x

Employee refused to fill out W4

I have a very strange and frustrating situation. I hired a new employee, added them to square, and scheduled them. They worked for 3 shifts and it was clear it wasn't a good fit so I let them go. When I went to run payroll I noticed the employee never filled out their W4 information so the payroll app wouldn't let me process payroll with them included. Rather than holding up paying the rest of my staff, I removed them and moved forward. I figured I would just write a manual check after payroll was run. 

 

The problem is the payroll app still won't let me run an off-cycle payment unless the terminated employee fills out a W4, which they are refusing to do at this point. What am I supposed to do in order to not illegally withhold payment from the employee, or illegally pay the employee without withholding taxes? 

 

Going forward I've learned my lesson, don't let a new hire work a shift until their W4 is completed. I still need some direction on how to handle this immediate issue. 

1,267 Views
Message 1 of 2
Report
1 REPLY 1
Square Champion

Not legal advice, but from the IRS website.  

 

If an employee fails to give you a properly completed Form W-4, you must withhold federal income taxes from his or her wages as if he or she were single with no other adjustments. This means that a single filer's standard deduction with no other entries will be considered in determining withholding.

 

https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc753

1,199 Views
Message 2 of 2
Report