DEPARTMENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES FOR PAYROLL POLICY

Overall Responsibilities Departments are responsible for ensuring that proper internal controls exist for all payroll activity.

The University has an obligation to pay employees on payday for services performed. Therefore, it is critical that departments submit payroll documents according to published deadlines, especially timesheets, add on timesheets, and Online Personnel Action System (OPAS) transactions.

University employees should normally be paid for work performed for or on behalf of the University only through the UHR Payroll Division.

Departmental University Payroll Contact Each department must designate at least one employee as their payroll contact. This person will be responsible for the preparation of all payroll input. Responsibilities of the departmental payroll contact include the following:

• Accurate completion and timely submission of all payroll documents. Documents must be signed by the department head or authorized designee to be processed by UHR Payroll Division.
• Disseminating payroll information received from UHR Payroll Division to the employees in their department.
• Answering questions from employees in their area. In most cases, the departmental contact should be able to answer any payroll questions.

Authorization Automated Timesheets (ATS) and add on timesheets must be signed by the department head or authorized designee to be processed by UHR Payroll Division.

All stamped, initialed or illegible signatures are unacceptable.

Timely Submission All employee changes must be submitted promptly to the appropriate division of University Human Resources. Late submission of paperwork can result in incorrect paychecks or no paychecks.

Internal Controls If possible the employee who signs and authorizes the payroll input should not be the person who actually prepares the input. An employee who is responsible for preparing payroll transactions may not be appointed as a Department Payroll Distribution Officer.

Special University Payroll Checks

Wage Employees: A special payroll check may be issued to a wage employee who does not receive a regular paycheck due to a department neglecting to submit hours on an Automated Timesheet (ATS) or Online Personnel Action System (OPAS) action.

Request for a special payroll check must be made by the department head or authorized designee, in writing to UHR Employee Records Division for OPAS actions and UHR Payroll Division for timesheet actions. The request must include the following information:

• Employee name and social security number.
• Employee pay rate, number of hours, and total gross wages to be paid.
• Explanation of why a special paycheck is necessary.
• Signature and phone number of department head or authorized designee.
• Telephone number of employee to be contacted when check is available.

UHR Payroll Division will notify the employee when the check will be available for pick-up at 914 Emmet Street check distribution window.

Note: The University requires valid photo identification at the time of pick-up before releasing a special check to an employee.

Current March 23, 2007