COVID-19 FAQs - Terminations

 

Updated 3/17/21, 4:29 pm. 

I have part time employees. How do I determine the average number of hours that they have worked?
In Namely Payroll, go to Reports > Date Range, and pull a Payroll Register report covering the last six months. Then, divide the employees’ total earnings by 26 to determine their average weekly earnings.

I’ve been paying my employee the same amount for sick leave for the past few weeks, and now, Namely won’t let me pay them anymore using this earning. Why is this happening?
The earnings have a cap that matches the federal limit. Earnings of this type cannot surpass the federal limit in Namely Payroll.

I do not have a time off plan for COVID-19 and I want to create one. Where can I find instructions for that?
We’ve created a new section on the homepage of the Namely Help Community called Navigating COVID-19 that includes several helpful articles on this topic including:

• Tracking Remote Work During COVID-19

• Configuring and Assigning Time Off

• Managing Leaves of Absence

Please visit the Help Community for additional content.

The Department of Homeland Security has a physical presence mandate that requires administrators to review the employee’s identity and employment authorization documents in the physical presence of the employee. Is this still in effect?
No. The rule has been temporarily suspended for those who are taking precautions due to COVID-19. Form I-9 is still required for all new hires, but the documentation can now be reviewed remotely.

How do I pay my employees for the new mandated sick leave or family medical leave?
Please use the new earnings codes titled Federal Sick Leave - Tier 1 and Federal Sick Leave - Tier 2 for sick leave. 

The following pay codes for medical leave must be used until March 31, 2021:

• Federal Paid Medical Leave - Tier 1 

• Federal Paid Medical Leave - Tier 2

We are creating two new pay codes for medical leave that must be used for the plan's extension from April 1 to September 30, 2021:

• ARPA Federal Paid Medical Leave - Tier 1

• ARPA Federal Paid Medical Leave - Tier 2

Review how to use these earning codes in American Rescue Plan Act: Federal Paid Medical Leave and Paid Family Medical Leave Act Expansion under COVID-19 (Public Health Emergency Leave).

Under normal circumstances, my employees usually receive Namely printed checks that are delivered to our office for distribution. What do I do now?
If direct deposit is an option with any of the employees impacted, we recommend adding their bank account information to their HCM profile- please see: Entering Bank Information in Namely. If they must receive a Namely printed check, Namely can assist with changing your check printing address to the home address of one of your payroll administrators.

Please note, if you elect to have a payroll administrator print your checks, it will be your company’s responsibility to distribute the checks to your employees accordingly. For assistance with changing your check printing address, please submit a case in the Namely Help Community with the product name Payroll and the subject Namely Check Printing. For more information on check printing, please also see: Managing Namely Check Printing During COVID-19.

We unfortunately need to reduce our employees’ standard wages as a result of COVID-19. How do we do that?
There are two options to reduce employee salaries:

1. Perform a Salary Import in HCM. Please see: HRIS Imports: Salary Import.

2. On the employee’s Wage tab of their Payroll profile, under the Recurring Extra Pay Section, enter a negative amount you would like that employee’s salary reduced by per pay period using the Additional Regular earning. Namely can also create a custom earning to track this information instead, but it must be taxed at the standard W-4 taxation.

Will Namely be making any adjustments to employee wages to comply with any legislation that is passed?

Namely will not be making any adjustments to employee wages, hourly rates, etc. You will be responsible for any required wage calculations and adjustments. If you are a Managed Payroll client, Namely will make adjustments on your behalf, based on your interpretation of the law and calculations. If you are going to be paying employees under the new family medical leave or sick leave COVID-19 requirements, please use the new earning codes outlined above. These laws do not go into effect until April 2, 2020.

I’ve heard there is an extension of time from our taxing authority to file state payroll reports and/or deposit state payroll taxes without penalty or interest. Can Namely delay our tax payments or stop our state income tax withholdings?
The Namely Service Team can help you delay remittance for any states that have extended Q1 payment deadlines.

Please submit a case in the Help Community with the product name Payroll and the subject line Q1 Tax Deferment for assistance. 

Our product team is working through a solution to provide an option to prevent Q2 tax withholdings from being collected, as well.   

We are temporarily suspending our 401(k) company match. How can I make this adjustment in Namely?

1. If you have a non-tiered 401(k) company match, and are tracking the match on the company level, please go to Company > Deductions in Payroll and select your 401(k) deduction. Under Employer Cost, please change the contribution to zero and click Save.

2. If you have a tiered 401(k) match, or are tracking the match on the employee level, you can go to Employee > Deduction and change any 401k contribution to zero. If you need assistance doing this in mass, please submit a case in the Namely Help Community with the product name Payroll and the subject 401(k) Match Import.

I have an employee who qualifies for the new Family and Medical Leave. How can I track their time off under the new Act?

Please refer to our Help Community article Configuring and Assigning Time Off about setting up time off plans in Namely and Namely Payroll.

If a client wants to give their employees a Section 139 Disaster Relief payment, do they need to have the earning code set up a certain way?
Yes, use the new earning code titled Disaster Relief - Section 139 and refer to our Help Community article COVID-19: Section 139 Disaster Relief Payments for further details.

How can I create a Remote office location to reflect COVID-19 Work from Home?
With current COVID-19 Work from Home arrangements, you may find it helpful to move certain employees into a Remote office location for the time being.  Please see the following article for instructions on setting up a Remote office location: How can I create a Remote office location to reflect COVID-19 Work from Home?