HUMAN RESOURCES LIAISONS

Payroll

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Payroll - Frequently Asked Questions

Pay Periods
Address Changes
Direct Deposit
Tax Documents
Overtime
WebTime Entry
Termination
Leave Accruals
Campus Closings
Four-Day Workweek
Compensatory Time Off

Pay Periods

  1. What are the employee pay periods and pay dates?

    Non-exempt (bi-weekly) employees are paid every two weeks.  Paydays are on Wednesday.

    Exempt (monthly) employees are paid on the last regularly scheduled work day of the month.

    Here is a list of the current bi-weekly and monthly payroll schedules.
    For additional information see HR Policy 219.

Address Changes

  1. How do employees change their campus or home address?

    An employee must complete a Change of Address Form and submit it to the Payroll Department for processing.

    SPECIAL NOTE: This information must be changed in the Payroll Department to ensure accurate delivery of payroll documents including W-2s.  Changing an address with any department other than payroll will not update our records. 

Direct Deposit

  1. Is direct deposit required?

    Yes, employees' pay must be deposited directly into a bank account or other financial institution. For additional details, see HR Policy 224.

  2. How do employees change their direct deposit?

    Employees must change their direct deposit with the Payroll Department each time the account information is changed by completing a Direct Deposit Form.  Attach a voided check for a checking account update or a savings deposit slip for a savings account update and submit the document to the Payroll Department for processing.

  3. Can direct deposit be split between multiple accounts?

    No, we do not have the capabilities to split direct deposits to multiple accounts.

Tax Documents

  1. How do I change my allowances on my W-4?

    Complete an Employee Withholding Allowance Certificate (W-4) with the necessary changes and forward it to the Payroll Department for processing.

  2. When do employees receive W-2 forms?

    W-2 forms are produced by our UM System office by the end of January for the prior year's earnings.  Contact the Payroll Department if you do not receive your W-2 form.

  3. What are the St. Louis City zip codes?

    63101, 63102, 63103, 63104, 63106, 63107, 63108, 63109, 63110, 63111, 63112, 63113, 63115, 63116, 63118, 63120, 63139, 63147

    If you live in one of these zip codes, 1% of your Federal Taxable gross income will be deducted for the city.

  4. What are the tax withholding considerations if I am Contract Pay?

    Employees who are Contract Pay have lesser amounts of income tax withheld from their pay than if they are set up as monthly employees. PeopleSoft interprets Contract Pay as the only pay the employees will receive for the entire year. Employees who are Contract Pay may wish to request additional income tax withholding on their W-4 forms.

Overtime

  1. What is classified as overtime?

    Overtime is all time worked by an employee for the University that is in excess of 40 hours in a work week. The University work week is defined as Sunday to Saturday. Overtime must be approved in advance.

    Refer to HR Policy 211 for additional information.

WebTime Entry

  1. How do we record a holiday not worked but paid on the timesheet and how is this entered in WebTime?

    Holiday hours are posted on the timesheet in the box noted as Paid Holiday (not worked) and should be pro-rated based on FTE.

    Holiday hours are included in the WebTime entry of regular hours.

    Regular hours include hours worked plus any paid time off.

  2. How do we record hours worked on a holiday (HOL) on the timesheet and how is it entered in WebTime?

    Holiday hours worked are posted on the timesheet in the box noted as paid Holiday Worked.

    Add a row to their salaried row line in WebTime and enter the earnings code of HOL and the hours worked on the holiday.  Employees who must work on an officially-observed University holiday are paid 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for all time worked during any of the designated holiday hours.

    To calculate overtime hours refer to HR Policy 211a Overtime Questions and Answers Question 6b.

  3. Do we include paid time off hours with regular hours in WebTime data entry?

    Yes, hours worked plus any paid time off equals REG hours.

Termination

  1. Does an employee receive payment for unused vacation or sick leave upon termination?

    An administrative, service and support employee who separates from the University will receive compensation only for unused vacation time in the final paycheck.

Leave Accruals

  1. How does an employee accrue vacation, sick and personal leave?
  • Vacation and sick leave is accrued every Monday for non-exempt employees based on years of service. Exempt employees accrue on the 15th of each month.
  • You are not eligible to use accrued vacation or sick leave until the following pay period.
  • Vacation time is accrued during the first six months of employment but it cannot be used until the probationary period has been completed.
  • Employees may accumulate vacation twice their annual rate. Maximum accruals are identified in HR Policy 402.
  • You receive four (4) personal days every year on your anniversary date.  During your probationary period (your first six months of employment), you are permitted to use two (2) days.
  • Personal days must be used in half-day or whole day increments and must be used before your anniversary date or you will lose them.

Campus Closings

  1. How will I know if the University is unexpectedly closed in the event of inclement weather or other emergency conditions?

The campus is open unless and until an official announcement is made that the campus is closed. Radio stations KTRS (AM 550), KWMU (FM 90.7), and KMOX (AM 1120) and television stations KTVI (2), KMOX (4), and KSDK (5) will be notified of the closing. An announcement will be placed on the UM-St. Louis home page and on the UMSL Information Line 314-516-INFO (4636), the general telephone number for the campus (314-516-5000), and all voice mailboxes.

  1. What do I need to do to process payroll in the event the campus is unexpectedly closed due to inclement weather or other emergency conditions?
  • Closing Time: The campus is considered closed from the announced time of the official closing until 7:00 a.m. the next day.
  • WebTime Entry: REG hours should not be reduced by the hours the campus was closed.
  • All employees (including part-time) who had been scheduled to work during the time period when the campus is closed will be paid for the hours that they were scheduled to work at their regular rate of pay.
  • Employees are not required to submit a Report of Absence form (UM60).
  • Non-exempt employees should record the time they were scheduled to work after the official announced closing on their time records as "other paid hours" and write in "campus closing" as the explanation for their time off.
  • Non-exempt, regular employees who were required to work after the announced closing will be paid 1 1/2 times their regular rate of pay for the time worked (including any time they were required to work at home) plus their regular rate of pay for hours they were scheduled to work after the announced closing time. Unless it was agreed to prior to the official closing time, compensatory time off may not be substituted for this pay.
  • Non-exempt, regular employees who were called in or called back to work after the announced closing time will be paid for a minimum of 3 hours work at 1 1/2 times their regular rate of pay.
  • Non-exempt, regular employees who were called in or called back to work will be paid applicable shift differential plus their regular rate of pay times 1 1/2 for any hours worked during the evening and night shifts
  • Non-exempt, regular employees who were required to stay after their regular hours and work into the next shift will not be paid the applicable shift differential for that next shift unless they worked a full eight hours in the next shift.
  • Part-time employees who were required to work after the announced closing time will be paid their regular rate of pay for hours worked. They will receive no additional compensation for that time.
  • Employees who had already requested and scheduled a sick day, personal day, or vacation day for day the campus is closed will not have the day or the portion of that day charged against their sick day, personal day or vacation day accrual. They should change the portion of that day to "other" on their time record.
  1. What happens if the campus is not closed, but my supervisor excuses me from coming into work or allows me to leave early due to inclement weather or other emergency conditions?

    If the campus is not closed, but your supervisor excuses you from coming into work or allows you to leave early, you must account for your time by submitting a Report of Absence form (UM60) specifiying personal/vacation time or excused absence without pay. If you cannot make it into work due to inclement weather, you may not take a sick day unless a personal or family illness requires it. Taking a sick day for other reasons may result in disciplinary action, and you will not be paid for the sick day. Your supervisor may require a doctor's statement if you use a sick day.

Four-Day Workweek

  1. My department works a four-day (10 hours/day) workweek.  How does this affect the pay of my employees?
  • Shift differential:  For employees assigned to the second or third shift, all 10 hours include the shift differential for that shift, provided they continue to start work after the beginning of the shift.
  • Vacation and sick time accrual and usage:  Vacation time and sick time are accrued on an hourly basis.   For an employee on the four-day (10 hours/day) program who takes a day of vacation or sick time, he or she should be charged for 10 hours.   If an employee on this program takes a week of vacation or sick time, 40 hours should be charged against the accrual.  An employee may only use a maximum of 96 hours of family sick time per year, regardless of his or her extended daily schedule.
  • Personal days: Personal days must be used in full-day or half-day increments.   University policy specifies a maximum of 32 hours of personal day leave per year.   Although it identifies a personal day as consisting of eight (8) hours, it requires employees on extended shifts to take the full shift.    For an employee in the four-day (10 hours/day) program who takes a personal day, 10 hours of personal time usage will be charged.  If a four-day (10 hours/day) employee takes one-half personal day, five (5) hours of personal time will be charged.    Under University policy, a four-day (10 hours/day) employee who has taken his/her first three (3) personal days must take the remaining two (2) hours of personal time in one lump.
  • Holidays:  Under University policy, employees may not receive more than eight (8) hours of paid time off for each designated University holiday regardless of how many hours beyond eight (8) they were scheduled to work on that day.  Therefore, in a week where a holiday occurs, employees in the four-day (10 hours/day) program should be paid for 38 hours unless there is another mechanism in place for them to make up the additional two (2) hours within a 40-hour week.  However, if a non-exempt hourly employee in the four-day (10 hours/day) program is scheduled to work 10 hours on a holiday, he or she will be paid 1½ times his or her regular pay for 10 hours plus eight (8) hours of his or her regular pay.
  • Funeral Leave: University policy specifies a maximum of 24 hours of funeral leave starting on the date of death and ending on the second calendar day after the funeral.   Therefore, four-day (10 hours/day) employees have a maximum of two (2) days and four (4) hours of funeral leave.
  • Overtime: Most non-exempt hourly employees are paid 1½ times their regular hourly pay for any hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a week (Sunday-Saturday).   The number of hours that any employee works in a day does not affect overtime as long as the employee does not work more than 40 hours in a week.
  • Under the FLSA, hourly non-exempt employees must report exact hours worked.   Under approved University practice, all working hours include an unpaid lunch break of at least 20 minutes within the first five (5) consecutive working hours.    Therefore, in order to be paid for a 10-hour day, the employee must report at least 10 hours and 20 minutes from the beginning to the end of his/her working day.
  • The four-day (10 hours/day) schedule should not affect the time off prescribed for Workers’ Compensation, Jury Duty, FMLA, Military Leave or Leave of Absence.

Compensatory Time Off

  1. How is compensatory time-off administered?
  • HR Policy 215 Compensatory Time provides guidance relating to comp time.
  • PeopleSoft is the official balance record of comp time accrual and use.
  • Pay statements will include the comp time balances once they are provided to Payroll.
  • You will be able to view comp time balances in WebTime just as you can view Vacation, Sick Leave, and Personal Days.
  • A new panel has been added to PeopleSoft to view comp time.  You can navigate to the new panel as follows:  Home>Compensate Employees>Administer Base Benefits>Use> Leave Accruals.
  • Departments authorized to use comp time must use the Biweekly Payroll Time Record - Comp Time version. Click here to view a sample completed biweekly timesheet.  
  • Each employee using comp time must first sign the Agreement to Accept Compensatory Time Off in Lieu of Overtime Pay prior to earning comp time.  This agreement must contain a start date and end date within the pay period current to the date on which the agreement is executed.
  • A list of current employees using comp time and their comp time balances must be provided to Payroll so the balances can be added to PeopleSoft.
  • The new earning codes to use with comp time are:
CMP
 Used for
payout 		To be used
only by Payroll 		 
CPT
 For recording
time used 		  Has no effect
on gross pay
CTE
 New for recording
time earned 		  Has no effect
on gross pay
CPE
 New for NRA 18
payout 		   
CPS
 New for NRA 17
payout 		   
CAJ
 New for recording adjustment To be used
only by Payroll 		Has no effect
on gross pay

Click here for some comp time processing examples.

  • Keep in mind that comp time is a funding liability which must be paid to the employee by his/her current cepartment upon transfer or termination, if not used beforehand.

Please contact Errol Benson at 516-5803 or by email with your questions.

 

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