Handling Unclaimed or Abandoned Wages

Employers are responsible for identifying paychecks that remain unclaimed by employees and turning over these “unclaimed wages” to the appropriate state each year. However, many employers are unaware of abandoned wage requirements, including when wages are considered abandoned, how unclaimed payroll checks must be tracked, and what due diligence must be performed before reporting and remitting funds.

Abandoned wages, abandoned property, and escheat may go by different names, but the requirement is clear: employers, as holders, must report unclaimed wages to the proper state, at the proper time, in the proper manner, and using the proper method. Failure to comply can result in audit assessments, significant interest accumulations, fines, penalties, and even criminal penalties.

For organizations with employees in multiple states, unclaimed wage compliance can become especially complex. Liability may extend beyond the state where the company is headquartered and into any state where an employee has failed to claim a paycheck. This webinar will help payroll, HR, accounting, and business professionals understand how to properly identify, safeguard, report, and remit unclaimed wages while reducing compliance risk.

The only way to avoid costly penalties, fines, and interest is for the payroll department to correctly identify all unclaimed wages and report and remit them each year to the proper authorities.

• When are wages considered abandoned?
• What laws or regulations cover unclaimed wages?
• What is payroll’s responsibility relating to abandoned wages?
• What processes to take to correctly report and remit unclaimed wages
• Liability issues—what do you do if you have an outside payroll service
• How to establish proper procedures for tracking unclaimed wages correspondence to comply with due diligence requirements
• How to safeguard unclaimed wages from unauthorized and improper release
• The importance of written procedures
• Steps to surviving an audit

• Understand when wages are considered abandoned and what laws or regulations apply to unclaimed wages.
• Learn payroll’s responsibility for identifying, tracking, reporting, and remitting abandoned wages.
• Review the processes needed to comply with due diligence requirements and maintain proper correspondence.
• Discover how to safeguard unclaimed wages from unauthorized or improper release.
• Learn the importance of written procedures and the steps needed to survive an audit.
• Understand liability issues when working with an outside payroll service.

Attending this webinar will help you gain confidence in managing unclaimed wage compliance and reduce the risk of costly penalties, fines, interest, and audit exposure. You will leave with practical insight into the procedures payroll departments need to protect the organization.

• Payroll Executives, Managers, Administrators, Professionals, Practitioners, and Entry Level Personnel
• Human Resources Executives, Managers, and Administrators
• Accounting Personnel
• Business Owners, Executive Officers, Operations Managers, and Departmental Managers
• Lawmakers
• Attorneys and Legal Professionals
• Any individual or entity that must deal with the complexities and requirements of payroll compliance issues