Payroll Policy FN.003

LU Policy Number: FN. 003

Effective Date: NR

Approval Date: NR

Revised Date: 6/15/2017

Purpose:  Concerns payroll processing and requirements

Additional Authority: N/A

Scope: All Employees(Faculties and Staff) of Life University

Approval Authority: EVP Finance

Responsible Authority: Finance, Human Resources

Definitions: N/A

Policy Title

Payroll Policy

Policy Statement

Pay Dates

All employees will be paid on a bi-weekly basis, every other Friday.

Payments Outside of the Pay Date Cycle

Payments will only be made outside of the Pay Date Cycle if:

Human Resources or Finance fail to enter or update employee’s record into the system.

A request is made by the Executive Office.

Or an employee’s direct deposit is returned.

Direct Deposit

The University strongly recommends that each employee have their paycheck directly deposited into an account at their financial institution or onto a pay card. However, if you choose not to establish direct deposit, the paycheck will be mailed on pay day after 3:00 pm. Pay checks cannot be picked up from Payroll/Finance Office.

If a paycheck is lost in the mail, a stop payment can be requested:

1. After the check has been issued for 5 business days.

2. And the employee agrees to pay the $15.00 stop payment fee.

3. And when the employee has updated his/her address in the Registrar/Human Resources Office.

Once all three requirements have been met, a stop payment will be placed on the lost check and a new check will be issued and mailed.

Timekeeping System (ADP system)

All employees are required to record time worked electronically on an ADP timecard located on the Home screen or the Myself tab under Time & Attendance, MY TIMECARD. This time must be recorded and approved by the supervisor by Monday of payroll week. Failure to record time electronically may result in a delay of payment by 2 weeks.

In the event an employee does not record his/her time by the deadline, the employee’s immediate supervisor will need to:

Have the employee complete a paper timesheet (A paper timesheet can be found on the Life’s website under Menu, My Life U, Faculty & Staff, University Resources, Finance, Forms & Policies, Attendance Verification Form).

BOTH employee and supervisor sign the timesheet.

The supervisor scans or hand delivers the timesheet to the Finance Department.

Federal Work-Study

For all Federal Work Study questions, please contact Human Resources at 770-426-2930 x1931.

Pay Advices

Employees can obtain their Pay Advice or Pay Stub on or after payday through the ADP Employee Portal (ADP/MYSELF tab/Pay/Pay Statements OR via the Home page under Quicklinks).  It is strongly recommended that employees periodically check their pay advices and update any necessary information.

Benefits

Employees can see their benefit selections in ADP under the Myself tab/Benefits.  Employees should frequently review their pay stubs to ensure there are no changes to their benefit premiums, dependents, beneficiaries, etc.

If an employee is on FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) or Leave of Absence, the University will pay the employee’s portion of their benefit premium; however, the employee is required to send in the benefit reimbursement while on leave. If an employee fails to send in the payments, upon return to work, the employee must immediately satisfy the benefit premium debt. Any debt not satisfied within 30 days upon returning to work may result in the full payment being deducted from the employee’s pay.

Please contact Human Resources at 770-426-2930 for additional benefit information.

Employee Overpayment

In the event an employee is overpaid for whatever reason, the employee is to return the overpayment to the University immediately. However, if the employee is unaware that he/she has been overpaid, the employee will receive a billing statement from the Payroll Department, outlining the overpayment and a request to return the money to the University. If an employee fails to respond to the notice, a second notice will be sent via email. If no response is received from the second notice, the employee’s immediate supervisor will be contacted and the employee’s supervisor will be asked to assist in recouping the over-payment.

Garnishments

There are two types of garnishments: Federal and Non- Federal

Federal Garnishments are received through the mail. They are issued by the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) or the Department of Education. Federal garnishments do not have an expiration date. They will continue until the debt has been paid in full.

Additionally, the IRS issues wage levies, which are different from a garnishment. The wage levy is made against your total wages and not a percentage. This levy cannot be modified or cancelled without a release being received in the Payroll Department by the IRS.

Non-Federal Garnishments are hand-delivered to the Payroll or Finance Department by the Sheriff’s Office. Upon receiving the garnishment the employee is notified via email. (The employee has a right to request a copy of the garnishment). Child support and bankruptcy garnishment amounts are determined by the court system and cannot be modified or cancelled without a court-approved notice with the court seal. Credit garnishments are 25% of the employee’s disposable income for 6 months.

Taxes

All employees are required to pay FICA, Federal and State Taxes.

FICA (Social Security and Medicare) tax is a flat rate (currently 7.65% of taxable wages). This amount cannot be changed or exempted by an employee.

Full-time students working part-time and Non-Resident Aliens (except for Non-Resident Aliens from Canada or Mexico with a TN status – Trade NAFTA) are exempt from this tax.

All employees are required to complete a Federal W-4 and a Georgia Withholding Form to determine their income tax withholding requirement. Each employee has the right to change this form as often as he/she chooses.

Please be advised that the University is not responsible for employees that do not withhold enough income tax from their paycheck.

Procedure(s)

ADP is a self-service website where employees have more control and better access to their personal information. Access to update this information can be found under the MYSELF tab/Personal Information/Personal Profile.

A new procedure for employees is requesting time off electronically (personal, vacation) through ADP.  Under the MYSELF tab, is the option Time Off/Request Time Off where employees can request time off ahead of time or after the fact as long as it is during the open pay period.

Another option is to go directly to the MYSELF tab, choosing Time & Attendance/My Timecard and clicking on the day of the week of the timecard adjustments like Bereavement, Jury Duty, FMLA, Holiday or School Closing.  These codes can be found under the Pay Code column on the My Timecard screen.

ADP also allows employees to enter their own banking information for direct deposit as well as their federal and state taxes.   This gives employees the freedom to change their information on a timely basis without waiting for HR or Finance to enter it for them.  Social security and Medicare taxes will be added automatically.   Employees can also update their addresses through

The MYSELF tab.  This new concept will be introduced to employees through new hire orientation.

Other Notes

N/A