Deductions and Benefits Overview
eNETEmployer allows you to create and custom (voluntary) deductions and benefits to employees in your payroll. These custom items are optional and operate independently of the statutory deductions (i.e. CPP, EI and Income Tax).
Custom deductions and benefits can be based on a fixed amounts per pay, changing amounts, or based on a mathematical formula that takes into account the employee's earning amounts. If you add a custom deduction, you have the option of defining a matching amount that will be paid by the employer on the employees behalf.
About Deductions and Benefits
- Deduction Types - eNETEmployer has two main types of deductions:
- Statutory - CPP, EI, and Income Tax. These are maintained by the program automatically, and operate without the need for manual intervention. If required, these deductions can be modified.
- Voluntary - You can add voluntary deductions such as health plan premiums, pension contributions, union dues, garnishee orders etc. Voluntary deductions and benefits are added via the Deductions and Benefits screens respectively.
- When you create a voluntary deduction, a mirrored benefit will be created for use in cases where the employer will match a portion (or all) of the amounts on the employee's behalf.
- Similar to the above point, when you create a voluntary benefit, a mirrored deduction will be created for use in cases where the employee may have a portion (or all) of the amount deducted from their pay.
- Calculation Methods - Deduction and Benefit amounts are calculated in three ways:
- Individually - The most common method is to define a specific amount for each employee.
- Fixed Amount - You define a fixed dollar amount that is used for each employee. Fixed amounts can be applied at the payroll-level to be applied to all employees, and can be overridden on an individual employee basis as needed.
- Formula - You can use the Functions feature to base the deduction or benefit amount on a mathematical calculation. A common example is calculating a pay garnish based on a percentage of an employee's wages.
- Assigning Deductions and Benefits to an Employee - You can assign employee deductions and benefits in two ways:
- Template - This is the most efficient method, and can greatly speed up the process when adding new employees to your payroll. When an employee is assigned a given template, the employee inherits its associated deduction and benefit types. See the appropriate "Assigning via an Employee Template" tutorial below.
- Manually - This method involves adding each accumulator one at a time. This approach could be used if the accumulator is only to be applied to certain employees. See the Assigning Accumulators Manually tutorial below.
- Deduction and Benefit Setup - You work with deductions and benefits in two main areas of the program:
- Payroll Level - When you are adding new deduction and benefit types for use in your payroll, you do so via the Current Payroll - Deductions and Current Payroll - Benefits screens. This is the "master" area where these items are controlled (i.e. you do not make individual employee settings in this screens).
- Employee Level - Once the deduction or benefit is created, you can assign it to each employee via the Employee - Deduction and Benefit Items screen. This is where you work with the individual employee-level amounts and settings.
- Temporary - If you want to override a recurring deduction or benefit item for one or more periods - while leaving the existing item intact - you can create a Temporary deduction or benefit. By default, temporary items are removed automatically after a single pay period (but you can set a temporary item to remain for subsequent pay periods). You can also use the item in conjunction with the regular deduction or benefit.
- Overrides - Deductions and benefits can be overridden for single periods, or on an ongoing basis.
See Also