Port Strikes, Texas Paychecks, and Pantry Panic – What’s Coming for Your Wallet?

[00:00:00] Ugh, dieser komplexe Finanzierungstalk ist ganz schön anstrengend. Ob ich mein Depot jemals angelegt kriege?

[00:00:06] Aber du hast doch schon ein Depot.

[00:00:08] Äh, nee.

[00:00:09] Doch, du hast das Vodafone Gigadepot.

[00:00:11] Ha, stimmt. Und da habe ich ja selbst in der Hand, wie groß mein Depot ist.

[00:00:15] Jetzt mit dem Vodafone Gigadepot und verbrauchtes Datenvolumen in den nächsten Monat mitnehmen.

[00:00:19] Go on im zuverlässigen 5G-Netz von Vodafone. Vodafone. Together we can.

[00:00:24] Welcome to our podcast, It's About Payroll.

[00:00:34] We're your hosts, Brian Escobar and Walter William Duncan III.

[00:00:38] Whether you're new to the payroll game or a seasoned veteran, we have something for you.

[00:00:45] Welcome back, folks.

[00:00:47] This is episode 126 on It's About Payroll, 37 on It's About Your Paycheck,

[00:00:56] and we're talking Texas deductions today.

[00:01:01] But before we get into it, how you doing, sir?

[00:01:04] Man, I am good.

[00:01:05] It's another Monday.

[00:01:07] It's almost October.

[00:01:09] It's in.

[00:01:09] Oh, let's say.

[00:01:10] Quarter in.

[00:01:12] That's right, it's quarter in.

[00:01:13] Down to the nitty gritty, year in.

[00:01:15] Trying to start getting ready for that.

[00:01:17] Fourth quarter fun.

[00:01:19] Yeah, fourth quarter fun.

[00:01:21] For all you employees out there, y'all need to go in, update your addresses and your systems.

[00:01:26] If you have an employee self-service system, go update your address.

[00:01:31] Go update your tax withholdings.

[00:01:33] All that good stuff.

[00:01:34] It almost seemed like you were going to say update your resume, but some of you may have to update your resume if you're looking for something new.

[00:01:40] That's half that.

[00:01:41] Yeah, this is a good time for that, too.

[00:01:42] Update your resume.

[00:01:44] I heard somebody say, oh, it's not a good time for hiring.

[00:01:46] That's a lie.

[00:01:48] Every time is a good time for hiring.

[00:01:50] Companies don't wait to hire.

[00:01:53] They need somebody, they put an ad out to hire.

[00:01:55] What else?

[00:01:56] Yeah, I see you got there.

[00:01:57] This is Hispanic Heritage Month.

[00:01:59] Yep.

[00:02:00] It's September 15th through October 15th.

[00:02:03] Yeah.

[00:02:04] I always thought that was weird.

[00:02:06] Why is it not an actual month?

[00:02:07] It's 30 days, but it's not a...

[00:02:09] You know what I'm saying?

[00:02:10] At least Black History Month has the month of February.

[00:02:13] Yeah.

[00:02:14] Why Hispanic Heritage has got to be all broken up and...

[00:02:17] Oh, man.

[00:02:18] Yeah.

[00:02:18] I didn't make it.

[00:02:19] I know.

[00:02:20] I could talk Snap about it, though.

[00:02:21] Yeah.

[00:02:22] And then October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month as well.

[00:02:25] Oh, that's dope.

[00:02:26] Hey, God bless all those survivors.

[00:02:29] Yeah, I can't say the expletive, but F cancer.

[00:02:31] F cancer.

[00:02:33] Yep.

[00:02:33] We could say it.

[00:02:34] We could say that for sure.

[00:02:35] God bless the dead for all those who have passed and we've lost for that, man.

[00:02:40] It's tough.

[00:02:41] Cancer sucks, man.

[00:02:42] F cancer.

[00:02:43] We're up.

[00:02:43] Yep, yep.

[00:02:44] Man, what else, man?

[00:02:45] What else is going on?

[00:02:46] Man, I'll just get right into it, man, with my news update.

[00:02:49] Go for it.

[00:02:50] A brief news update.

[00:02:52] I'm sure a lot of you, whether you're an employee or payroll pro or HR pro, you've probably been seeing this in the news.

[00:02:58] There's a looming strike with the ports on the Eastern and golf ports that may be impacting us in the future.

[00:03:08] So they have until midnight to get a deal.

[00:03:10] Oh, midnight tonight?

[00:03:12] Midnight tonight.

[00:03:14] Wow.

[00:03:14] So I read an article out there that said a lot of the rails are trying to expedite shipping and get stock of all supplies and all that stuff because if this hits, they're saying that we could fill it as consumers, right?

[00:03:29] No, we will.

[00:03:31] Yeah.

[00:03:31] Maybe.

[00:03:32] We will.

[00:03:32] So there's an analyst out there, analysis out there that said that the cost could be $5 billion.

[00:03:40] Absolutely.

[00:03:41] Ooh, per day.

[00:03:42] Good gosh.

[00:03:44] That's the start of the cost.

[00:03:46] Yeah, man.

[00:03:48] Yeah.

[00:03:49] No, absolutely.

[00:03:50] I saw a TikTok post that dudes were already clocking out.

[00:03:55] Yeah.

[00:03:55] Like the shop steward or whoever, the leader on the floor was like, yo, if you're in union, blah, blah, blah, clock out.

[00:04:02] Let's go.

[00:04:02] It's time to go home.

[00:04:04] Yep.

[00:04:04] And that's what they're saying.

[00:04:05] They're saying stock up on canned goods now.

[00:04:07] Stock up on those non-perishables and stuff because look, they're saying they're making progress.

[00:04:13] They're doing updates hourly, so they're saying they're making progress.

[00:04:16] So there's a chance that they would get something done by midnight tonight.

[00:04:20] It's always better to be safe than sorry.

[00:04:22] I mean, yeah, it'll be ugly tomorrow at the grocery store if this happens.

[00:04:29] Like I may have to stop before I go to work, you know, do some things.

[00:04:35] Yep.

[00:04:35] Get some clothes, man.

[00:04:37] Whatever it is.

[00:04:38] I told my lady, I was like, hey, we'll get some rice and beans.

[00:04:41] We enjoy eating anyway.

[00:04:43] We got some frozen veggies.

[00:04:44] Ramen.

[00:04:45] Some ramen.

[00:04:46] Some simple things that we can like just stock up on and have just in case.

[00:04:51] Oh, yeah.

[00:04:52] Look, some of the posts that I saw, they said, where are we, Tom?

[00:04:55] Because we rambling on.

[00:04:56] Some of the posts I saw was like giving timelines on things.

[00:05:00] Like it'll be like a week or two before this starts going down.

[00:05:04] Stuff like that.

[00:05:05] So, but people are going to panic.

[00:05:09] Like not everybody's like us that we're like, you know, watching all this news and consuming

[00:05:14] all the news.

[00:05:15] All they're going to hear is get this.

[00:05:16] Yeah.

[00:05:17] Toilet paper.

[00:05:18] Yeah.

[00:05:18] And look, that's going to cost me hours and stuff like that.

[00:05:21] And before I pass the baton over to you for your updates, there's two things I want to

[00:05:25] point out is they said that shipping fees may be lumped in into the consumer, the prices

[00:05:33] that consumers pay.

[00:05:34] So the consumer costs.

[00:05:35] So they may like, because stuff is not being shipped, like increase prices and put that

[00:05:42] amount into how much we're paying for stuff.

[00:05:44] Supply and demand.

[00:05:44] Right.

[00:05:46] That's crazy.

[00:05:47] Right.

[00:05:47] And so, and so the conspiracy theorist in me is man, the timing of it is just less crazy.

[00:05:52] Like the Fed just decreased drop by what was half of a percentage, like 0.5%.

[00:05:58] I don't know, but I remember they dropped it by something.

[00:06:00] Yeah.

[00:06:00] It was a pretty large amount as they said.

[00:06:03] Right.

[00:06:04] And so now it's just like, okay, look, but these people.

[00:06:08] It's funny.

[00:06:09] Right.

[00:06:09] Cause well, it's not funny.

[00:06:10] It's funny, but this all goes into your paycheck.

[00:06:13] Right.

[00:06:14] This is a time where you need to go and hit Costco, hit BJ's, hit Sam's club, hit Walmart.

[00:06:22] You know what I mean?

[00:06:23] If you're trying to stretch your dollar here.

[00:06:25] Yeah.

[00:06:26] And good point is that you can shop at Sam's without a membership too.

[00:06:31] Really?

[00:06:32] Yeah.

[00:06:32] Sam's, I think.

[00:06:33] Oh, I didn't know that.

[00:06:33] Yeah.

[00:06:33] You can stop at Sam's without a membership too.

[00:06:35] So most of them will let you do that one, that first day trial.

[00:06:38] Right.

[00:06:39] You can try it out today type of guest thing or whatever.

[00:06:42] But everybody knows somebody with a membership.

[00:06:44] Go ahead and hit them up.

[00:06:46] You know what I mean?

[00:06:47] Yeah.

[00:06:47] Walmart.

[00:06:48] You do not, you do not need a membership.

[00:06:49] People don't like going to Walmart.

[00:06:51] Yeah.

[00:06:52] Walmart has great prices and you could really stretch a dollar.

[00:06:55] Anywho.

[00:06:56] Yep.

[00:06:57] So there's a 10% fee.

[00:06:59] So you just need, you can go in.

[00:07:01] Oh, they charge 10%.

[00:07:02] They'll give you a 10% fee.

[00:07:03] Yep.

[00:07:04] It's not bad.

[00:07:05] You're saving money by going to the big box places.

[00:07:08] Just the point is, if you're worried about this and you are tight budgeted, right?

[00:07:15] Go try to stretch your dollar, get those non-perishables, go get the things that'll, hey, your electricity

[00:07:21] is not going anywhere.

[00:07:22] So let's keep some sanity in mind here, right?

[00:07:26] Our electricity is not going.

[00:07:27] The grocery store is not closing, right?

[00:07:31] None of that, but stuff may run out.

[00:07:34] Yep.

[00:07:34] And it's going to take a while before all these places run out of everything.

[00:07:38] Yeah.

[00:07:39] You know what I mean?

[00:07:40] We got to keep our sanity.

[00:07:41] You know what it reminds me of?

[00:07:42] It takes me back and then you can go with your updates.

[00:07:46] It takes me to pandemic times.

[00:07:49] People were stocking up on toilet paper, TP, paper towels.

[00:07:54] They were stocking up on all that stuff.

[00:07:57] People were fighting at the stores.

[00:07:59] It was crazy.

[00:08:00] Pandemony.

[00:08:02] Yeah.

[00:08:02] No, for sure.

[00:08:03] No, this is, it's worthwhile to talk about and to shoot.

[00:08:07] There's never, they're not going to post until next week.

[00:08:09] So hopefully we're not, we're not, we're not in this stage.

[00:08:12] All of this be a moot point.

[00:08:15] But yeah, just keep your sanity.

[00:08:16] Keep your wits about you.

[00:08:18] Understand really what's going on.

[00:08:19] It's the products that are in a threat of being delivered.

[00:08:25] You know what you should know?

[00:08:27] You should know that.

[00:08:28] You should know podcast.

[00:08:30] That's what you should know because then you'd be in the know on all things

[00:08:34] that are timely and topical subscribe to the, you should know podcast.

[00:08:38] Yes.

[00:08:39] Thanks.

[00:08:40] Pay attention to the news, pay attention to things.

[00:08:43] But anywho, I did like a rundown style for mine.

[00:08:46] Here's a bunch of, I'm not going to get into depth.

[00:08:48] Like the links will be in the show notes.

[00:08:50] The first one is remote rage.

[00:08:53] Amazon is man.

[00:08:54] And, and, and amongst, among Amazon amongst a bunch of companies now are jumping on the

[00:08:59] back to office trend, mandating people back to the office.

[00:09:04] And there's some employees at Amazon that are just in a rage about it.

[00:09:10] So that's one of them.

[00:09:12] And then city scrutiny, Citibank.

[00:09:15] Citibank.

[00:09:15] Oh, wow.

[00:09:16] Yeah.

[00:09:16] Citibank is tightening the security and monitoring of employees on misconduct and things like that.

[00:09:26] I think that if you read the article, leaning toward they're having problems with third party

[00:09:29] vent with contractors, as we've seen before, when you hire third party people and vendors

[00:09:35] and outside, you have good control on your employees.

[00:09:38] But these third parties, right?

[00:09:41] These vendors, they are the ones who present a risk to your security and a risk to your

[00:09:47] policies and procedures.

[00:09:49] So they're really scrutinizing that.

[00:09:51] And they're trying to make it like, Hey, if you work here for us in any capacity, you got

[00:09:56] to adhere to these rules.

[00:09:57] So there's some city scrutiny out there.

[00:09:59] And then the last one is Tesla home invasion.

[00:10:03] Tesla is cracking down on sick time in Germany.

[00:10:09] They are literally visiting people's houses who claim they are sick.

[00:10:15] Yes, bro.

[00:10:15] That's the article.

[00:10:16] I don't know if it's true or not, but the article is that's what it says.

[00:10:20] They're visiting people home.

[00:10:22] I've only heard of those things in court cases where somebody's suing the company for disability.

[00:10:27] Oh, I broke my back.

[00:10:29] But then the investigators catch them putting up the shutters and doing things around the

[00:10:34] house while they claim to be hurt.

[00:10:36] I've heard about in that respect and those dynamics, but just, Hey, I'm home sick for the

[00:10:41] week or whatever.

[00:10:42] You knocking on doors because people are crazy.

[00:10:44] I just pulled it up.

[00:10:46] It says they're going there to appeal to the employee's work ethic.

[00:10:54] Wow.

[00:10:55] Tesla home invasions.

[00:10:58] That's crazy.

[00:10:59] Anywho.

[00:11:00] Yeah, it's crazy, bro.

[00:11:01] I saw all these things and I was like, y'all, you know what?

[00:11:03] I'm sharing all this nonsense craziness, man.

[00:11:06] Go on.

[00:11:07] Go on.

[00:11:09] Before we get into the main topic, let's pay the bills.

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[00:12:08] That is T-I-M-E-T-R-A-K-Go.com.

[00:12:14] Let's go.

[00:12:15] Let's go.

[00:12:18] So, again, our main topic today, we're talking Texas deductions.

[00:12:24] We're going to be on a state thread, and maybe we'll break it up every now and then.

[00:12:27] We throw some true crime in there.

[00:12:29] I was feeling the true crime vibe earlier.

[00:12:30] I was like, oh, we got to do a true crime.

[00:12:32] So maybe on the next one, we'll do true crime and then get back to it.

[00:12:35] But we've finally taken up that mantle of delivering the state-by-state tax gems, the goodies, the

[00:12:44] nuggets, the free game that we need to empower employees.

[00:12:47] If you work in Texas, if you're a W-2 employee in Texas, here's what you need to know.

[00:12:53] You must give consent in Texas for Texas deductions.

[00:12:59] Meaning, in Texas, an employee's paycheck is strictly regulated under the Texas payday law.

[00:13:07] So an employer can only deduct wages for certain conditions.

[00:13:12] Easy as one, two, three.

[00:13:14] One is court-ordered deductions.

[00:13:17] Think child support.

[00:13:18] Think alimony.

[00:13:20] Two is deductions required by law.

[00:13:23] Think what's in your paycheck already.

[00:13:25] The federal deduction for taxes, Social Security, Medicare, right?

[00:13:31] And three is written consent for the employee.

[00:13:35] And this is the catch-all.

[00:13:36] If you give written consent.

[00:13:39] Hey, this is William Tincup, Work Defined.

[00:13:41] Hey, listen, I'd like to talk to you a little bit about Inside the C-Suite, the podcast.

[00:13:46] It's a look into the journey of how one goes from high school, college, whatever, all the way to the C-Suite.

[00:13:52] All the ups and downs, failures, successes, all that stuff.

[00:13:56] Give it a listen.

[00:13:57] Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

[00:13:59] They can take it out of your check.

[00:14:01] But you have to give written consent.

[00:14:03] So think about one, two is mandated.

[00:14:05] Yeah.

[00:14:06] But three, you as an employee must give written consent.

[00:14:10] So think about that.

[00:14:11] Look at your check and say, wait a minute.

[00:14:14] What's coming out of my check?

[00:14:15] And make sure the deduction codes that are coming out of your check.

[00:14:19] I've told this story many times.

[00:14:21] I had an employee once upon a time that went a whole year with getting the wrong state deducted from their check.

[00:14:29] And then at the end of the year, when they went to do taxes, they were like, oh, my God, the state.

[00:14:33] Now, this wasn't an illegal deduction.

[00:14:36] It was an erroneous deduction because the employee didn't catch it.

[00:14:40] Right?

[00:14:41] Right.

[00:14:42] So these little things.

[00:14:44] But if you're not paying, the point is, pay attention to your check.

[00:14:47] And if you're in Texas, it's legally bound.

[00:14:49] These things don't come up.

[00:14:50] Now, medical benefits also.

[00:14:53] That's a written consent, by the way.

[00:14:55] You're signing off on medical benefits.

[00:14:57] You're saying, I want, if it's digital or if it's in paper, when you do open enrollment,

[00:15:02] you're giving written consent to get those medical deductions taken out.

[00:15:07] In Texas, you must consent.

[00:15:11] Yeah.

[00:15:11] Great stuff, man.

[00:15:12] So for me, let's talk about two different things.

[00:15:15] One is wage overpayments.

[00:15:17] Right?

[00:15:17] So that happens.

[00:15:18] It happens in payroll.

[00:15:20] Somebody forgot the clock out as an employee.

[00:15:23] And the manager didn't miss it during time edits.

[00:15:26] This person got overpaid.

[00:15:28] And now you have to take those funds back.

[00:15:31] Yep.

[00:15:32] In Texas, you still need to get written employee authorization, as Brian was speaking to.

[00:15:38] Right?

[00:15:39] So it is legal.

[00:15:40] It is permissible under the FLSA.

[00:15:43] As long as the employer documents those wages that are paid, even if that deduction reduces

[00:15:51] the employees pay below minimum wage.

[00:15:55] Wow.

[00:15:55] That's crazy.

[00:15:56] The employer can take it.

[00:15:57] Because they're giving written consent.

[00:15:59] Yeah.

[00:15:59] Consent.

[00:16:00] And then also something that I found interesting is that there's deductions that an employer

[00:16:05] can take.

[00:16:06] And this is good for U.S. employees, for the employees that are listening.

[00:16:10] This is good for the Texas employees that are listening.

[00:16:12] That employers can deduct for fees such as interest on loans and admin fees that are classified

[00:16:20] as employer cost.

[00:16:22] Right?

[00:16:23] Yes.

[00:16:24] So if an employer loans you money, some employers do that.

[00:16:28] Yeah.

[00:16:29] They can charge interest.

[00:16:30] Yeah.

[00:16:31] Loan.

[00:16:31] Yeah.

[00:16:31] And advance is really a loan.

[00:16:33] Yeah.

[00:16:33] Right?

[00:16:34] Yeah.

[00:16:34] So the employer can do that.

[00:16:37] It goes back to that employee providing that authorization in writing.

[00:16:42] And the deduction doesn't reduce your pay below minimum wage.

[00:16:49] And so Texas law permits employers to charge certain administrative fees for accomplishments.

[00:16:56] You can charge $10 a month for child support.

[00:17:01] You can charge $5 a month for spousal support.

[00:17:04] Oh, as like a fee to do it for you?

[00:17:06] To process that.

[00:17:07] Wow.

[00:17:08] That's crazy.

[00:17:10] So it says, wow.

[00:17:12] Now the caveat is while Texas allows for those fees to be taken, they may violate FLSA if

[00:17:22] it brings that employee's wages below minimum wage.

[00:17:25] Right?

[00:17:26] Oh, okay.

[00:17:27] So that is one thing you want to think about and understand.

[00:17:32] So employers generally cannot deduct costs related to business operations such as tools,

[00:17:38] uniforms, transportation, if it were taking employees pay below minimum wage again.

[00:17:43] But it doesn't, then they can deduct for uniforms, those tools, and stuff like that in Texas.

[00:17:51] Wow.

[00:17:51] So FLSA, just for your payroll pros, if you're new out there, or even if you may know this

[00:17:57] or you may not know this.

[00:17:58] You may not know it.

[00:17:59] Deductions that benefit the employer, such as uniforms, are considered part of the cost

[00:18:06] of business under FLSA.

[00:18:08] So you might want to check out FLSA and see what it says about deductions that benefit the

[00:18:14] employer and what deductions are classified or what those things are.

[00:18:18] So you want to find out what that is.

[00:18:20] So one of the key points for compliance for employers is, as Brian and I spoke to, written

[00:18:26] authorization.

[00:18:27] It's essential for deductions.

[00:18:29] Yep.

[00:18:30] And you want to be mindful of deductions that could violate minimum wage laws or impact overtime

[00:18:36] pay.

[00:18:36] But in this case, you might want to consider getting legal counsel.

[00:18:40] It's recommended, right?

[00:18:41] Yep.

[00:18:42] It's some clarity.

[00:18:43] It's some clarity.

[00:18:43] Because a lot of these issues are complex with these wage laws.

[00:18:47] Especially if the company's pushing back and they don't want to help you understand.

[00:18:50] Like, what?

[00:18:51] Oh, let me dial up a lawyer.

[00:18:54] And you may need to know, as the employee, what is considered written?

[00:18:59] Do they mean that with a pen, like handwritten?

[00:19:03] Email?

[00:19:03] Just email?

[00:19:05] Most times, email does.

[00:19:13] That's a good point, though, because what I was going to say is, be careful when you're

[00:19:18] getting a new job and you're signing all your new hire stuff.

[00:19:23] Because sometimes it's buried in there, you know, what you're signing off on.

[00:19:30] Or it's in your handbook.

[00:19:32] How many times?

[00:19:33] I told you it's at least $100 worth of knowledge in that handbook that you got to read.

[00:19:37] And that right there, if you're signing off on your handbook and it's in your handbook,

[00:19:43] guess what?

[00:19:44] You just signed off on getting deductions from your pay without, like, prior notice.

[00:19:49] They could just start taking money out of your paycheck.

[00:19:52] So you got to read your handbook, folks.

[00:19:55] And ideally, it's separate.

[00:19:56] It's a separate consent form.

[00:19:58] Hey, deductions.

[00:19:59] I've seen that as well.

[00:20:00] I think that's the better way companies should frame it as a separate form that says, hey,

[00:20:06] deductions from your check for what they draw out the reasons, what you can, you know, and

[00:20:11] then you're signing off on that.

[00:20:13] And look, if you don't want to sign it, you don't sign it.

[00:20:16] You know what I mean?

[00:20:16] And then when kind of go with it from there, lawyers will have a field day if because I

[00:20:22] know people are like, oh, we can't afford a lawyer for that.

[00:20:25] Believe me, they'll will take they'll give you a free consult on that just because.

[00:20:30] And then if you don't want to call a lawyer, if you want to be like, oh, man, I don't

[00:20:33] want to do all that.

[00:20:35] Threaten.

[00:20:36] Get ask help.

[00:20:37] If your company is not helping you, they should help.

[00:20:40] They should have no problem explaining these things to you.

[00:20:42] Yeah.

[00:20:42] If they do have a problem, say, hey, you know what?

[00:20:45] I'm going to have to call a lawyer.

[00:20:46] Then thanks.

[00:20:46] Yeah.

[00:20:47] That will should prompt them enough to be like, whoa.

[00:20:49] Hold on.

[00:20:50] But some of some of these companies, they don't.

[00:20:53] Well, I think it's a bad employee at that point.

[00:20:56] If it gets that, if you get past that, that means your employees aren't trained well enough

[00:21:01] to understand, hey, you people who start threatening lawyers, you got to escalate that.

[00:21:06] Hold on.

[00:21:07] Let me get my board.

[00:21:08] Let me get my manager to call you back.

[00:21:09] Things like that.

[00:21:10] If you're an employee in that situation and you don't have the authority, do not piss that

[00:21:15] person off.

[00:21:15] You need to say, hey, hold, keep them on ice and say, let me get my manager to call

[00:21:19] you back.

[00:21:19] We don't want you to that.

[00:21:21] Clearly, I'm not explaining it.

[00:21:23] You know what I mean?

[00:21:24] Get crazy.

[00:21:25] Yeah.

[00:21:26] But yeah, but I think that's a great call out in Texas is just you must have consent.

[00:21:30] And there are a bunch of other states out there that are like that.

[00:21:33] As we roll on for employees, be aware of those little things in your states that are happening.

[00:21:39] There's ways to look it up.

[00:21:40] Hit us up on LinkedIn.

[00:21:41] If you're ever in question of what's going on in your paycheck, we can help.

[00:21:45] Hit us up on LinkedIn.

[00:21:47] We're glad to help.

[00:21:47] And look, do your research on what's allowed for as far as deduction.

[00:21:52] So one of the key things is garnishments, right?

[00:21:55] Texas only allows certain type of garnishments.

[00:21:58] Do your research on that.

[00:22:00] A lot of consumer debts such as credit cards, medical bills and loans aren't allowed.

[00:22:05] If they're originated in Texas, they aren't allowed in the state of Texas.

[00:22:09] So to keep that in mind.

[00:22:11] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:22:13] Absolutely.

[00:22:14] All right.

[00:22:15] So what do we got for safe talk tonight?

[00:22:17] Safe talk.

[00:22:19] So navigating the Texas payday law can be difficult for employers and employees.

[00:22:26] How do you balance enforcing lawful deductions while ensuring employees fully understand and agree to them in writing?

[00:22:37] Excuse me.

[00:22:39] Oh, God.

[00:22:39] Excuse me.

[00:22:39] Caught you off.

[00:22:40] Caught you on the wrong.

[00:22:41] Caught you on the wrong.

[00:22:44] Oh, one.

[00:22:46] I found something that my daughter gave me that I'm looking for is employers.

[00:22:50] Send your employees right here to it's about your paycheck.

[00:22:53] Like, look at episode 126 and 37, respectively, and they will learn some things.

[00:22:59] Look up Texas.

[00:23:01] But beyond that, it's education, right?

[00:23:05] It's education.

[00:23:07] It's employee self-customer service.

[00:23:09] Employee self-service.

[00:23:10] I'm building out new systems.

[00:23:13] I'm like, employee self-service.

[00:23:14] But no, it's employee customer service.

[00:23:17] And you got to have that shout out to Gerard Hall because, again, he's that dude that lit that fire for us to be like, oh, wait, employee customer service.

[00:23:28] Yeah, let's do that.

[00:23:29] And as I continue to say, it's no disrespect to any employer that doesn't do it comprehensively because employers aren't really mandated to do it in any fashion.

[00:23:41] A lot of employers play it by request.

[00:23:44] When an employee brings it up, we can address it.

[00:23:49] But a lot of times with the masses, you don't want to throw a lot of stuff out there.

[00:23:53] Employee handbook again.

[00:23:55] Employee handbooks were really long back in the day.

[00:23:58] But what do we think?

[00:23:59] We get them.

[00:24:00] We throw them in.

[00:24:01] Walt did the research.

[00:24:02] 67% of employees actively don't read the employee handbook.

[00:24:10] Basically 70% of your workforce has not read your handbook.

[00:24:13] And they're doing it on purpose.

[00:24:15] Yeah, because they're like, I ain't reading that thing.

[00:24:18] And it's re – but I get it because it's thick.

[00:24:21] It's, oh, my God.

[00:24:22] What a lot of good HR leaders are doing is whittling it down to the stuff that actually needs to be communicated to employees.

[00:24:35] And that's still a lot.

[00:24:37] You're still going to get 20, 30 pages.

[00:24:39] You know what I mean?

[00:24:40] But if it's organized properly, you can skim through the subjects, right?

[00:24:45] Okay, internet policy.

[00:24:46] Yep, you already know what that's going to say.

[00:24:48] Don't watch Netflix at work.

[00:24:50] You know what I'm saying?

[00:24:51] You can do a quick search, control F.

[00:24:53] Yes.

[00:24:53] If it's digital.

[00:24:55] If it's digital.

[00:24:55] That's what I was going to say.

[00:24:56] If it's just digital.

[00:24:57] Or if it's in PDF and you're able to download it, you can do control F.

[00:25:01] Do a quick search.

[00:25:02] And find the topic that you want to find out about and educate yourself about, right?

[00:25:08] So it's just basically what you said.

[00:25:10] The employers being transparent and educating the employees.

[00:25:15] And the employees coming to an understanding of what is being done and what is legal for them, right?

[00:25:24] And something that we spoke to in one of our, it's about your paycheck episodes is that employers historically haven't done a good job with educating employees.

[00:25:36] That's still not an excuse for you as the employee to not go learn something.

[00:25:41] All the information is out there.

[00:25:42] You can go to your state website and find it.

[00:25:45] You can ask a tax professional.

[00:25:47] You can get some free consultation from someone.

[00:25:51] They'll give you consultation.

[00:25:51] You can ask certain questions and say, hey, is this legal?

[00:25:55] Is my employer doing right by me?

[00:25:57] There are still ways and avenues for you as the employee to be empowered and to educate yourself in this, right?

[00:26:05] So that's just my two cents on it, man.

[00:26:08] I think that's how you balance it out.

[00:26:10] The employee has to be open.

[00:26:12] The employer has to be open and willing to empower their staff.

[00:26:17] Yep.

[00:26:19] Have you ever been to a webinar where the topic was great, but there wasn't enough time to ask questions or have a dialogue to learn more?

[00:26:25] Well, welcome to HR and Payroll 2.0, the podcast where those post-webinar questions become episodes.

[00:26:30] We feature HR practitioners, leaders, and founders of HR, payroll, and workplace innovation and transformation sharing their insights and lessons learned from the trenches.

[00:26:39] We dig in to share the knowledge and tips that can help modern HR and payroll leaders navigate the challenges and opportunities ahead.

[00:26:46] So join us for highly authentic, unscripted conversations, and let's learn together.

[00:26:51] It's a two, it's a two, it's a two, it takes two, right?

[00:26:55] It's, it goes both ways.

[00:26:56] The employer's got to meet you.

[00:26:58] Employers have to, we have to meet our people where they are.

[00:27:01] What is it that you say about, about payroll and HR?

[00:27:05] Two sides of the same coin.

[00:27:07] Two sides of the same coin.

[00:27:09] Yes, sir.

[00:27:09] Yep.

[00:27:10] That's right.

[00:27:10] And it's the same thing with employees, employers.

[00:27:13] And as an employee, you got to, come on, look, I get it.

[00:27:16] We don't, none of us want to, some of us get, want to work and don't have a problem with our work.

[00:27:21] But I think the folks that like their work, they end up getting thrown all the work.

[00:27:26] So there's, oh my God, that's too much now.

[00:27:28] Yeah.

[00:27:28] But the majority of people don't want to go to work every day.

[00:27:31] Oh, but you got, it's all about the attitude, right?

[00:27:36] Yep.

[00:27:36] What do you say?

[00:27:37] Your attitude determines your altitude.

[00:27:39] Yep.

[00:27:39] Right?

[00:27:40] If you have a decent attitude about things, you're going to go far at work because you spend more time at work.

[00:27:46] Most of us spend more time at work or working than we actually do with our families.

[00:27:52] Yeah, that's true.

[00:27:54] So like, why would you want that experience to be a bad one?

[00:27:57] Your attitude determines that.

[00:27:59] Yep.

[00:27:59] You know what I mean?

[00:28:00] If you're going to work causing issues and just being a mess and being negative and being a menace to think, right?

[00:28:06] Of course your day is going to be bad and you're going to, what does Tabitha say?

[00:28:11] Hey, have a good day.

[00:28:12] But if you don't have a good day, don't go messing up anybody else's day.

[00:28:16] You know what I mean?

[00:28:17] Then Dennis the Menace.

[00:28:20] Dennis the Menace.

[00:28:21] Don't do it.

[00:28:22] Believe me.

[00:28:22] I'm engaging myself with that.

[00:28:23] Oh, man.

[00:28:24] Oh, man.

[00:28:25] Word.

[00:28:25] Because I haven't heard Dennis the Menace in a minute.

[00:28:28] I have been hearing about Menace to Society.

[00:28:31] I think I just heard.

[00:28:31] Who was it?

[00:28:32] Cube.

[00:28:33] I heard Ice Cube and John Singleton on Drink Champs.

[00:28:37] I think R.I.P. John Singleton.

[00:28:39] He passed away, right?

[00:28:39] Did he?

[00:28:40] I don't think.

[00:28:41] Did he?

[00:28:42] Maybe.

[00:28:42] I believe he did.

[00:28:44] You might be right.

[00:28:44] Heaven forbid.

[00:28:45] I'm talking about it like that if he didn't.

[00:28:47] But anyway, it was rare, right?

[00:28:48] Yes.

[00:28:49] Yeah.

[00:28:49] He was on Drink Champs before that and they were talking about Menace and stuff like this.

[00:28:53] I got Menace in a society in my head.

[00:28:55] But yeah, man.

[00:28:55] I just, I kind of equate it to being a teacher's pet.

[00:28:59] Oh, y'all teacher's pets.

[00:29:00] Y'all goody two.

[00:29:01] No, man.

[00:29:01] Nah, man.

[00:29:02] Believe me.

[00:29:03] If you have a good attitude.

[00:29:04] There's this dude at the car dealership that I go to sometimes.

[00:29:08] Great attitude, man.

[00:29:09] He ain't got the best job in the world or whatever, but he's got such a great attitude that you think he has the best job in the world.

[00:29:16] You feel like, man, I want to be like this guy.

[00:29:18] You know what I'm saying?

[00:29:20] It's all about your attitude on things.

[00:29:22] So my point is, it's a two-way street.

[00:29:24] Yes, your company should be meeting you where you are, but you should also be trying to do it a little better.

[00:29:31] And to your point, it's contagious, the attitude.

[00:29:34] Yes.

[00:29:34] It's contagious, right?

[00:29:35] Yes, absolutely.

[00:29:35] It could either push people away or it could affect others to permeate and just really impact the new person that's coming in there.

[00:29:45] And it's like, yeah, culture is everything.

[00:29:48] Yeah, exactly right.

[00:29:50] So, yeah, that's it, folks.

[00:29:53] We hope you enjoyed the show.

[00:29:55] We love you.

[00:29:57] Check us out on the Work Defined Network now.

[00:30:00] Big up to Work Defined, man.

[00:30:02] We're glad to be a part of the network.

[00:30:04] You'll be hearing more about it as we go along.

[00:30:07] They got some great shows out there for folks.

[00:30:09] Stay tuned.

[00:30:11] And, yeah, shout out to Time Track Go.

[00:30:13] As always.

[00:30:14] And, yeah, look out for the next episode.

[00:30:16] Maybe we'll do True Crime on the next one.

[00:30:18] Yeah.

[00:30:18] No, that'd be good.

[00:30:19] Yeah.

[00:30:20] That Wendy's one that you sent me that day.

[00:30:22] That was a good one.

[00:30:23] Yeah, it was.

[00:30:24] Yeah.

[00:30:24] All right, y'all.

[00:30:26] Peace.

[00:30:26] Peace.

[00:30:27] We love you.

[00:30:35] Before we sign off, here are a couple quick things.

[00:30:38] Don't forget to follow It's About Payroll on LinkedIn, and it's about your paycheck on Facebook and TikTok.

[00:30:45] Thank you for being part of our payroll community, and thank you for being a part of this journey with us.

[00:30:51] Until the next time, keep learning, keep growing, and most importantly, keep going.