Keep Employers Accountable with Payroll Audit

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) requires plan trustees to collect all contributions which are due to the employee benefit plan. Our job is to verify whether the contributions received by the plan are complete and accurate.

We conduct payroll audit services for multi-employer benefit plans across a variety of industries to ensure that employers are contributing properly under the terms of their collective bargaining agreements. We serve clients located in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and throughout the United States.

We conduct payroll audits for employee benefit plans in a variety of different industries such as Health Care, Education, Maritime, Construction, Trucking, Warehousing, and Manufacturing. This wide range of industry experience allows us to tailor our audits to fit each client’s specific needs.

Labor Agreements (PLAs)

Over the last decade there has been an increasing amount of Project Labor Agreements (PLA’s) being performed in the industry . While these agreements are a great source of additional jobs for union men and women, they present administrative challenges to fund offices in tracking and collecting the benefits on these jobs. One of the biggest changes unions face with PLA’s is that many of these contractors are using both union and non-union workers on the same job. As a result, traditional audit procedures often need to be adjusted or additional procedures need to be performed to ensure that applicable wages and benefit contributions have been made to or on behalf of union members. At MMPRC, we have extensive experience with this aspect of payroll audits.

Benefits Compliance

One of the most challenging aspects of administering multi-employer benefit plans is the collection of employer contributions and more importantly ensuring that employers are reporting the proper benefits to the funds members. In today’s market funds have been under pressure from increased healthcare costs, and competition from non-union contractors so it is important to make sure funds are collecting everything that is owed to them. Also by ensuring that all required contributions are being reported and paid to the fund ensures a more completive and fair labor market to all employers who are signed to the collective bargaining agreements.

Marshall & Moss Payroll Compliance Services, LLC has been performing Benefit Compliance Procedures (commonly referred to as “Payroll Audits”, “Labor Union Payroll Audits”, or “Union Payroll Audits”) for over 30 years. We currently perform in excess of 2,500 payroll audits per year for over 35 different groups of multiemployer benefit funds. We have over 15 full time staff members dedicated to performing payroll audits. Our payroll audit department is directed and managed by individuals from diverse backgrounds who have extensive experience performing these services. Our senior staff is continuously attending seminars and conferences to stay in tune with the labor markets, trends, and auditing practices to best serve our clients needs. Our senior staff also attends the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans each year, and is in the process of obtaining the CEBS certifications.

We know firsthand how valuable these services are to multiemployer benefit plans. Our firm is built on a commitment to ethics and integrity.

All of our senior staff have a solid understanding of ERISA and other laws and regulations governing the operations of Taft-Hartley benefit plans which dictate the trustees’ fiduciary responsibilities in administering these plans. At MMPRC, we work side by side with the fund’s legal team, plan administrator and staff to assist the trustees in protecting the benefits of the plan participants.

Payroll audits involve a lot more than reviewing an employer’s payroll records. We also review the employer’s cash disbursements, corporate tax returns, general ledgers, and other tax filings which can be critical in determining whether or not all contributions due have been paid. In these circumstances, payroll auditors need to be familiar with all aspects of an employer’s operations in order to determine if payments are being made to participants, affiliated companies, or non-union subcontractors outside of the payroll system. At Marshall & Moss Payroll Compliance services, LLC., we have extensive experience with this aspect of payroll audits, and often use Certified Public Accounts to review these records in more detail if an auditor finds something suspicious.