University of South Dakota Payroll Policy
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This policy covers: type of payroll, department responsibility, distribution of paychecks, automatic deposit of payroll checks, holds on paychecks, emergency checks, salary overpayments, Social Security Exemption, payroll deductions, unclaimed payroll checks, new hire forms, hourly payroll, work study payroll, salaried payroll, overtime compensation authorization, and replacement check stubs.
GENERAL The University of South Dakota has one monthly payroll cycle. Payday is the last working day of each month.
DEPARTMENT RESPONSIBILITIES Departments are responsible for the prompt payment of employees through timely preparation and submission of complete, authorized appointment and payroll documents.
DISTRIBUTION OF PAYROLL CHECKS Paychecks and direct deposit stubs (stubs) will be available in the Accounting Office at 8am on payday for departments to pick up. Checks/stubs will not be distributed to individual employees from the Accounting Office. It is the department's responsibility to mail paychecks/stubs to employees at other sites around the state. Paychecks not picked up within three months from the department should be returned to the Accounting Office.
AUTOMATIC DEPOSIT OF PAYROLL CHECKS Employees of the University have the option of receiving their earnings by direct deposit into any bank that participates in electronic funds transfers. Authorization to start or stop a direct deposit will require an employee's signature.
Payroll will place a hold on a paycheck for any of the following reasons: unsigned timesheet, no HPA, no Work Study Authorization Card, I-9 not completed, and W-4 not completed. Holds will be released when the appropriate paperwork is received into the payroll office. Once a paycheck is released, the employee may pick it up in the accounting office. Paychecks that remain on hold longer than 6 months will be considered an unclaimed paycheck for purposes of this policy.
Emergency paychecks may be issued to employees who did not receive a check due to an error on the monthly payroll. When an emergency check is requested by the department, it is the department's responsibility to ensure the paperwork receives the appropriate approval and arrives into the payroll office in a timely manner. An emergency check processing fee will be charged to the department for each manual check request, unless the error was caused by the payroll office. The fee cannot be charged to grant accounts, nor can the department require the employee to pay the fee.
All overpayments should be brought to the attention of the payroll office as soon as possible. Overpayments made to a current employee will be taken from the employee's wages on the following paycheck, unless the employee agrees to reimburse the University prior to the next payday. Overpayments made to a former employee should be reported to the Payroll Supervisor, who will coordinate the collection efforts.
The University will follow Revenue Procedure 98-16 in the determination of Social Security Exemption for student employees. Half-time for the purposes of this policy will be defined as 6 credit-hours for undergraduate students and 5 credit-hours for graduate students during the academic year. Half-time during the summer sessions will be 3 credit-hours for both graduate and undergraduate students. The payroll office will generate a report prior to each payroll to determine students eligible for the exemption.
AUTHORIZATION FOR PAYROLL DEDUCTIONS (other than State Sponsored benefits)
If an employee has left the University, departments are responsible for mailing the payroll check to the employee's forwarding address. If the forwarding address is not known, the payroll check should be returned immediately to the payroll office for attempts to locate the employee and subsequent forwarding of the payroll check. Payroll checks that remain unclaimed for six months will be forwarded to the State of South Dakota as unclaimed property.
All employees of the University, regardless of length of employment, must complete the Internal Revenue Service form W-4 and the Immigration and Naturalization Service Form. These forms are required by Federal law, and must be completed within three days of when an employee begins working. A hold will be placed on an employee's paycheck until these forms are received by the Payroll Office.
The hourly payroll period runs from mid-month to mid-month. An Hourly Payroll Authorization (HPA) is required to set up an hourly employee on the payroll system. Hourly employees are required to keep track of their hours on the Monthly Timesheet. Departments will transfer an employee's hours recorded on the timesheet to the Hourly Input Sheet. Hourly Input Sheets will be forwarded to the Payroll Office with the time sheets attached by the established deadlines. Input sheets not received by the established deadline will be subject to a late processing fee.
The work study payroll period runs from mid-month to mid-month. A Work Study Authorization Card is required to set up a work study employee on the payroll system. Work Study employees are required to keep track of their hours on the Work Study Timesheet. Departments will transfer an employee's hours recorded on the timesheet to the Work Study Input Sheet. Work Study Input Sheets will be forwarded to the Payroll Office with the time sheets attached by the established deadlines. Input sheets not received by the established deadline will be subject to a late processing fee.
The salaried payroll runs from the beginning of the month to the end of the month. Salary authorization is due into Budget, Finance and Institutional Research by the 10th of the month. Salary authorizations not received by the Budget Office by the 10th of the month are not guaranteed to be included on that month's payroll.
OVERTIME COMPENSATION AUTHORIZATION The Overtime Compensation Authorization is used to authorize additional pay to salaried employees. These forms are due into the Payroll Office by the 10th of the month with a copy of the timesheet attached to be included on that month's payroll. The overtime policy for the University can be found in the Career Service Handbook.
Copies of check stubs may be obtained from the Payroll Office.
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