Presented by Paystrubmakr.com 
By John Wolf
Do you look on your pay stub
That seems like a silly question, but after working hard for the first few weeks of your new job, we all look forward to seeing our paycheck, but we do not always review it as we should. Getting a pay stub can become a routine that employees start to ignore after a period. If payroll is a direct deposit, some employees don’t even bother to open the envelopes in which they have their evidence of payment pay stubs, and some don’t even check them online. That is a mistake!
Every employee must read their pay stubs every time they get paid. Here are some of the reasons:
-
Taxes and Withholding
Ensuring all the information is correct on each pay stub is one of the main reasons employees should check them. Ensure it has your name, social security number, paid time off balance, pay rates, and other information and it is all accurate. Review this info immediately, as it can save you a hassle later; worse, it might be too late to fix it.
Reading your paystub.
The social security number needs to be corrected; the taxes your employer has filed with the state and the federal government will also be wrong or not attached to your account. Suppose the withholdings are applied to someone else’s account. In that case, you won’t get the social security or Medicare benefit, which means your eventual benefits under these programs could be decreased. Who wants to pay into Medicare for many years only to find out you don’t qualify for it yourself?
Do the required math to ensure that every calculation has been done accurately. If any number needs to be corrected, you could get an unpleasant surprise at tax time. One issue with a tax error is that it could be a nightmare to get back taxes once they have been applied to someone else’s account. The first of many steps will be to file for an amended refund – quite an unpleasant action.
-
Benefits and Deductions
Employees should always check pay stubs to check on their benefits deductions – including health, dental, 401(k), and others to make sure they have been calculated correctly. If these benefits are not mentioned in the pay stub, it means that you aren’t properly enrolled in company benefits plans.
- Hours Worked
Even if an employee is salaried, it’s still crucial for them to look at the number of hours they have worked and make sure they are correct. Employees working on a hourly basis should track their hours and compare their records with the information on their pay stubs every pay period.
- Paid Time Off
Employees or contractors should also keep a record of any leave time they took throughout the year and check to ensure it matches up with what is actually on the pay stub. When paychecks come on a two-week cycle after time has been taken off, it can be easy for employees to forget how much paid time off they took and think they have more left than they actually do.
Aren’t there many great (at least important) reasons to read your pay stub? To learn more about how to read how to read a pay stub, do a quick google search on the topic. If you know where to look at a pay stub, you will be prepared to point out any mistake before it costs you money or your valuable time. Pay Stub Maker to save you a lot of time by providing a valid payroll calculator and in 5 minutes you can easily generate your own professional quality pay stub, including accurate State and Federal income tax deductions. If you’re wondering what does a check stub look like, visit https://paystubmakr.com/.