Year-End HR Guide
Our HR experts have compiled monthly tasks, important information, and handy resources to make year-end HR processing easier.
Get the Year-end HR Guide
Want to take it with you? Download our convenient guide to make your year-end HR processing easier.
Looking for year-end payroll processing? Click here.
October & November
End-Year Tips:
Open Enrollment
Open enrollment is a huge and overwhelming part of your yearly HR tasks - but it doesn’t have to be. Ask yourself the following questions and consider using a unified solution that can simplify your benefits administration:
- What is your open enrollment process currently like?
- How many transactions are involved in your enrollment process?
- How confident are you with your current
enrollment process? - What happens if you do or don’t make a change?
- What are the long-term effects of the changes made?
A core HR solution using a centralized database that includes benefits administration with carrier connections for transmission of paperwork to benefits providers makes open enrollment a much easier process to manage.
Are You Eligible for Disaster Assistance and Emergency Relief?
Special tax law provisions may help businesses recover financially from the impact of a disaster. Depending on the circumstances, the IRS may grant additional time to file returns and pay taxes. Visit the IRS website for more information.
December
End-Year Tips
Is the Minimum Wage Rate Changing in Your State?
The federal minimum wage rate is $7.25 an hour. Find out the minimum wage rate in your state by visiting our Minimum Wage Rates by State page.
Are You Prepared for ACA Annual Reporting?
Did you know there are 18 potential conflicts between lines 14 and 16 on the Form 1095-C? An ACA reporting solution with an error-checking algorithm ensures codes are valid and data is formatted correctly for reporting to the IRS. Learn more about Form 1095-C reporting codes.
Are You Eligible for Disaster Assistance
and Emergency Relief?
Special tax law provisions may help businesses recover financially from the impact of a disaster. Depending on the circumstances, the IRS may grant additional time to file returns and pay taxes. Visit the IRS website for more information.
January & February
CONDUCT STRATEGIC PLANNING
Review existing policies and procedures, accrual balances, and next year communications to employees including holiday schedules and pay schedules. Plan for operations, upcoming projects, and strategic/continuous improvement initiatives. Those may include:
Planning Topic | What to Review |
---|---|
Hiring & Staffing | Meet with your hiring managers to evaluate their staffing needs by department staffing needs and plan sourcing strategies. Consider retirements, terminations, promotions, turnover, company strategy, and other changes to staffing levels. |
Training & Development | Review employee development plans, training needs and/or requests, performance reviews, or training needs assessments to evaluate training needs. Schedule training and development activities for 2021. |
Employee Relations | Plan an employee engagement survey to evaluate morale. Plan, schedule, and update critical employee events, activities, initiatives, paid holidays, etc. Distribute attendance and vacation calendars/planners to supervisors and managers. |
Performance Management | After reviews are finished, plan for the next performance management cycle, including goal setting for 2021. Work with managers to schedule follow-up, feedback, and support activities to enhance performance. |
Management Development | Review exit surveys, employee feedback, and other information about managers. Schedule recently promoted supervisors or managers requiring additional training for supervisory training or leadership development. |
Compensation | Evaluate compensation and incentive practices for each of your employees and plan new pay programs. Schedule which salary surveys you will participate in next year. Budget for 2021 pay adjustments and/or merit increases. |
Benefits | Review ACA compliance and reporting regulations in effect in 2021 and schedule dates and tasks for compliance. Plan your benefits strategy for the upcoming year including benefit additions, enhancements, and removals. |
Compliance | Conduct an HR audit. Review federal and state compliance trends for 2021. Plan proactive efforts to maintain compliance or modifications to existing practices to ensure compliance. |
Continuous Improvement | Plan initiatives (like deploying an HRIS) to streamline and make HR processes more efficient. Enhance processes and systems to reduce errors and improve the quality of deliverables. Evaluate vendors for HR services. For other systems in use, install updates for the most efficient use of systems and reporting. |
REVIEW OSHA FORM 300A FOR ANNUAL REPORTING
Review your company’s OSHA Form 300A for required annual posting from February 1 – April 30 in a common area for employees.
POST UPDATED FEDERAL AND STATE COMPLIANCE POSTERS
It is important to post the appropriate compliance posters or employers may be subject to penalties. Depending on the employer, these posters may include:
- Job Safety and Health Protection (OSHA)
- Equal Employment Opportunity
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
- Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Visit the Department of Labor (DOL) for assistance on complying with poster requirements. Make sure you also visit your state’s labor department page to determine which state compliance posters you are required to post.
CONDUCT FORECASTING FOR FUTURE HIRING NEEDS
When forecasting for future hiring, it’s important to look at where your company is today and where it is headed. Are you planning for growth? Most companies look to see sustainable growth from year to year. The way to achieve those goals and stay on target is to grow your workforce. Some things to consider when planning for future hiring:
- Will your company be launching new products that will require additional talent for a smooth process?
- Is your company planning to expand into other states or open other locations?
- What is your current employee turnover rate?
- Do you anticipate any changes in your workforce? For example, do you have several employees who will be retiring soon?
- Is your company planning to invest in any new technology? For example, are you planning to implement new HR software next year?
- Are there going to be any changes to your company’s goals going into next year?
Before your first 2021 payroll
REVIEW AND UPDATE EMPLOYEE DEDUCTIONS
The first payroll of the year is a great time to review and update your employee deductions. You’ll want to review deductions like:
- Medical
- Dental
- Life Insurance
- Retirement deductions such as 401(k)
- Other voluntary deductions
REVIEW AND UPDATE RETIREMENT PLAN CATCH-UP CONTRIBUTIONS
Retirement plan regular and catch-up contributions will deduct automatically out of the first payroll for 2021. Review your retirement plans and report any changes needed and submit those updates with your first payroll for 2021.
FINISH ACA REPORTING
Make sure you wrap up ACA annual reporting and filing to avoid penalties for late or incomplete paperwork:
- Failure to file complete and accurate Forms 1094-C by the form deadlines will result in penalties equal to $270 per return.
- Failure to file and provide correct information on Form 1095-C could result in a $270 penalty per return.
REVIEW STATE MINIMUM WAGE CHANGES
Click here to get complete Minimum Wage Changes by state. If any changes apply to your business, be sure to update the information with your payroll provider.
END OF JANUARY 2021
COMMUNICATE WITH EMPLOYEES ABOUT THEIR FORM W-2S
If your employees are receiving paper copies only, communicate when they can expect to receive their Form W-2s in the mail. If you have the option to provide your employees with online access to their W-2s, let them know how they can access their copies.
FILE YOUR FORMS W-2
January 31, 2021 is the deadline to file Forms W-2 by paper or electronically.
FILE YOUR FORMS 1099-MISC
January 31, 2021, is the deadline to file your 1099-MISCs with Form 1096.
Form 1099-MISC is the miscellaneous income form that employers must file for non-employees who are paid compensation of $600.00 or more (including fees, commissions, prizes, and awards) during the year. Forms 1099 are typically issued to contractors.
DISTRIBUTE W-2S AND 1099S TO EMPLOYEES AND CONTRACTORS
January 31, 2021, is the deadline to distribute W-2s to your employees and 1099s to contractors.
DISTRIBUTE 1095-CS TO EMPLOYEES
January 31, 2021, is the deadline to distribute Forms 1095-C to your employees.
END OF FEBRUARY 2021
FILE FORMS 1094-C AND 1095-C
February 28, 2021 is the deadline to file paper Forms 1094-C and 1095-C. If you are filing electronically, you have until March 31, 2021 to file.
End-Year Tips
You’re Almost Done with Year-End Processing!
Make sure you distribute Form W-2s to your employees by January 31, 2021.
What’s Your Plan for ACA Reporting Next Year?
If ACA compliance and reporting was a headache this past year, make 2021 the year of change! Take the complexity out of ACA compliance and reporting with a solution that unifies your human capital management processes.
Are You Eligible for Disaster Assistance and Emergency Relief?
Special tax law provisions may help businesses recover financially from the impact of a disaster. Depending on the circumstances, the IRS may grant additional time to file returns and pay taxes. Visit the IRS website for more information.
YEAR-END RESOURCES
Year-End HR Checklist
Use this checklist to keep track of your important year-end HR tasks.
SUTA Wage Bases
Find out what your SUTA wage base is for the new year.
FUTA Credit Reduction States
Check to see if your state has a FUTA credit reduction.
Payroll Taxes: Rates and Changes
Stay up-to-date on payroll tax changes from year to year.
Minimum Wage Rates
Look to see what the current minimum wage rates are for each state.
ACA Reporting and Compliance
Use this handy guide for navigating the year-end ACA reporting and compliance.
APS SOlutions for your business
Benefits Administration with Carrier Connections - Easily conduct online enrollment, submit information to your plan providers, and adjust benefits plans as needed.
Manager and Employee Self Service - Save time and empower your managers and employees with online access to their payroll information.
APS Hire - Attract, hire, and onboard top talent with our recruiting and onboarding solution.
YEAR-END LINKS
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- IRS Forms Federal Form
- W-2 General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3
- Federal Form 944
- Federal Form 1099-NEC
- General Instructions for Certain Information Returns
- About Form 1094-C, Transmittal of Employer-Provided Health Insurance and Coverage Information Returns
- About Form 1095-C, Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage
- Publication 15 Employer’s Tax Guide
- Publication 15-A Employer’s Supplemental Tax Guide
- Social Security Administration (SSA)
- SSA Regional Office Information
- Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS)
- Filing Information Returns Electronically (FIRE) for Filing 1099s Online
- IRS Reporting Sick Pay Paid by Third Parties
- IRS Publication 15-B, Employer’s Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits
THE ONLY YEAR-END CHECKLIST YOU’LL EVER NEED
Keep track of all your monthly year-end HR tasks with our handy checklist.
How APS Can Help
The APS Affordable Care Act Solution makes it easy to manage ACA compliance and reporting with features like part-time staff management, measurement period management, and e-filing of Forms 1094-C and 1095-C. Employees can also review and correct their data when needed with the APS employee self-service portal. HR managers can then review changes and commit them to employees’ records, saving critical time during year-end processing.
If your organization is not utilizing a benefits administration system, conducting open enrollment can be a challenge. APS Benefits Administration houses this necessary information in a truly unified database, making it easy to manage online open enrollment, multiple benefit plans, and reporting.