Learn: employer guides to the regular rate of pay, code TT, and PAGA audits
Employer-side guides to the most error-prone math in wage and hour: the regular rate, overtime premiums, and the new W-2 code TT. Every claim cites a primary source (IRS, DOL, CFR, case law); every method comes with a worked example you can check by hand.
W-2 Box 12 Code TT (tax year 2026)
What Does Code TT on My W-2 Mean? (For Employees)
The plain-English version: what the Box 12 TT amount is, why it's smaller than your total overtime pay, how to claim the deduction, and how to sanity-check the number — written for employees, not payroll teams.
The Employer's Guide to Calculating Qualified Overtime Compensation
What goes in the box, the two exclusion filters, why the ÷3 estimate fails when bonuses exist (per the IRS's own notice), the retroactive-bonus trap, and a five-step dry run before January 2027.
No Tax on Overtime: Employer Reporting Requirements for 2026
The compliance picture for payroll teams: the 2025→2026 requirement timeline, what code TT actually is, the regular-rate dependency, five questions for your payroll vendor, and a pre-January dry run.
Qualified Overtime Compensation: How to Actually Calculate It
The three-step method worked through five examples with every number shown — including the bonus and differential cases where the ÷3 estimate diverges from the true figure, per the IRS's own notice.
Regular rate of pay (federal + California)
Regular Rate of Pay: The Employer's Guide (Federal + California)
The full computation behind every overtime dollar: 29 CFR 778.110 worked examples, what must be in the rate, the Alvarado and Ferra layers, retroactive bonus true-ups, and where payroll systems break.
Flat-Sum Bonuses in California: the Alvarado Divisor, Worked Through
The same $120 bonus yields $10 of overtime premium federally and $36 under Alvarado — one example computed both ways, line by line, and why federally-configured payroll systems underpay in California.
Regular Rate of Pay Calculator — FLSA & California
Bonuses and differentials in the rate, California daily overtime and double time, Alvarado flat-sum divisors, Ferra meal premiums, and retroactive bonus true-ups — each with the underpayment shown against a base-rate computation.
In progress
- The PAGA Payroll Audit Playbook: What "Reasonable Steps" Actually Require
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