1099 - The form 1099 is an independent contractor tax form.

401(K) Retirement Plan - The 401(K) plan is a type of retirement plan available in the United States . 401(K) is an employer-sponsored qualified retirement savings plan. It allows you to save for your retirement while deferring any immediate income taxes on the money you save or their respective earnings until withdrawn. See P11 under FAQ's to see how they work.

Absence - An "excused" absence is where the employer is notified ahead of time that the day will be taken off. An "unexcused" absence is where the employee did not have any accrued time to leave. In these cases, disciplinary action is required.

ACH (Automated Clearing House) - The Automated Clearing House enables you to make direct deposits into a PSP account.

ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act.) - This act guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in the workplace.

Affirmative Action - Affirmative action is specific steps employers take to prevent discrimination and to address stereotypical thinking and biases that still impede employment opportunity. Affirmative action is monitored by the EEOC or Equal Employment Opportunity Commission who as a way to monitor this action require the filing of specific reports that log the various races employed by your company.

AFLAC Supplemental Insurance - AFLAC Supplemental Insurance is a type of insurance that pays cash directly to the insured in the case of accidental injury, sickness, disability, etc. Monetary benefits are paid regardless of any other insurance. This money can be used for any purpose you wish. Many people use it to help offset lost wages, assist in paying insurance deductibles or other out-of-pocket expenses.

After Tax - After tax is a term Relating to or being that which remains after payment, especially of income taxes, after tax profit.

ASO (Administrative Service Organization) - An ASO is functionally the same as a PEO (see PEO). Internally, however, there is no shared status and no co-employment agreement. Basically, employees remain 100% the employer's. An ASO handles: payroll, taxes, workers compensation insurance, employee benefits management, and all aspects of human resources. The ASO model for payroll simply means that payroll taxes are paid using the client's federal ID #, it does not effect your payroll.

Background Check - Background checks are investigations into a person's, vocational, and/or educational past. Companies use background checks to verify that an employee is who they say they are and does not have anything in their background that would hinder the company . There are actually two types of background checks. One is where you contact former employers of that person and another one is a criminal background check.

COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986) - COBRA benefits workers who lose their health benefits. It gives them and their families the right to choose to continue group health benefits provided by their group health plan. These benefits are allowed for limited time periods under certain circumstances such as voluntary or involuntary job loss, reduction in the hours worked, transition between jobs, death, divorce, and other life events.

Co-employment - In a co-employment relationship, PSP Group shares responsibilities and liabilities with the client in regards to the employees. PSP is responsible for handling the requirements of the IRS, Social Security, and unemployment and more. PSP becomes the employer of record. as it relates to W2s, issuing payroll checks and working with compliance and regulatory matters.

College Savings Plan - A college savings plan allows students to save, at any age, for educational expenses. Expenses include: tuition, room and board, books, computers, and any other mandatory or equipment expenses. Plans are subject to the fluctuating market and therefore do not gaurantee a profit. You need not be a resident of the state that you are purchasing the plan from and can enroll year round as a child or an adult.

Copeland "Anti-Kickback" Act - The Copeland "Anti-Kickback" Act generally prohibits Federal contractors or subcontractors engaged in building construction or repair from inducing an employee to give up any part of the compensation to which he or she is entitled under his or her employment contract and requires such contractors and subcontractors to submit weekly statements of compliance. Each covered contractor or subcontractor must provide a weekly statement of the wages paid to each of its employees engaged in covered work. The statement shall be executed by the contractor or subcontractor or by an authorized officer or employee of the contractor or subcontractor who supervises the payment of wages and shall be on the "Statement of Compliance" form on the back of WH-347 "Payroll (For Contractors Optional Use") or on any form with identical wording. Within seven days after the regular pay date for the pay period the statement shall be delivered to a representative of the federal or state agency in charge.

Department of Labor (DOL) - The Department of Labor aides wage earners, retirees, and job seekers by monitoring and improving working conditions, protecting health care and retirement benefits, and helping employers find work. The DOL also tracks economic factors such as changes in employment and prices. In addition, the DOL administers many Federal labor laws like unemployment insurance, minimum wage, overtime pay, and freedom from discrimination in the work place.

Direct deposits - A direct deposit is a deposit in which funds (paychecks in particular) are directly credited to the employee's individual bank account. This saves the employee the trip to the bank.

Disability - A person is disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act only if (1) he has a physical or mental impairment; and (2) that impairment substantially limits a major life activity, such as walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, and breathing.

Discrimination - Discrimination is the treatment or consideration of others based on class or category such as religion, gender, race, or disability rather than individual merit.

Disposable Earnings - Disposable earnings are gross wages less deductions require by federal, state or local law.

EFTPS - The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System is a tax payment system offered by the U.S. Department of Treasury to allow taxpayes to pay federal taxes electronically and free of cost.

Employee Handbook - The employee handbook summarizes company behavior requirements, outlines benefits offered and also gives tools that can be used to enforce disciplinary action if needed. An employee handbook is a written summary of company policies, which that company gives to its employees. Employers design handbooks to answer employees' questions before employees ask them and to advise them on company policies that an employee might have never considered.

Employee leasing - Employee leasing is where the client company leases employees from another company which assumes human resource functions on their behalf.

Equal Pay Act - The Equal Pay Act prohibits discrimination between men and women based on what their rate of pay will be determined by.

ERISA - The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) is a federal law that sets minimum standards for most voluntarily established pension and health plans in private industry to provide protection for individuals in these plans. There have been a number of amendments to ERISA, expanding the protections available to health benefit plan participants and beneficiaries. One important amendment, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), provides some workers and their families with the right to continue their health coverage for a limited time after certain events, such as the loss of a job. Another amendment to ERISA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) which provides important new protections for working Americans and their families who have preexisting medical conditions or might otherwise suffer discrimination in health coverage based on factors that relate to an individual's health. Other important amendments include the Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act, the Mental Health Parity Act, and the Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act. In general, ERISA does not cover group health plans established or maintained by governmental entities, churches for their employees, or plans which are maintained solely to comply with applicable workers compensation, unemployment, or disability laws. ERISA also does not cover plans maintained outside the United States primarily for the benefit of nonresident aliens or unfunded excess benefit plans.

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) - The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) , which prescribes standards for the basic minimum wage and overtime pay, affects most private and public employment. It requires employers to pay covered employees who are not otherwise exempt at least the federal minimum wage and overtime pay of one-and-one-half-times the regular rate of pay. For nonagricultural operations, it restricts the hours that children under age 16 can work and forbids the employment of children under age 18 in certain jobs deemed too dangerous. For agricultural operations, it prohibits the employment of children under age 16 during school hours and in certain jobs deemed too dangerous. The Act is administered by the Employment Standards Administration's Wage and Hour Division within the U.S. Department of Labor.

Family and Medical Leave Act - The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 provides eligible employees up to 12 work weeks (480 hours) of paid or unpaid job-protected leave during any 12-month period for one or more of the following qualifying events: 1) A serious personal health condition that prevents an employee from performing his or her job, 2) Care for a child during the first year following birth, adoption or foster care placement, 3) Care for a family member who has a serious health condition. While on FMLA leave, employees are entitled to benefits; however, their benefits are subject to changes that occur within the group plan while the individual is on leave. Employees may take FMLA as paid or unpaid leave. Employees on paid leave may use earned sick, vacation or personal leave and they will continue to have benefit contributions deducted from their pay. In all cases, FMLA must be approved and requests for paid and unpaid leave must meet the appropriate policy conditions. Sick leaveis accrued paid leave that employees earn and can use. Sick leave may be used in the event of personal illness or injury, to care for an immediate family member, or in the case of the death of an immediate family member.

FICA - FICA is an acronym for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, which is the name of the legislation that requires employees to withheld taxes from your paycheck to cover certain government programs.

FMLA (Family Medical Leave ACT) - The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 provides eligible employees up to 12 work weeks (480 hours) of paid or unpaid job-protected leave during any 12-month period for one or more of the following qualifying events: (a) A serious personal health condition that prevents an employee from performing his or her job; (b) Care for a child during the first year following birth, adoption or foster care placement; (c) Care for a family member who has a serious health condition.

Flexible Spending Plan - A flexible spending plan enables an employee to set aside pre-tax dollars to use to cover their medical deductibles, any health-related costs not covered by current insurance plan, and child care. If you have a high deductible that you must pay before your coverage kicks in, you can use this program to cover your deductible.

FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) - The FSLA prescribes standards for the basic minimum wage and overtime pay, and affects most private and public employment. It requires employers to pay covered employees, who are not otherwise exempt, at least the federal minimum wage and overtime pay of one-and-one-half-times the regular rate of pay. For nonagricultural operations, it restricts the hours that children under age 16 can work and forbids the employment of children under age 18 in certain jobs deemed too dangerous. For agricultural operations, it prohibits the employment of children under age 16 during school hours and in certain jobs deemed too dangerous. The Act is administered by the Employment Standards Administration's Wage and Hour Division within the U.S. Department of Labor.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) - HIPAA amended the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), to provide new rights and protections for participants and beneficiaries in group health plans. Understanding this amendment is important to your decisions about future health coverage. HIPAA contains protections both for health coverage offered in connection with employment (group health plans) and for individual insurance policies sold by insurance companies (individual policies). If you find a new job that offers health coverage, or if you are eligible for coverage under a family member's employment-based plan, HIPAA includes protections for coverage under group health plans that limit exclusions for preexisting conditions, prohibit discrimination against employees and dependents based on their health status and allow a special opportunity to enroll in a new plan to individuals in certain circumstances.

Minimum Wage - Minimum wage is administered by the Department of Labor through the Fair Labor Standards Act that allows employees a minimum wage to be earned. Currently the wage is $6.75 an hour. Come January of 2007, it withh be $7.15 an hour.

Negligent Hiring - The legal theory of negligent hiring is based on the premise that an employer can be liable for the violent acts or wrongdoing of its employees if it did not investigate adequately their backgrounds or qualifications. Negligent hiring claims often involve employees both who are in a position to pose a threat of injury to the public (such as a driver or delivery person) and who subsequently attack another employee or an outside third party (such as a client or customer). The employer's legal liability typically depends on the circumstances leading up to the employee's misconduct and on whether the employee was acting within the scope of his employment duties.

Net Pay - Net pay is what the employee take home.

New Hire Reporting - New hire reporting is a requirement of all states and is used mainly by child support agencies to track employees for wage garnishment purposes.

Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act of 1996 (Newborn's Act) - The Newborns' Act was signed into law on September 26, 1996 and includes important protections for mothers and their newborn children with regard to the length of the hospital stay following childbirth. The Newborns' Act is subject to concurrent jurisdiction by the Departments of Labor, the Treasury, and Health and Human Services. The Newborns' Act does not require plans, insurance companies or HMOs to provide coverage for hospital stays in connection with childbirth. However, other legal requirements may require this type of coverage, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Questions regarding Title VII should be directed to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

OSHA ( Occupational Safety and Health Administration) - OSHA's mission is to prevent work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths. Since the agency was created in 1971, occupational deaths have been cut by 62% and injuries have declined by 42%.

Payroll - Payroll is one of a series of accounting transactions dealing with the process of paying employees for services rendered. It does so after processing the various requirements for withholding of money from the employee for payment of payroll taxes insurance premiums, employee benefits, garnishments and other deductions.

Payroll Check - Payroll check is a check issued in payment of wages or salary.

Payroll Register - The payroll register is an accounting document that provides a summary of the payroll information for a pay period. The payroll register will list all employees who were paid during the pay period, along with their various deductions and net pay.

Payroll Tax - Payroll tax generally refers to a tax which employers are required to withhold from employees paychecks. In the United States , employers are required to withhold federal income tax, social security tax and Medicare tax. Together, the social security and Medicare are known as the Fica tax. In some places employers may be required to withhold state income tax, or even city income tax.

PEO - Professional Employer Organization - The PEO relationship is a co-employment relationship between the PSP client and PSP. In the PEO relationship, PSP assumes certain employer responsibilities, such as employees wages and taxes, workers' compensation and unemployment insurance, and select employee benefits (all as determined by the client). PSP becomes the employer of record as it relateds to W2s, issuing payroll checks and working with compliance and regulatory matters. The PSP client has all traditional employer responsibilities such as day-to-day employee management, supervision, etc.

Preexisting Condition - A preexisting condition is a medical condition present before your enrollment date in any new group health plan. Under HIPAA, the only preexisting conditions that may be excluded under a preexisting condition exclusion are those for which medical advise, diagnosis, care or treatment was recommended or received within the 6-month period before your enrollment date. (Your enrollment date is your first day of coverage, or if there is a waiting period to get into the plan, the first day of the waiting period.). If you had a medical condition in the past, but have not received any medical advise, diagnosis, care or treatment within the 6 months prior to your enrollment date in the plan, your old condition is not a preexisting condition to which an exclusion can be applied. Moreover, under HIPAA, preexisting condition exclusions cannot be applied to pregnancy, regardless of whether the woman had previous health coverage. In addition, a preexisting condition exclusion cannot be applied to a newborn, adopted child under age 18, or a child under age 18 placed for adoption as long as the child became covered under health coverage within 30 days of the birth, adoption or placement for adoption and provided that the child does not incur a subsequent 63-day break in coverage.

Pretax - Pretax is a term refering to moneys existing before tax deductions.

PSP Access Anywhere - PSP clients can contact PSP and access their account on the internet or by phone.

SDI - SDI is State Disability Insurance. It is a statutory insurance offered by the state to disabled employees as a short term incom replacement.

Section 125 Cafeteria Plan - The Section 125 Cafeteria Plan is the section of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations which allows an employer to deduct employee contributions for certain benefits on a pre-tax basis, such as health, dental and vision premiums. This reduces the amount of federal, state and local taxes you owe.

"Serious Health Condition" - A serious health condition includes any illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves: (1) inpatient care (i.e., an overnight stay), including any period of incapacity or any subsequent treatment in connection with the inpatient care; or (2) "continuing treatment" by a health care provider. Thus, it includes temporary conditions such as a broken leg, as well as a chronic condition like diabetes.

Sexual Harassment - Sexual harassment is unwelcome behavior from either a coworker or advisor that targets others and interferes with a daily work routine. It can cause a hostile and uncomfortable work environment for any person involved.

SUTA - SUTA is state unemployment tax, it is a required tax paid by employers and employees for some states.

Temporary Staffing - A temporary staffing service recruits employees and assigns them to clients to support or supplement the client's workforce.

USERRA - Recent regulations created by the United States Department of Labor (the "DOL") implementing the Uniformed Services Employment Rights and Reemployment Act ("USERRA"). USERRA provides extensive rights to employees who are forced to leave their employment position for service in the uniformed services. Due to the recent expansion in military activity around the world, employers of every size and type should become familiar with USERRA and its specific requirements.

W2 - The W2 form is an employee tax form

W2C - The W2C form is a corrected W2 employee tax form.

Women's Health & Cancer Rights Act - The Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act (WHCRA) includes protections for individuals who elect breast reconstruction in connection with a mastectomy. WHCRA provides that group health plans and health insurance issuers that provide coverage for medical and surgical benefits with respect to mastectomies must also cover certain post-mastectomy benefits, including reconstructive surgery and the treatment of complications (such as lymphedema).

Worker's Compensation - Workers compensation is a claim for benefits for injuries that incurr while performing your job.