payroll policies
General Information
Paycheck Distribution
Direct Deposit
Paycheck Holds
Salary Overpayments
Social Security Exemption
Payroll Deductions
Unclaimed Paychecks
New Hires
Hourly Payroll
The University of South Dakota Payroll Policy. 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. Pay day 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 PAYCHECKS
Direct deposit stubs and workstudy paychecks 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. Paychecks not picked up within three months from the department should be returned to the Accounting Office. Individual paychecks for those required to be on direct deposit will be available after 3:00 pm on payday in the Accounting Office.
DIRECT DEPOSIT
Permanent employees of the University are required to use direct deposit for their paycheck. Any bank that participates in electronic funds transfers can be used. Authorization to start or stop a direct deposit will require an employee's signature. Temporary employees of less than 90 days, and workstudy student employees, may elect not to use direct deposit, however, they are encouraged to use it. Direct deposit forms not received in the Payroll Office by the 10th of the month are not guaranteed to be included on that month's payroll.
HOLDS ON PAYCHECKS
Payroll will place a hold on a paycheck for any of the following reasons: 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
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 check request. Employees are not allowed to pay the fee themselves.
SALARY OVERPAYMENTS
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.
SOCIAL SECURITY EXEMPTION
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 DEDUCTION (other than state sponsored benefits)
All deduction requests will require an original employee signature. Requests to stop deductions will require an original employee signature.
Deductions mandated by state and federal government agencies will be automatically allowed. Deductions mandated by state and federal government agencies include, but are not limited to, garnishments, child support orders, and tax levies.
Employee debts to the University will follow the Board of Regents Collection Policy.
UNCLAIMED PAYCHECKS
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.
NEW HIRE FORMS
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.
HOURLY PAYROLL
The hourly payroll period runs from 22nd of the month to the 21st of the 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 by the established deadlines. Input sheets not received by the established deadline will be subject to a late processing fee.
WORKSTUDY PAYROLL
The work study payroll period runs from the 22nd of the month to the 21st of the 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 by the established deadlines. Input sheets not received by the established deadline will be subject to a late processing fee.
SALARIED PAYROLL
The salaried payroll runs from the 22nd of the month to the 21st 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.
REPLACEMENT CHECK STUBS
Copies of check stubs may be obtained from the Payroll Office.
