Workforce validates every employee on a pay run, and the pay run as a whole, before it can be posted. When something is missing or wrong, the pay run shows it as an error (which blocks posting) or a warning (which doesn't block, but is worth reviewing). This article walks through every error and warning Workforce raises on US pay runs, and how to clear each one.

Open the pay run from Payroll > Run Payroll. Errors and warnings appear on the pay run page; each error includes a link to the page where you can fix it.

There are two scopes:

Each of the following errors will hold a single employee's pay stub out of a pay run until it's resolved.

What you'll see: "A date of birth has not been provided for [employee]."

How to fix: Open the employee's profile and add a date of birth in their personal info.

What you'll see: "[employee] has not provided a home address."

How to fix: Add a home address on the employee's personal info page.

What you'll see: "[employee] has not provided ACH details."

How to fix: The pay stub is set to direct deposit but the employee has no bank account on file. Either add ACH details to the employee's profile, or change their payment method for this pay run.

What you'll see: "[employee] does not have a default payroll team."

How to fix: Workforce uses the employee's default payroll team to determine work-state taxes. Set the default payroll team on their personal info.

What you'll see: "[employee]'s default payroll location hasn't set up tax jurisdictions."

How to fix: The location attached to that team needs both federal and a state tax jurisdiction configured. Edit the payroll location and add the missing jurisdictions.

What you'll see: "[employee] has not provided a W-4 form."

How to fix: The federal W-4 hasn't been completed. The employee can submit it from the Tax Forms screen in the Workforce mobile app, or an admin can enter it from the Tax Documents tab on the employee's profile.

What you'll see: "Withholding and other reductions for [employee] exceed their gross earnings."

How to fix: Total withholdings, deductions, and other reductions add up to more than the employee's gross pay for the period. Reduce or remove a deduction on the pay stub for this period, or add earnings so the net pay is at least zero.

What you'll see: "[employee] is a contractor and can not be paid on an employee pay run." or "[employee] is an employee and can not be paid on a contractor pay run."

How to fix: Either correct the user's classification (employee vs. contractor) on their profile, or move them to the matching pay run.

What you'll see: "[employee] has earnings from teams that are missing workers' comp risk classifications." and/or "[employee] has earnings from teams that are missing workers' comp rates."

How to fix: This applies to employees with Washington wages. Open Payroll > Risk Classifications, make sure every team the employee worked has a risk classification assigned, and that each classification has a rate set.

What you'll see: "[employee] does not have a social security number. They cannot be paid because it is more than 30 days past their employment start date."

How to fix: Add the employee's SSN to their personal info. Inside the first 30 days from their start date this is a warning only; once 30 days pass it becomes a blocking error.

What you'll see: "[contractor] does not have a taxpayer identification number (TIN). Contractors cannot be paid without a TIN on file."

How to fix: Collect a W-9 from the contractor and add the TIN to their contractor profile.

What you'll see: "Pay runs containing pay stubs for [employee] are blocked until [employee] [reason]."

How to fix: Workforce currently raises this when an employee's SSN is a duplicate of another user's on the same payroll integration. The employee can't be paid until the duplicate is resolved. Find the other user with the matching SSN and correct whichever record holds the wrong number, then re-save the SSN on the affected employee. The block clears as soon as the SSN is unique.

What you'll see: "[employee]'s Branch payment profile has been deactivated but they still have a Branch bank account on file."

How to fix: The employee's Branch payment profile was turned off, but their pay run still routes to a Branch bank account. Update their bank details so they're being paid into an active account.

Warnings are surfaced on the pay stub but don't stop the pay run from posting. Review each one and decide whether to act before posting.

What you'll see: A note that you're paying this employee for the first time.

What to do: Sanity-check the calculation, including their earnings rates and any pre-tax deductions, before posting.

What you'll see: "[employee] must be paid manually."

What to do: The employee's only ACH details on file are placeholders, so they need to be paid by another method this period (for example, a paper check). Add real ACH details for future pay runs.

What you'll see: A message that a specific state withholding form (for example, a California DE-4 or New York IT-2104) is missing.

What to do: The pay run still posts. Workforce will use the state's default withholding rules until the form is filed. Have the employee complete it when they can.

What you'll see: "[contractor] has not completed their W-9 details. This must be completed for end of year 1099 filings."

What to do: The contractor can still be paid, but their profile needs to be completed before year-end 1099 filing.

What you'll see: A note that the employee's employment end date falls inside the pay period.

What to do: Confirm the calculation reflects only the days they actually worked, and that any final-pay items (PTO payout, etc.) are correct.

What you'll see: "[employee] does not have a social security number. One must be added within 30 days of their start date, or they cannot be paid."

What to do: Add the employee's SSN to their personal info. Inside the first 30 days from their start date this is a warning only; once 30 days pass it becomes a blocking error.

What you'll see: "There are insufficient funds available to withhold all employee taxes owed by [employee]. Some tax amounts will be carried forward to the next pay period."

What to do: Click through to the pay stub's Employee Taxes section to see which tax amounts are being carried forward. Workforce will attempt to withhold them on a future pay stub.

What you'll see: One of the following, depending on where the address is meant to come from:

What to do: The employee is being paid by paper check via Checkeeper, but Workforce can't resolve a mailing address. Provide the address at the source the warning calls out — the employee's profile, the team's location, or Company Setup.

These apply to the entire pay run rather than a single employee.

What you'll see: "You must provide your company bank details."

How to fix: Open Payroll Settings and add the company bank details Workforce uses to fund ACH pay runs.

What you'll see: "You must complete your [jurisdiction] tax profile."

How to fix: One of your federal or state tax profiles isn't fully set up. Open the named jurisdiction's tax profile in payroll settings and complete the outstanding fields.

What you'll see: "You have an outstanding [type] NSF on pay run [id]."

How to fix: A previous pay run had a non-sufficient-funds (NSF) return that hasn't been resolved. Use the link on the error to open the affected pay run and clear the NSF before running another pay run.

What you'll see: "Posting has been disabled. Please contact your Workforce.com representative."

How to fix: This is set by Workforce centrally and can't be cleared by the customer. Reach out to support@workforce.com.

What you'll see: "The total for this pay run exceeds your exposure limit. Please contact your Workforce.com representative."

How to fix: Each account has an ACH exposure limit set by Workforce. If a pay run is large enough to exceed it, posting is blocked. Contact support@workforce.com to review the limit.

What you'll see: "This payment date is outside of your company's eligibility window. If this is an emergency, you can designate this pay run as a wire transfer under 'Actions'. Both the pay run and the wire transfer must be posted by 1pm CT of the payment date."

How to fix: Move the payment date to the next eligible date, or — if it's urgent — use the Actions menu on the pay run to designate it as a wire transfer, and post both the pay run and the wire transfer by 1pm CT of the payment date.

What you'll see: "This payment date falls on a weekend or a Federal holiday."

How to fix: Move the payment date to a banking day.

What you'll see: "You must sign Form 8655 (Reporting Agent Authorization) before running payroll."

How to fix: Open the federal tax profile in payroll settings and set up your federal tax profile and complete Form 8655. Workforce can't file federal taxes on your behalf without it.

What you'll see: "Your account is missing registration information required for payroll processing. Payroll is blocked until the issues are resolved. Please reach out to support for more information."

How to fix: Reach out to Workforce support; they'll let you know which registration details are still required. While the registration shut-off date is still in the future, you'll see this as a warning instead of a blocking error.

After updating the data, return to the pay run — recalculations refresh the error list. Once all errors clear, the pay run is eligible to post.

If a blocker references something you can't change yourself (for example Payroll shut off, Exposure limit, Open NSF, or Missing registration), reach out to support@workforce.com — those blockers exist on Workforce's side and need our team to act.