Employee Management

Add and manage employees for payroll.

You just hired someone. Now you need to get them into the system before their first paycheck — which means collecting a lot of information you probably don’t have yet (their SSN, their W-4, their bank account). Welcome to onboarding.

The good news: once an employee is set up, payroll runs automatically. The tedious part is one-time.

Adding an employee

1. Go to Payroll

   Navigate to Payroll → Employees and click Add Employee.

2. Enter personal info

   • Legal name
   • Email
   • Phone
   • Address
   • Date of birth
   • SSN
3. Employment details

   • Start date
   • Job title
   • Department
   • Work location
   • Employment type (full-time, part-time)
4. Compensation

   • Pay type (salary or hourly)
   • Pay rate
   • Pay schedule
5. Tax withholding

   Enter W-4 information:

   • Filing status
   • Withholding allowances
   • Additional withholding
6. Direct deposit

   Bank account for payments.

Employee information

Personal details

The basics you need for every employee:

Field	Why it matters
Legal name	Must match their SSN card exactly — one typo breaks tax filings
Preferred name	What they actually go by
Email	Where pay stubs and tax forms go
Phone	For urgent payroll questions
Address	Determines state tax withholding — wrong state = wrong taxes
DOB	Required for compliance
SSN	Everything ties to this. Triple-check it.

Employment details

Field	Why it matters
Start date	Triggers new hire reporting to the state
Job title	For your records and their pay stub
Department	Helps with cost analysis (“what’s engineering costing us?”)
Manager	For approval workflows
Work location	Affects tax jurisdiction if you have multiple offices
Status	Active, on leave, or terminated

Compensation

This is where money gets decided.

Salaried employees

Field	What it does
Annual salary	The number you agreed on
Per-period pay	Calculated automatically (annual ÷ pay periods)
Exempt status	Are they exempt from overtime? (FLSA classification)

A $60,000 salary paid bi-weekly =$2,307.69 per paycheck (before deductions and taxes eat into it).

Hourly employees

Field	What it does
Hourly rate	What they earn per hour
Overtime rate	Usually 1.5x base (some states require 2x)
Default hours	Pre-fills each payroll, but you can adjust

For hourly employees, you’ll enter actual hours worked each pay period.

Tax withholding

This is where most new employers get confused. The employee’s W-4 tells you how much federal tax to withhold — and getting it wrong means they’ll owe a big bill (or get a big refund) at tax time.

Federal (W-4)

Field	What it controls
Filing status	Single, married, head of household
Multiple jobs	Checked if they (or spouse) have other jobs
Dependents	Reduces withholding per dependent
Additional withholding	”Take an extra $50 from each check”

Don’t worry about calculating anything. Enter what’s on the W-4, and Pluvel does the math.

State withholding

Every state is different. Some mirror the federal form, some have their own. Enter the state-specific info:

• State filing status
• State allowances
• Additional state withholding

Employees can update their own W-4 information through self-service. You don’t need to be in the loop for every life change.

Direct deposit

Most employees want direct deposit. Get their bank details:

Single account

• Bank name
• Routing number (9 digits)
• Account number
• Account type (checking or savings)

Split deposits

Some employees want to auto-save:

• “$500 to savings, rest to checking”
• “20% to emergency fund, 80% to checking”
• Up to 3 accounts

Employee self-service

Let employees manage their own stuff:

• View and download pay stubs
• Update address and contact info
• Change direct deposit accounts
• Update W-4 withholding
• Download tax documents (W-2s)

Enable in Settings → Payroll → Self-Service. Fewer “can you send me my pay stub?” messages.

Employee status

Status	What happens
Active	Included in regular payroll runs
On leave	Temporarily excluded from payroll
Terminated	Removed from payroll, history preserved

Terminating an employee

1. Open their profile

   Find the employee in the list.

2. Click Terminate

   Select Terminate Employee.

3. Enter termination details

   • Last day of work
   • Reason (voluntary, involuntary, etc.)
   • Final pay date
4. Process final pay

   Run their last paycheck. Include:

   • Wages through their last day
   • PTO payout (if your policy requires it)
   • Any owed bonuses or commissions

Some states require final pay within 24-72 hours of termination. California, for example, requires immediate payment for involuntary terminations. Know your state’s rules.

Manage contractors

Contractors work differently. Here’s how to track them.