Service Release 1 for the Q4 2011 Product Update is now available on the web. This applies to versions 7.9, 9.0, and 9.1. Here is a summary of all the content included in this update.

Tax updates supplementing the Q4 Product Update:

• Social Security Employee Withholding Rate Remains at 4.2% until 2/29/2012 due to Payroll Tax Holiday Extension
• FSOC Limit set to $110,100
• Railroad Tier I Employee Withholding Rate Remains at 4.2% until 2/29/2012 due to Payroll Tax Holiday Extension
• Railroad Tier I, Tier II and UI Wage Base for 2012
• State Withholding Tax Changes, Effective January 1, 2012 for the following:
  • Delaware
  • Hawaii
  • Massachusetts
  • Missouri
  • Oklahoma
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont
• Tax Changes Effective January 1, 2012:
  • Hawaii Employment Training
  • Michigan Unemployment Taxable Wage Base Change
  • New Jersey Family Leave Insurance Employee Withholding Rate Change
  • New York State and Yonkers Withholding
  • Ohio Miami East 5504 SD, Ohio Earned Income Tax Based
  • Ohio Local Income
• Montana Administrative Fund Tax Wage set to $27,000
• Ohio Locals Municipality Code for Annual W2 Reporting to RITA for Tax Year 2011
• PA Local LST taxes updated to correct rate.
• Address field added. Versions 9.0 and 9.1 capture the address for each employment PSD NR code. (Sage Abra Suite version 7.x does not contain PA ACT32 mandated changes. Handle the reporting requirements manually by creating a multi-record custom detail to track the information.)

Electronic File Changes: (Apply the SR1 prior to creating the electronic file.)

· 1099 Electronic File Changes for Tax Year 2011

· Massachusetts W2 File Spec Changes for 2011

· Indiana EFW2 File Changes for Tax Year 2011

· Wisconsin EFW2 File Changes for Tax Year 2011

To download your Sage HRMS product update

1. Visit the Sage Customer Portal

2. Enter your Logon Id and Password (or sign up for a portal logon)

3. Select Payroll Tax Updates on the home page

4. Select the Product Update download specific to your Sage Abra Suite version

5. Right click and Save Target As to the appropriate file location

6. Unzip the files into a new directory

Note: It is necessary to access Abra Suite and run the 'Apply Legislative Update' from within System Tax Tables in order for Service Release 1 changes to take effect.

Please call Sage HRMS Support at 800-829-0170 for further assistance.

It's up to HR to ensure that hiring, discipline, and termination practices are compliant with the law. Otherwise, you could put your company at risk of incurring costly fines, penalties, and employee lawsuits. Sage is offering a live one hour webcast on the court rulings in 2011 and how they can affect you and your company. The webinar will be presented by Mary Anne Osborne and is free to attend.


This webcast will review the 2011 dockets for HR related court cases. A brief background of each case will be presented along with the outcome and discussion of the specific implications on the administration within the Human Resources function. Focus will be on federal court findings, although specific state findings that are relevant to HR, setting precedence for future findings, will be covered.

Participants will learn:

• Which U.S. Supreme court rulings affect human resources and what you should be doing to protect your company.
• Which state case rulings are setting precedence for future rulings that might affect your business.
• Which cases will be ruled upon in early 2012, so employers and HR departments can be vigilant in following cases specific to their business practices.

Who Should Attend:

Attendees should include Human Resource Managers and business professionals in the U.S. who desire to become more knowledgeable in how business will be affected by legal decisions passed on during 2011.

HR Recertification Credits:
This webcast has been approved for 1.00 (General) recertification credit hours toward PHR, SPHR, and GPHR recertification through the HR Certification Institute (www.hrci.org).

Presenter's Biography:

Mary Anne Osborne, SPHR

With over 30 years' experience in the HR field, Mary Anne is well prepared to help businesses find solutions to their most troubling HR-related dilemmas. Her HR experiences have elevated her from HR Representative to the VP level in a multi-state healthcare industry leader before beginning her own consulting business. Along the way she spent time honing her skills in Employee Relations, Staffing, EEOC, Organizational Development, Compensation and Training in the telecommunications, financial, automotive, higher education and healthcare industries.