Pay Days
PRA employees are paid every other Thursday for the two-week period ending the Sunday after payday. If a payday falls on an observed holiday, you will be paid on Wednesday. You are paid by either direct deposit or a paper check. If you choose direct deposit, you will receive an email of your pay stub a few days before payday. You will need to enter your “VMR Password” (the last four digits of your social security number) to access it.
Holidays
PRA employees receive 11 paid holidays. If a holiday falls on a Saturday, you will receive a compensatory day that can be used to take time off at a later date. If a holiday falls on a Sunday, the holiday will be observed the following Monday.
Time Clock
Employees must clock in and out on time clocks provided at each entrance when arriving to work, taking breaks and/or lunches, and when leaving for the day.
Payroll Taxes
Upon hire and whenever your personal or financial situation changes, you should complete a Form W-4 so that the correct federal income tax can be withheld from your pay. To help to ensure that you do not have too much or too little income tax withheld from your pay, the IRS has come up with a withholding allowance calculator. It is not a replacement for Form W-4, but you may find it more accurate and easier to use than the worksheets that accompany Form W-4. You may use the results of this program to help you complete a new Form W-4.
2018 W2 Form
BOX 1 – Federal Taxable Wages
Box 1 includes your wages, bonuses, commissions, tips and other compensation
PLUS
- Personal use of a company car
- Legal Fund
- Your employer’s cost of providing you with group term life insurance (GTL) in excess of $50,000 coverage
MINUS Your pre-tax payroll deductions to:
- Pension plan
- 457 plan (Roth contributions do not reduce Box 1 wages)
- Health and/or Dependent Care FSA
- TSA (mass transit and/or parking)
- Health care contribution
- Vision plan
BOXES 2, 4, 6, 17 AND 19 – Tax Witholding
The amounts withheld for various taxes are included in these boxes.
BOXES 3 AND 5 – Wages Subject to Social Security and Medicare Taxes
Boxes 3 and 5 report wages paid to you that are subject to the 6.2% social security tax and 1.45% Medicare tax. Box 3 social security wages cannot exceed $ $118,500 for 2015, whereas Box 5 Medicare wages have no ceiling amount. Box 3 and 5 wages are the same as Box 1 wages:
PLUS
- Your pre-income tax contributions your pension and 457 plans are included in Box 3 and Box 5 wages
BOX 10 – Dependent Care Benefits
Your pre-tax payroll withholdings for dependent care is reported in Box 10.
BOX 12 – Required IRS Tax Codings
CODES D,E,F,G,S,AA,BB, and EE– Amounts you contributed by payroll deductions to your qualified retirement plan are reported in Box 12 with the following codes:
- D – 401(k) Plan
- E – 403(b) Plan
- F – Salary reduction SEP Plan
- G – 457(b) government plan
- S- SIMPLE-IRA Plan
- AA – Roth 401(k) Contributions
- BB – Roth 403(b) Contributions
- EE – Roth 457(b) Contributions * Note – “Catch-up” contributions based on age are included in these amounts
- CODE C – Box 12, code C, reports your employer’s cost of your group-term life insurance coverage in excess of $50,000
- CODE L – Employer’s reimbursement of business mileage at rates above 56.5 cents per mile are reported here as well as in Box 1 wages
- CODES M&N – When you retire and have in excess of $50,000 of group-term life insurance coverage, the uncollected social security and Medicare taxes are reported here.
BOX 13 – Retirement Plan
This box should be checked if you were an “active participant” in our employer’s qualified retirement plan during the year. This box should not be checked for a Section 457 government plan.
BOX 14 – Other Information
Box 14 is used by employers to report information not required by the IRS, but may assist an employee with amounts relevant in preparation of their personal income tax returns. Examples of Box 14 information include:
- Union dues
- Personal use of a company car (also included in Boxes 1, 3 and 5)
- Employee’s pension Contribution amount
- Employer’s contribution to legal fund
- Employee’s State unemployment taxAny other information an employer wishes to report to employees
Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Form W-2
Why doesn’t the amount in the Box 1 Wages, Tips, and Other Compensation agree to the total Gross Earnings on my last paystub?
The W-2 Box 1 amount represents federal taxable wages and other compensation. This would be different than the Gross Earnings on your paystub due to items that reduce your federal taxable wages such as FSA Health and Dependent Care, pretax transit and parking, pretax health insurance deductions and pre-tax retirement plans.
Why doesn’t the amount in the Box 3 Social Security Wages agree to the total Gross Earnings on my last paystub?
The W-2 Box 3 amount represents taxable wages and other compensation for Social Security taxation purposes. This would be different than the paystub Gross Earnings due to items that reduce your Social Security taxable wages which are the FSA Health and Dependent Care deductions, pretax transit and parking, and pretax health deductions. Also, the ceiling on Social Security taxable wages limits the wages taxable for Social Security purposes. Employees who have earnings in excess of this ceiling will find that this will result in an additional difference between the paystub Gross Earnings, W-2 Box 1, and W-2 Box 3 wages.
Why doesn’t the amount in the Box 5 Medicare wages and tips agree to the total Gross Earnings on my last paystub?
The W-2 Box 5 amount represents taxable wages and other compensation for Medicare taxation purposes. This would be different than the paystub Gross Earnings due to items that reduce your Social Security taxable wages which are the FSA Health and Dependent Care, pretax transit and parking, pretax health insurance, and pre-tax pension plan deductions. Medicare taxable wages do not have a ceiling amount.
The most important thing to remember is that an employee’s gross wages may differ from their taxable wages, depending on the situation.