Who gets payroll?
Last updated: August 25, 2026
Not everyone on your team ends up on a payroll run. This article explains the three things that decide whether a given worker is paid through Alpaca in a given period, so you can tell the difference between "this worker is deliberately excluded" and "this worker is about to be missed by accident".
Three gates, in order
A worker is paid on a run only if all three of these are true:
Gate | Where it lives | What happens if it fails |
|---|---|---|
Your organization is on Alpaca Payroll | Set by Alpaca when your clinic is onboarded | The Payroll page shows a banner saying Alpaca Payroll is not active for your organization, and the run tabs are hidden. |
The worker is not marked "Does Not Need Payroll" | Payroll Status card on the worker's profile | Their hours still appear on the Payroll page, but are not sent to payroll and are not counted in the amount to be paid. |
The worker has finished payroll onboarding | Payroll → Onboard Workers, and the worker's own My Payroll | They are not payment-ready, so the run skips them — even though they have hours. |
The third one is the one that bites, because nothing about it looks wrong on the schedule. A worker can deliver sessions all period, sign every note, and still not be paid because they never finished their tax and banking setup.
Catching the accidental misses
Each worker's payroll readiness is shown next to their name — Ready, Not Ready, Onboarding, or Payroll Not Set Up.
Alpaca surfaces this for you rather than making you hunt. In the run-up to each deadline, the Needs your attention card on your homepage warns you if any worker with pay this period has not been onboarded to payroll yet. Workers with no hours are not counted, so the warning does not fire on dormant accounts.
See Onboarding workers to payroll for how to get them over the line.
Employment type does not decide inclusion
Both W-2 employees and 1099-NEC contractors are paid through Alpaca. Worker type changes how tax is handled and which year-end document they receive, not whether they are on the run. See W-2 employees vs 1099-NEC contractors.
Workers who have left
A suspended or terminated worker is removed from future runs, but is still paid for work they have already completed, and keeps access to their own pay stubs and tax documents indefinitely. See Suspending vs terminating a worker.
Related articles
Excluding a worker from payroll — the "Does Not Need Payroll" toggle and its one big caveat
W-2 employees vs 1099-NEC contractors
Suspending vs terminating a worker
Onboarding workers to payroll
Still stuck? Email support@alpacahealth.io and we will take a look.