Names on Pay Checks - Help

njjel · June 2006

Can any of you finance folks tell me what the regulation is on how names must appear on pay checks? If a person's social security card reads Mary Elizabeth Smith-Jones, is that how it must appear on their pay check or can it be Mary E. Smith-Jones?

KathyHR · June 2006

With our software since the name on the paycheck is the name on the W-2, Finance and I work together to avoid SS mismatch. I require a new employee's SS card during orientation and whatever name is on the card, that is what is on the payroll record. When someone changes their name, payroll is changed when they produce the SS card with the new name. We've never had someone not furnish the new card as they don't want problems with their bank.

E Wart · June 2006

Most payroll systems have a place you can list "legal name and address" which is what shows on W-2 and reported with wage tax and the other you can put for your convenience. The "Legal" name does need to be exactly like it i s on the SS card. You have it right.
E Wart

LindaS · June 2006

Ditto. Their name has to match that on their SS card. We require a copy of their SS card to verify this.

marc · June 2006

Linda and Kathy are correct.

If you don't do this, the company has a mismatch and when the EE files income tax returns, they will have a mismatch if the w-2 records do not match the SS records.

njjel · June 2006

OK. So then we can't drop the middle name and just use the middle initial regardless of how long the name might be?

swbpr · June 2006

We fit as much of the SS Name as we can into the Name Field provided by our software.

One employees first and middle name is Michael Frederick and I can't fit the 'ck' of his middle name in the field spaces provided......so it's just not there!!!

lnelson · June 2006

You are ok to just have the initial of the middle name.

njjel · June 2006

OK. That is what I am trying to nail down. CAn we just use the middle initial or is it required to actually use the name if that is what is on the SS card?

dixied · June 2006

Yes, you can use the employee's middle initial vs their middle name.

njjel · June 2006

Can anyone tell me where I can go to see that regulation? We are having a debate here and I need to back up my position. Thanks!

marc · June 2006

[url]http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/iw2w3.pdf[/url]

This is within the IRS.gov website. It is instructions in pdf format for W-2 and W-3. Scroll down to page 2 and note the common errors in filing. At the bottom of that paragraph - the last common error shown, it tells you to use the middle initial and then the surname.

njjel · June 2006

And so does that mean therefore that we use middle initial for paychecks?

marc · June 2006

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 06-09-06 AT 01:47PM (CST)[/font][br][br]The link I provided in my earlier post takes you to instructions for filing W-2s and W-3s. When one reads through those instructions, one can find the following information, which in excerpted.

“Boxes e and f – Employees name and address. Enter the name as shown on your employees social security card (first, middle initial, last). Generally do not enter “Jr.,” “Sr.,” etc in the “Suff” box on Copy A unless the suffix appears on the card. However, SSA still prefers you do not enter the suffix on Copy A. If the name does not fit, you may show first name initial, middle name initial, and last name (and ignore the vertical line). If the name has changed, the employee must get a corrected card from any SSA office. Use the name on the original card until you see the corrected one. Do not show titles or academic degrees, such as “Dr.,” ”RN,” or “Esq.” at the beginning or end of the employees name.”

This is a 16 page instruction form and can be downloaded or printed from the earlier link.

Hope this gets you what you need.

edit: Our W-2's are printed from the same record as the paychecks, so if you want the W-2's to be properly formatted, they must follow the paychecks - at least that's the way it is in our shop. Your software may have other capabilities that allow you to format the names differently - ours does not.

E Wart · June 2006

This is intersting. It does say you can use an initial... however, I have gotten a Mismatch letter for our employees because they had a middle initial and the SS card had their full name. I would advise putting in as much of the name like it is on their SS card as possible. If too long, just type in all you can and then leave it.
This is our government at work!!I guess you can't win.
E Wart

Dutch2 · June 2006

Our payroll system allows us to have a nickname, or Beth instead of Elizabeth, Sam vs. Samantha, Bob vs. Robert, etc. that is printed on their actual pay check that we hand out. However, their legal name appears for the purposes of W-2 information. Also everyone is paid via direct deposit.

Names on Pay Checks - Help

Comments