The Social Security Administration (SSA) just issued the taxable wage base for 2020. And it’s higher than what was predicted back in the spring.
The magic number Payroll needs? $137,700, up from the $132,900 taxable wage base in 2019.
As the most hectic time of the year in Finance approaches, you’ll want to make sure your Payroll team has this info right away. They can tick off this key update from their year-end to-do list.
Keeping Payroll responsive
Naturally, employees who will soon pay more federal taxes won’t be thrilled with this announcement. And your team will likely hear about it.
Chances are Payroll has already been barraged by a ton of employee questions over the new overtime rules.
Of course your payroll team can’t always drop everything they’re doing to respond on the spot. Turns out, that might not be necessary.
What’s most important when it comes to Customer Service in Finance
When an employee comes to Finance with a problem or question, which is more of a priority for you:
- your staffers resolve the issue immediately, or
- they treat the other person politely?
The second is much more important to many people, according to research on exemplary customer service.
The report from Global Customer Experience Research examines why customers stay and why they stray.
And there are insights for Finance that can inform how it approaches “customers,” whether they buy goods or services from you or work in the cubicle down the hall.
Avoid these customer ‘disservices‘
Sure, some issues your finance team can clear up on the spot, like what the taxable wage base is. But when they can’t, caution them against these three negative behaviors:
- Phone games. Being transferred repeatedly or put on hold too long irks folks. Tell staffers if they don’t have an answer to explain to the caller that they’ll get back to them. Give a time table and stick to it!
- Indifference about the problem. Your staffers may not be crying a river because someone makes so much money that they’re considered “highly compensated,” but to this employee, it’s a big deal. Customers, internal and external, want to feel you’re on their side.
- Talking about things other than the problem trying to be resolved. People aren’t interested in anything else at that moment, so urge staffers to stay on point.