What to Know About Payroll: Have a Look for National Payroll Week

National Payroll Week runs this year from September 7-11. As the American Payroll Association has said, it's a chance to celebrate America's employees and the payroll professionals who pay them.

A long history

There are a lot of fun facts about payroll we bet you didn't know. Here are a few of them:

• The concept of payroll goes back to around 4,000 BCE. An ancient tablet from Sumer indicates that workers received their wages in the form of beer.
• Salt used to be important and hard to get. The word "salary" comes from the Latin word "salarium," an allowance in ancient Rome used to purchase this essential product.
• What about "payroll"? This word goes back to the 18th century and referred to then as a roll of paper used to track wages.
• The first mechanical time clock emerged in the late 19th century.
• The first computer used to process payroll was installed in offices in the 1950s.
• Paychecks are pretty much gone. Over 90% of U.S. workers have signed up for direct deposit.
• Texas, the second-largest state by population, is one of a handful of states that do not have a state income tax.

The APA invites workers and employers to visit the official site to uncover ways to celebrate the week. For example, management can invite staff to visit the payroll department for a bonus "payday." They can hand out PayDay candy bars during NPW as a sweet treat. Perhaps the department can create a National Payroll Week table in a public area within your office, where employees can pick up more payroll information and enter giveaways.

As part of the celebrations, the APA is making an e-book available for download: "Understanding Your Pay." Written for anyone who collects — or writes — a paycheck, it covers such important (but often misunderstood) issues as:

• Forms I-9 and W-4.
• When and how employees are paid.
• Exempt vs. nonexempt status.
• Calculating overtime.
• Handling tips.
• Pay stubs and taxes.
• Pretax and after-tax deductions.
• Workplace rights and responsibilities.

Wheels within wheels

We tend to take payroll for granted, but the complexity of state and federal taxation, the rules separating exempt from nonexempt employees, and the often-fine line between employees and contractors make a company's payroll function more essential than ever. (BTW: Sumer notwithstanding, the FLSA prohibits paying employees in beer.)