The University of Chicago Payroll User's Guide

SECTION III. BIWEEKLY PAYROLL

A. GENERAL INFORMATION

Biweekly employees are classified as Regular or Temporary. Regular employees hold jobs that will last more than one year. Temporary employees have positions that will last less than one year. Temporary employees are not eligible for paid absences or fringe benefits.

Biweekly employees will be paid every two weeks. The pay period is two weeks long and begins on Sunday and ends on Saturday. Paychecks are issued on the Friday following the end of the pay period. If the pay date falls on a University holiday, then paychecks will be issued the day prior to the University holiday.

B. TIME REPORTING PROCEDURES

Faculty Exchange delivers computer-generated, biweekly time cards to departments on the Thursday or Friday before a biweekly pay period beginning date. Departments should notify Payroll in writing if they would prefer to pick up their time cards at the Payroll Department.

• Employees should record daily time and attendance information IN BLACK INK.
• Employees must keep track of daily time by recording "in" and "out" times including lunch periods if taken.
• The departmental administrator should check each time card for completeness before forwarding the form to Payroll. The employee and the employee's supervisor and/or the departmental administrator, who has first-hand knowledge of the employee's work hours, must sign the time card. If the employee was not available to sign the time card, the administrator should note the reason (i.e. out of office, off site, off sick, etc.) on the employee's signature line of the time card.

A Time Card Batch header (UPP 180) must be attached to each group of time cards sent to the Payroll Department.

C. BIWEEKLY DEADLINES

Standard Time Cards (Computer generated) must be received in the Payroll Department on Monday by noon after the biweekly pay period ends. Handwritten Time cards, Casual Employee Payroll Forms and any other biweekly adjustments must be received in payroll by noon on the second Friday of the pay period. The Biweekly Additional pay form should be sent to UHRM, Ingleside hall, Room 200, by noon on Wednesday before the pay period end date. Biweekly adjustments must be received in the Payroll Department on Thursday by noon. A complete set of closing schedules is provided to departments for each calendar year in November.

Payroll will advise departments in advance if University Holidays cause any changes to the schedule described above.

Time cards must be brought directly to the Payroll Department in the Mott Building, 1225 East 60th Street, Room 319. TIME CARDS ARE NOT TO BE SENT TO OR LEFT AT UHRM IN INGLESIDE HALL.

DO NOT send any time cards to Payroll via Faculty Exchange.

D. CURRENT PAY PERIOD TIME REPORTING INPUT DOCUMENTS

Regular and Temporary University employees use the following forms to report time worked in a current pay period:

Standard Time Card (UPP 181)

Computer-generated standard time cards are printed for all biweekly employees who are on the Employee Data Base (EDB) prior to a pay period. The time and attendance information and hours/dollars total section of the time card must be completed before sending the time card to Payroll. All time cards for Regular employees should be returned to Payroll even if the employee did not work during the pay period. In addition, all full-time (scheduled to work 35 or more hours per week), Regular employees are required to account for both paid and unpaid absences.

Handwritten Time Card (UPP 182)

The Handwritten Time Card is generally used to report hours for an employee who has been recently established on the Employee Data Base (all necessary forms have been forwarded to University Human Resources Management by the appropriate deadlines) but who has not yet received a computer-generated standard time card. In addition, the Handwritten Time Card can be used to report late pay, or can serve as a replacement for a lost computer-generated time card. See the forms instruction section of the Payroll/Personnel System Manual for more detailed information concerning under what circumstances the Handwritten Time Card should be used.

Note: When submitting a Handwritten Time Card, all information usually pre-printed on an employee's computer-generated time card must be filled in by the department. In addition the employee's Social Security Number, hourly rate, account number to be charged, and appropriate earnings code(s) must be provided in the "HOURS WORKED" and "OTHER PAID HOURS" section of the TIME CARD.

Staff One Time Payment Request Form (UPP 183OT)

The Staff One Time Payment Request Form is used to process payments to staff employees who are expected to work no longer than a single pay period. Only one form for an individual will be accepted per executive level within a three-month period. The form must reflect only the hours worked during the specified pay period. Hours worked over several pay periods should never be combined on a single form. The daily time record (in and out times and dates(s) the employee provided services) must be noted on the form. All lump sum payments must be approved in advance by Human Resources Management. A brief description explaining the services or duties performed by the individual must be included. Only one FAS account can be charged per form. Both the employee and appropriate administrator must sign each form. The individual approving the payment should have some means of verifying that the time reported by the employee is accurate. The following forms must be attached for all payments: Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 and backup documentation, Federal and State W-4 tax forms, and Alien Information Request form if the individual is not a U. S. citizen.

Student Casual Payment Request Form (UPP 183S)

The Student Casual Payment Request Form is used to process payments to University of Chicago Students including Laboratory School Students who are expected to work no more than two pay periods per executive level within a three-month period. The form must reflect only the hours worked during the specific pay period. Hours worked over several pay periods should never be combined on a single form. The daily time record (IN and OUT times and DATE(s) the employee provided services) must be noted on the form. When submitting a lump sum payment, a brief description explaining the services or duties performed by the individual must be included. Only one FAS account can be charged per form. Both the student employee and the appropriate administrator must sign each form. The individual approving the payment should have some means of verifying that the time reported by the student is accurate.

The following forms must be attached for all payments: Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 and backup documentation, Federal and State W-4 tax forms, and Alien Information Request form if the individual is not a U. S. citizen. The following table of subaccounts is to be used when submitting Casual Payment Request Forms. Please use this table for reference. Note that, for example, the subaccount "15xx" means that for this job code, the correct subaccount range is 1501 - 1599, and "1xxx" means that any valid salary payroll subaccount can be used. For more detailed information concerning subaccount codes, please consult Section Four of the University of Chicago Financial Accounting System Users Manual, under "Expenditure Subaccount Definitions".

Additional Payment Request (UPP 173)

Additional pay is defined as compensation for services performed outside of the employee's current job assignment on an "as needed" basis. The Biweekly Additional Payment Request Form (UPP 173) should be completed in full and forwarded to University Human Resources Management Wage and Salary Section (Ingleside Hall) by noon on the second Wednesday of the pay period.

The following table of subaccounts is to be used when submitting Additional Pay Request Forms. Please use this table for reference. Note that, for example, the subaccount "15xx" means that for this job code, the correct subaccount range is 1501 - 1599, and "1xxx" means that any valid salary payroll subaccount can be used. For more detailed information concerning subaccount codes, please consult Section Four of the University of Chicago Financial Accounting System Users Manual, under "Expenditure Subaccount Definitions".

E. OTHER BIWEEKLY PAYROLL ACTIVITY

The following forms are used to report payroll activity that cannot be recorded on the current payroll biweekly time reporting documents described above:

1. Retroactive Adjustments
   A retroactive adjustment is defined as an amount that compensates an employee for a retroactive rate increase, or similarly, a retroactive rate decrease. DO NOT submit retroactive pay adjustments on any type of time card. Retroactive adjustments for payment can only be processed on UPP 184, Biweekly Payroll Adjustment Form. Retroactive adjustments should be calculated by the department as a lump sum dollar amount and entered on the lower half of the form. The old rate of pay and new rate of pay must be entered in the appropriate areas. The form must be received in payroll by noon on the last Thursday of the pay period. Forms submitted after this deadline will be processed during the next biweekly payroll. Retroactive increases or decreases, which have not yet been authorized and entered into the Payroll/Personnel system by UHRM, cannot be processed by Payroll.
   
   
2. Late Pay
   Late pay is defined as an amount paid to an employee in the current period that compensates the employee for hours worked but not paid in a prior pay period. The following two forms can be used to process late pay for biweekly University employees.
   
   
   • Handwritten Time Card (UPP 182)
     The handwritten time card must be used to report late pay if the employee is currently being paid the same rate and is being charged to the same account distribution (on the employee's current PAF) as when the late hours were worked. The pay period in which the hours were originally worked must be entered on the card. (NOTE: Late hours from a previous pay period should not be entered on the employee's current pay period time card. Doing this will cause the employee's gross pay to be taxed at a higher rate than usual; submitting two separate time cards ensures that both pay periods are taxed separately, and at the appropriate rate.)
     
     
   • Biweekly Payroll Adjustment Form (UPP 184)
     Late pay should be recorded on the Biweekly Payroll Adjustment Form ONLY if the employee's rate of pay and/or account distribution has changed since the pay period in which the late hours were worked. In other words, if the employee's base rate of pay and/or the account distribution of wages have changed since the pay period in which the late hours were worked, the Biweekly Payroll Adjustment Form must be used to process the late pay instead of the Handwritten Time Card.
     
     
3. Reduction in Pay
   A reduction in pay is defined as an adjustment to an employee's current period wages to recover an overpayment made to the employee in a prior pay period (i.e., the employee was paid for hours that he did not work). The Biweekly Payroll Adjustment Form (UPP 184) should be used to process the adjustment.
   
   The top section of this form (marked "Hours Adjustments") should be completed to reduce the employee's pay. Be sure to indicate that this is a reduction by entering a "-" sign in the "+/-" column.
   
   
4. Vacation Advances
   Benefit-eligible University employees may request an advance of paid vacation wages. Vacation advances will be provided only in workweek increments (one week, two weeks, etc.). The Biweekly Vacation Advance Form (UPP 190) is used to process vacation advances for biweekly University employees. This form must be submitted to the Payroll Department ten working days in advance of the employee's last paycheck prior to the vacation. A handwritten time card for each pay period covered by the advance must accompany the form.