Business & Finance Blog

1. Apply all withholding taxes to vacation pay.

2. You can accrue paid vacation differently by the job, because it is a matter of company policy, not federal law. For example, give managers two days’ paid vacation for each month worked, a clerk one or no days. Or, base paid vacation on salary, years worked or a mix of standards. But the policy should be in writing, made known to employees and applied consistently.

3. You need not include paid vacation days in overtime calculations. For example, if an employee works 40 hours, Monday-Thursday and takes a paid vacation day on Friday, you need not include the paid Friday hours when determining whether the employee is entitled to overtime pay.

4. If vacation pay is included in a normal paycheck, withhold for the entire check over a longer period. For example, if you pay weekly and include one week’s paid vacation, withhold for a two-week period.

5. You must pay earned or accrued vacation if the employee quits. Have a written policy that clearly states who is or is not entitled to accrued vacation pay at termination.

Reminder: Employees may be entitled to unused vacation pay under ERISA (covers early retirement) if there is a written policy or a pattern or practice of paying unused accrued vacation to such employees.

Important: These are the rules under federal law. Where appropriate, also check your state laws.

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If you have lost your job or are needing to find alternative means of making money, freelancing could be the answer.  You must of course have a talent.  Whether you are a virtual assistant, bookkeeper, web designer, legal secretary, writer, translator, marketer, sales, marketing, programmer or researcher it is possible to find work from your home.

How does it work?  First off, you need to do some research on which freelance site is for you.  Some require you to pay fees while others are free.  Three popular sites are elance.com (fee), ifreelance.com (fee) and odesk.com (free).  The basis of every site is the same.  You have your employers or buyers who post their projects for you, the freelancer or provider to bid on.  The buyer posts the project with their terms, budget and project description.  The provider then creates a proposal and places a bid.  At closing, the buyer then reviews all the proposals to make an informed decision on which provider would make the best choice for completing the project.

How to get started? Choose a freelance site and register.  Each site varies as to their fees and is usually on a per category basis i.e. web design and finance.  If you are on a budget, choose the best category that you would like to bid in.  If you can spare 10-40 bucks a month, then register in multiple categories.

Now create a profile or bio about you or your company.  Make it professional, check your spelling and detail your entire work and experience history.  Good to be thorough so the buyer knows who they are hiring.  Be sure to include your education, certifications and things that could set you apart from your competition. In today’s world, everyone wants to work from home and most are forced to find ways to make money from home.  Make your profile stand out and you will be a success. Now post your profile for the world to see.

ifreelance, you can start bidding immediately.

Elance, you need to take an admissions test before you can bid.  They want to be sure you know how their system works before taking part in it.  Tests are available to raise your skill level in your profile which is nice, however they are not necessary to start finding work.  You can test your skill level on phone etiquette, Windows XP, Excel, Word and so much more.

oDesk, their profile section is much more extensive than the rest and you will be required to take and pass tests.  Your grades from your tests shows up in your profile as well.  oDesk uses the same testing system as Elance.

These are the basics to get you started in freelancing.  Good luck.