Many employees get confused about which important documents to protect and which can hit the recycling bin. Some find trouble in keeping a lot of papers and organizing them. Unfortunately, it is all too common for employees to misplace or discard the necessary documentation to verify any claim of inaccurate benefit amounts, pay on a salary schedule, discrepancy in salary or some other employment dispute regarding the contribution amounts or the number of hours worked in a year.
How Keeping Pay Stubs Can Protect You?
Apart from the annual employment contract or any related employee information worksheet, you should also keep your pay stubs because these documents provide an explanation of your placement on a salary schedule, dollar amounts of salary, fringe benefits, tax deductions, number of hours worked and other relevant information about your total compensation.
Keeping a copy of each payroll document provided by your employer is important. You should always review your payroll documents to make sure that you are in fact being compensated at the level and in the right manner.
Now there must be questions arising in your mind about how long you should protect your pay stubs. You will want to keep your pay stubs for approximately a year. You should hold on to pay stubs so that you can use them to verify the accuracy of your Form W-2 when tax season arrives. You will also want to keep either a digital or hard copy of the past year’s worth of your monthly bank and credit card statements.
Why should you protect your pay stubs?
Every company’s payroll department provides payroll services. It’s a relief to the small business owner that a professional payroll company can be hired to keep them informed and in compliance with information regarding payroll. It’s especially significant that the payroll taxes are handled accurately and on time. While your employer is busy in the operations of the business and may miss something, pay stubs are the employees’ record that they got compensated correctly for each pay period.
Therefore, a good employee is the one who keeps the pay stub for future reference. So, be a good employee and consider all these reasons why you might need a pay stub:
As a proof of employment:
- To refinance a mortgage
- To secure a loan to purchase a home or a vehicle
- To obtain a credit card
- To be accepted as a tenant
- To obtain retail store credit
For a work reference:
- To show the number of hours worked per pay period
- To show where you work and length of employment
To provide proof of:
- Payment of loan payments
- Payment of child support
- Evidence of savings plan
- Payment of wage garnishments
For Income Tax return filing:
- Total annual income
- Total taxes paid
- Proof of work expenses
- Proof of health benefits
Before you get confused about how to get past pay stubs, be smart, keep your pay stubs and then keep the last one for the year with your tax records to make your life easier and hassle-free. To know more, visit http://paystubmakr.com/