“Personalized Pay” in Patent Application Approval Process (USPTO 20220230257): Patent Application

2022 AUG 10 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent application by the inventors Plotko, Dimitry (Alpharetta, NJ, US); Schuster, Eric (Alpharetta, GA, US), filed on January 15, 2021, was made available online on July 21, 2022, according to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx correspondents.

This patent application has not been assigned to a company or institution.

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “

“The present disclosure relates generally to an improved computer system and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for processing payroll, still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for processing payroll according to an employee-specified payroll schedule.

“Information systems are used for many different purposes. The different operations performed using the information system may be referred to as transactions. For example, an information system may be used to process payroll to generate paychecks for employees in an organization. The different operations performed to generate paychecks for a pay period using the information system may be referred to as a transaction.

“Information systems are used for many different purposes. For example, an information system may be used to process payroll to generate paychecks for employees in an organization. Additionally, an information system also may be used by a human resources department to maintain benefits and other records about employees. For example, a human resources department may manage health insurance, wellness plans, and other programs and organizations using an employee information system. As yet another example, an information system may be used to determine when to hire new employees, assign employees to projects, perform reviews for employees, and other suitable operations for the organization.

“Every employer is faced with the regular generation of payroll for its employees. Initially, payroll processing was an arduous manual task, requiring the responsible individual to compute the base pay, applicable taxes, and other deductions for each of the employer’s employees. Initially, these calculations were performed by hand. Later, these calculations were performed with the assistance of adding machines, calculators, and, finally, computers. Over time, automated systems have been developed to calculate pay, produce payroll checks, and even to make the automatic payroll deposits into an employee’s bank account for employees participating in a direct deposit program.

“Current payroll systems operate on a set payroll schedule, paying out compensation to employees on predetermined paydays set by the employer. This set schedule can create financial wellness challenges for employees who have to set their spending patterns based on when their employer decides they should be paid.

“As a workaround, some employers allow employees to request an advance on their pay. However, current payday payroll systems require a human resources department to respond to these requests for payroll events.

“Alternatively, employees may use alternative lending methods, such as payday loans, when they require money in between paydays. However, due to their typically high interest rates, payday loans are rarely helpful to an employee’s long-term financial well-being.

“Emerging early wage access companies have attempted to provide a technology-based, fintech solution to solve this problem. However, few payroll providers offer access to these early access services. Furthermore, existing fintech solutions do not deliver a compliant payroll payment, processing all the required regulatory filings, tax withholdings and transfer funds according to the employer’s obligations. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that take into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as other possible issues.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent application, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer-implemented method for providing wage payments to an employee according to an employee-specified pay schedule. A computer system receives a payroll event for the employee. In response to receiving the payroll event, the computer system interprets a first structured data object for processing payroll. In interpreting the first structured data object, the computer system identifies an employee-specified pay schedule according to an employee context interpreted from the first structured data object. In interpreting the first structured data object, the computer system determines that a wage payment should be made to the employee according to the employee-specified pay schedule. Responsive to determining that the wage payment should be made, the computer system transmits an order for the wage payment to the employee to a specified wage payment proxy server via a network using a specified communication channel to pay the employee.

“Another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer system comprising a hardware processor unit and a payroll processor for providing wage payments to an employee according to an employee-specified pay schedule. The payroll processor is configured to receive a payroll event for an employee. The payroll processor is further configured to interpret a first structured data object for processing payroll in response to receiving the payroll event. In interpreting the first structured data object, the payroll processor identifies an employee-specified pay schedule according to an employee context interpreted from the first structured data object. In interpreting the first structured data object, the payroll processor determines that a wage payment should be made to the employee according to the employee-specified pay schedule. In interpreting the first structured data object, the payroll processor transmits an order in response to determining that the wage payment should be made. The order for the wage payment to the employee is transmitted to a specified wage payment proxy server via a network using a specified communication channel to pay the employee.

“Yet another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer program product for providing wage payments to an employee according to an employee-specified pay schedule. The computer program product comprises a computer readable storage media, and program code stored on the computer-readable storage media. The program code includes code for receiving a payroll event for the employee. The program code includes code for interpreting a first structured data object for processing payroll in response to receiving the payroll event. The program code for interpreting the first structured data object includes program code for identifying an employee-specified pay schedule according to an employee context interpreted from the first structured data object; program code for determining that a wage payment should be made to the employee according to the employee-specified pay schedule; and program code for transmitting an order for the wage payment to the employee to a specified wage payment proxy server via a network using a specified communication channel to pay the employee in response to determining that the wage payment should be made.

“The features and functions can be achieved independently in various embodiments of the present disclosure or may be combined in yet other embodiments in which further details can be seen with reference to the following description and drawings.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer-implemented method for providing wage payments to an employee according to an employee-specified pay schedule, the computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, by a computer system, a payroll event for the employee; in response to receiving the payroll event, interpreting, by the computer system, a first structured data object for processing payroll, wherein interpreting the first structured data object includes: identifying the employee-specified pay schedule according to an employee context interpreted from the first structured data object; determining that a wage payment should be made to the employee according to the employee-specified pay schedule; and responsive to determining that the wage payment should be made, transmitting an order for the wage payment to the employee to a specified wage payment proxy server via a network using a specified communication channel to pay the employee.

“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the payroll event is selected from a timeclock event for the employee, a list of one or more salaried employees, and combinations thereof.

“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the employee-specified pay schedule is selected from the group consisting of an hourly schedule, a shift-wise schedule, a daily schedule, a bidaily schedule, a semiweekly schedule, a weekly schedule, a biweekly schedule, a semimonthly schedule, a monthly schedule, a bimonthly schedule, a lunar schedule, a quarterly schedule, and an ad-hoc schedule.

“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first structured data object comprises a first set of composable data nodes that are composed according to a domain-specific language to form the first structured data object and to indicate the employee context and an employer context.

“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the employee-specified pay schedule is a second structured data object, the method further comprising: interpreting, by the computer system, the second structured data object within the employee context, wherein the second structured data object overrides a property of the first structured data object that specifies a default pay schedule within the employer context.

“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein interpreting the first structured data object further includes: identifying wage information according to the employee context interpreted from the first structured data object; and determining a payment amount according to the wage information and the employee-specified pay schedule.

“7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the wage information comprises a default amount specified according to the default pay schedule, and wherein the second structured data object further comprises rules for converting the default amount to the payment amount.

“8. A computer system comprising: a hardware processor unit; and a payroll processor for providing wage payments to an employee according to an employee-specified pay schedule, wherein the payroll processor is configured: to receive a payroll event for the employee; in response to receiving the payroll event, to interpret a first structured data object for processing payroll, wherein interpreting the first structured data object includes: identifying the employee-specified pay schedule according to an employee context interpreted from the first structured data object; determining that a wage payment should be made to the employee according to the employee-specified pay schedule; and responsive to determining that the wage payment should be made, transmitting an order for the wage payment to the employee to a specified wage payment proxy server via a network using a specified communication channel to pay the employee.

“9. The computer system of claim 8, wherein the payroll event is selected from a timeclock event for the employee, a list of one or more salaried employees, and combinations thereof.

“10. The computer system of claim 8, wherein the employee-specified pay schedule is selected from a group consisting of an hourly schedule, a shift-wise schedule, a daily schedule, a bidaily schedule, a semiweekly schedule, a weekly schedule, a biweekly schedule, a semimonthly schedule, a monthly schedule, a bimonthly schedule, a lunar schedule, a quarterly schedule, and an ad-hoc schedule.

“11. The computer system of claim 8, wherein the first structured data object comprises a first set of composable data nodes that are composed according to a domain-specific language to form the first structured data object and to indicate the employee context and an employer context.

“12. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the employee-specified pay schedule is a second structured data object, wherein the payroll processor is further configured: to interpret the second structured data object within the employee context, wherein the second structured data object overrides a property of the first structured data object that specifies a default pay schedule within the employer context.

“13. The computer system of claim 12, wherein in interpreting the first structured data object, the payroll processor is further configured: to identify wage information according to the employee context interpreted from the first structured data object; and to determine a payment amount according to the wage information and the employee-specified pay schedule.

“14. The computer system of claim 13, wherein the wage information comprises a default amount of the wage payment specified according to the default pay schedule, and wherein the second structured data object further comprises rules for converting the default amount to the payment amount.

“15. A computer program product for providing wage payments to an employee according to an employee-specified pay schedule, the computer program product comprising: a computer-readable storage media; and program code, stored on the computer-readable storage media, for receiving a payroll event for the employee; program code, stored on the computer-readable storage media, for interpreting a first structured data object for processing payroll in response to receiving the payroll event, wherein the program code for interpreting the first structured data object includes: program code for identifying the employee-specified pay schedule according to an employee context interpreted from the first structured data object; program code for determining that a wage payment should be made to the employee according to the employee-specified pay schedule; and program code for transmitting an order for the wage payment to the employee to a specified wage payment proxy server via a network using a specified communication channel to pay the employee in response to determining that the wage payment should be made.

“16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the payroll event is selected from a timeclock event for the employee, a list of one or more salaried employees, and combinations thereof.

“17. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the employee-specified pay schedule is selected from a group consisting of an hourly schedule, a shift-wise schedule, a daily schedule, a bidaily schedule, a semiweekly schedule, a weekly schedule, a biweekly schedule, a semimonthly schedule, a monthly schedule, a bimonthly schedule, a lunar schedule, a quarterly schedule, and an ad-hoc schedule.

“18. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the first structured data object comprises a first set of composable data nodes that are composed according to a domain-specific language to form the first structured data object and to indicate the employee context and an employer context.

“19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the employee-specified pay schedule is a second structured data object, the computer program product further comprising: program code, stored on the computer-readable storage media, for interpreting the second structured data object within the employee context, wherein the second structured data object overrides a property of the first structured data object that specifies a default pay schedule within the employer context.

“20. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the program code for interpreting the first structured data object further includes: program code for identifying wage information according to the employee context interpreted from the first structured data object; and program code for determining a payment amount according to the wage information and the employee-specified pay schedule.

“21. The computer program product of claim 20, wherein the wage information comprises a default amount of the wage payment specified according to the default pay schedule, and wherein the second structured data object further comprises rules for converting the default amount to the payment amount.”

URL and more information on this patent application, see: Plotko, Dimitry; Schuster, Eric. Personalized Pay. Filed January 15, 2021 and posted July 21, 2022. Patent URL: https://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220220230257%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20220230257&RS=DN/20220230257

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