I'm managing a banquet facility where I have banquet servers and assistants. I am trying to find the most accurate information regarding how to pay the employees and make sure their and our tax documents are in line.

Depending upon the size of the event the server(s) will either get a flat rate or a 15% gratuity. For the flat rate my manager has either written "personal" not payroll checks for the amount, to the employee or I have heard he has paid cash. He has worded it as, if they work solely for the event they do not clock in and out of our system. The gratuity or rate they are paid are part of their hourly wage.

Dependent upon the size and time of the event, our waitresses in the connected restaurant will cover the event. If they are already clocked in and working as waitresses, then serve the small banquet, they get the rate/gratuity while still being clocked in.

Whereas some of our new banquet servers I am trying to get hired would be paid based solely on the event. (I would assume these employees would need some kind of tax reporting form, IE 1099) but also some of our waitresses that are not working on the service floor would be working the event only for that evening. The same "pay structure" would apply and they wouldn't "clock in" for the event. Just be paid the flat rate or gratuity.

I'm new to managing people. I'm just wanting to make sure we're doing things right.

I know I need to get gratuities and banquet pay into payroll checks from my manager. I also would then be adding gratuities and banquet pay to our "employees" checks, instead of paying them cash or a personal check after each event. I'm trying to make the times in which we all exchange monies less... And legal.

Help?

First you nix the cash or personal checks, as you mention. Even paying them as contractors on 1099s is strictly speaking not IRS legal (although lots of places do it), because you have to have proof that each one of them has his own WC, highly unlikely. And your liability insurance claim would be denied when they found out. The Comp auditor will look for signs of checks written to people who appear to be working on the premises. Your company can pay the WC on the 1099 people if they want, and it's not a bad idea. I don't imagine that the rate is high in that business.

The servers aren't getting a gratuity, because they are 'outside of work' and WC doesn't count them. If staff are WORKING for a %, then it's not a gratuity. It's taxed the same as wage or salary is. You should track their hours even if they get a % or a flat rate, and keep a breakdown of hours, wages, flat rates, and % amounts that aren't broken down on their W2s (or 1099s, if you go that route).