Washington State University
BUSINESS POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MANUAL

PAYROLL
55.22
Revised 8-08
Payroll Services
335-9575

Departmental Payroll Processing

PDF link

OVERVIEW

University departments use online Department Payroll Processing Application (DEPTPAY) to perform the following payroll functions:

Departmental Payroll Processing is a secured application within the HEPPS Administrative Information System. After obtaining access to HEPPS, users must obtain separate approval from Payroll to access DEPTPAY.

Designated Users

Each department using online Department Payroll Processing must designate and authorize one primary user and at least one secondary user per account. Each department may have up to four secondary users per account.

Consider appropriate separation of duties when choosing someone to enter positive pay data and to review payroll data. See 55.03.

Approval to use Departmental Payroll Processing does not require expenditure authority or temporary employment appointing authority.

Access Request

See 85.33 for authorization procedures for HEPPS (Higher Education Personnel Payroll System). Route a completed Administrative Information Systems (AIS) Access Request to the Data Administrator in the Office of the Vice President for Business and Finance.

After receiving notification of access to HEPPS, contact Payroll Services and request a training session for DEPTPAY access.

Requirements for Access

Electronic Mail

In order to receive notifications from Payroll Services, each user must have a University electronic mail account. A UNIX account is required to send and receive e-mail. Refer to 85.37 to obtain a UNIX account.

E-Mail Address in Phonebook

Each primary user must include his or her e-mail address in the WSU Electronic Phonebook. Secondary users should also include e-mail addresses in the Phonebook.

Access the WSU Electronic Phonebook through the WSU Home Page and the Directory/Publications Page. Follow the online instructions for adding the e-mail address to the Phonebook.

Training

Payroll Services requires that each new user attend a training session before using Department Payroll Processing.

Changing Accounts

Notify Payroll Services when adding or changing accounts used to support wages and salaries for the department.

Checking Existing Accounts

Review accounts for positive pay transactions by accessing QRYSCAN in HEPPS. Press PF3, enter the department's mail code, and press Enter to view a list of accounts.

Review accounts for payroll expenses by accessing QRYPEAR in HEPPS. Press PF3, enter the department's mail code, and press Enter to view a list of accounts.

User Changes/Terminations

Send e-mail to Payroll Services when a user terminates, changes positions, or changes duties. Payroll Services makes appropriate changes to the security files.

QUERY AND DOWNLOAD

In addition to temporary employee time entry and payroll expense certification, users may query and download data.

Data is available on the system until one or two days before the end of the current pay cycle.

Departments are to download any required data before the data is replaced.

Users may query time entry or payroll expense data for one or more accounts, one budget, or one individual.

See the example in the PDF version of 55.22.2.

POSITIVE PAY TIME ENTRY

In Positive Pay Time Entry (PPAYMENT) departmental representatives:

Departmental representatives enter positive pay data twice a month in accordance with the Payroll Documents Schedule.

Appointing Employees

Completion of the Appointment section of the online Temporary Employment System (TEMPS) or a Personnel Action form (PAF) directs Payroll Services to include an employee's name in HEPPS. See 60.25, 60.26, 60.27, or 60.42 for instructions.

Entering Data

Payroll Services notifies primary and secondary users when it is time to enter hours or pieces for positive pay employees.

Information entered into DEPTPAY is initially collected by departments on Daily Activity Reports (see 60.61) or Time Reports (see 60.60).

Check the Positive Pay Time Entry screen for errors or omissions. See the samples in the PDF version of 55.22.4. Ensure that the screen accurately reflects employee and appointment data submitted in the most recent entry to the Appointment section of the online TEMPS. If not, contact Payroll Services.

If an employee is not listed on the Positive Pay Time Entry screen, check HEPPS to ensure that the appointment exists. If the appointment is not in HEPPS, the online TEMPS entry (or PAF for employees of Dining Services or the Energy Program) may not have arrived in CSHEO/HRS and/or Payroll Services in time for the current pay cycle or the appointment may have expired during the last pay cycle. If the appointment expired, submit a new appointment through the online TEMPS (or PAF for employees of Dining Services or the Energy Program) to establish another appointment. Enter the data from the time reporting document, e.g., Daily Activity Report, during the next pay cycle.

Prior Period Transactions

If an employee's appointment was active in a prior pay period but hours or pieces were not entered, press PF1 (Prior PD) and complete the online form.

Complete a Request for Positive Pay Report form if the appointment has expired and the department must pay hours from a previous pay cycle. Complete the PDF master in 55.26.2 to obtain supplies of the request form.

Own Time

An employee may not enter his or her own time or piece work into HEPPS.

Timing

Enter positive pay for hours or pieces worked during the pay period just ended. Data entry should be completed by the date required by the Payroll Documents Schedule.

Temporary Employment Limits

Review the accumulated hours and the Monitoring Begin Date for nonstudent temporary employees. Do not exceed the 1,050-hour limit. See 60.26.

Position Number

Verify the temporary employee position number shown under the Tmp ID column. Be sure the numbers on the Position Description form, the online TEMPS Appointment section, and the entry screen are all the same.

Overtime

The employer must mark the appropriate box in the Appointment section of the online TEMPS to generate an overtime pay line for the employee. For permanent employees of Dining Services or the Energy Program, the employer indicates overtime eligibility by marking the appropriate workweek designation on the PAF. Time and one-half is paid for overtime hours worked.

Create Overtime Payment Transaction Line

If an hourly employee worked unanticipated or unscheduled overtime, press PF5 (OT) to create an overtime time transaction line. Selecting the PF5 (OT) key creates an overtime transaction line for the current pay cycle only.

Be sure that the rate of pay correctly reflects the time and a half rate of pay and that the appropriate earnings type is displayed. See the table below for earnings types.

Standby Pay

The employer must mark the appropriate box in the Appointment section of the online TEMPS to generate a standby pay line for the employee. Standby pay is authorized when the employee is directed to restrict off-duty activity to be available for duty.

Completing Entry

After adding or changing data, press Enter before paging forward. Pressing Enter saves the data into the system. When data entry is complete, press PF12 to exit. Mark the status with an "X" for Complete or Incomplete. Press PF12 again to exit. If status is Complete, departments can modify time until the announced cut-off hour of noon or 2:00 p.m.

Online Help

Press PF9 to access online help for positive pay time entry.

Positive Pay Description

The following describes certain parts of the Positive Pay Entry screen which may not be self-explanatory.

NT

Completion is optional. Mark this column with an "N" if the employee recorded no time for the pay period or did not turn in a time reporting document.

CNCL APPT

Mark this column with a "C" to cancel the appointment in HEPPS. (To reactivate the appointment submit a new temporary Employment Appointment form.)

PAY TYP

Payment Type

Code Definition
HR Hourly
MO Monthly
PC Piece
PQ Perquisite
SD Shift differential

JOB CLS

Job Classification

E/T

Earnings Type

Code Name Definition
ADR additional responsibility for faculty
ALF federal annual leave payoff for federal employees
ALP annual leave payoff for state employees
AWD award extra taxable compensation
AWF award extra compensation federal not subject to OASI
AWN award extra compensation nonfederal not subject to OASI
BUF buyout of tenure rights federal employees
BUY buyout of tenure rights nonfederal employees
C/B call back for classified staff
CHR chair differential pay for academic chairs
CPA cell phone allowance extra taxable compensation
CPF cell phone allowance extra taxable compensation federal not subject to OASI
CPN cell phone allowance extra taxable compensation nonfederal not subject to OASI
CTP comp time pay compensatory time payoff
DFC deferred compensation non-staff month gross pay to highly compensated employees with WSU employment agreements
E/C extra compensation faculty with retirement plan code
ECF federal extra compensation federal faculty extra pay
FCH federal chair differential pay to federal chairs
FDR federal additional responsibility earnings for certain federal faculty
FED federal regular earnings regular pay to federal employees
FFV fair market value value of insurance premiums for same-sex domestic partnerships is taxable and subject to Medicare for federal employees
FHR faculty hourly faculty and exempt deduct OASI and Medicare
FLS federal meals taxable meals for federal employees
FML federal meals reimbursement reimbursement of taxable meals for federal employees
FMS fair market value students taxable value of items; such as gift cards, housing; subject to OASI and Medicare for student employees
FMV fair market value value of insurance premiums for same-sex domestic partnerships is taxable and subject to OASI and Medicare for nonfederal employees
FRO federal earnings federal earnings subject to OASI and Medicare
FTO field training officer temporary upgrade for classified employees in bargaining unit 4
FTU federal tuition value of tuition for faculty and staff who take graduate level courses at WSU on space available basis is taxable for federal employees
FWS federal work study student employees on federal work study
GVA graduate vet assistant for graduate assistants in College of Veterinary Medicine
HOP hourly nonstudent temporary overtime subject to PERS, OASI, and Medicare
HPP hourly nonstudent temporary piece work subject to PERS, OASI, and Medicare
HPW hourly piece work nonstudent piece work non-PERS enrollee subject to OASI and Medicare
HRO hourly overtime nonstudent temporary overtime non-PERS enrollee subject to OASI and Medicare
HRP hourly nonstudent temporary subject to PERS,OASI, and Medicare
HRY hourly nonstudent temporary non-PERS enrollee subject to OASI and Medicare
IND industrial compensation deductions for industrial compensation payments
JDF federal jury duty deductions for civil duty
JDY jury duty deductions for civil duty
L/D location differential pay to employees stationed in foreign countries
LDF federal location differential pay to federal employees stationed in foreign locations
LPA sick leave payoff sick leave payoff at retirement or death due to age or length of service subject to OASI
LWO leave without pay  
MLS meals reimbursement reimbursement of taxable meals for nonfederal employees
MOF federal moving expense reimbursement of certain taxable moving expenses for federal employees
MOV moving expense reimbursement of certain taxable moving expenses for nonfederal employees
OPW other piece work faculty, and exempt piece work subject to OASI and Medicare
OVT overtime time and one-half pay for classified employees
PER perquisite noncash fringe benefit, e.g., meals and lodging
PLF federal partial professional leave federal faculty employee on less than 100% professional leave
PPL partial professional leave faculty on less than 100% professional leave
PRO professional leave faculty on professional leave
PRF federal professional leave federal employees on professional leave
REF relocation compensation federal employees
REG regular pay salaried earnings
REL relocation compensation nonfederal employees
RET retirement supplementation retirement earnings
RGA regular academic academic regular earnings
RGC regular cyclic cyclic earnings
R/T ra/ta earnings research, teaching and staff assistants and graduate associates regular pay
S/B standby standby pay for classified staff
S/D shift differential shift differential pay
SHL shared leave  
SHO student hourly overtime  
SHR student hourly  
SPW student piece work student piece work not subject to OASI or Medicare
S/S special skills payment for special skills
SSB student standby pay  
S/T straight time overtime time pay at straight time rate
SUM summer session academic summer appointment
SWS state work study student earnings on state work study
TIP tips to students tips collected in University restaurants and paid to students; not subject to OASI and Medicare
TUG temporary upgrade temporary upgrade for classified employees in bargaining units 2 and 3
TUI tuition value of tuition for faculty and staff who take graduate level courses at WSU on space available basis is taxable for nonfederal employees
VPA sick leave payoff value of cashout of compensable unused sick leave at retirement to nontaxable VEBA medical expense trust account

POSN/TMP ID

Position Number or Temporary Job ID

MONITORED HRS

Total Monitored Hours for nonstudent hourly employees.

WS LIMIT

Current semester limit for work study funds.

SEM BALANCE

Remaining earnings which may be charged to work study.

PAYROLL EXPENDITURE AUDIT REPORT (PEAR) CERTIFICATION

Prior to each payday, departments are to verify that employee pay corresponds to the approved pay-affecting personnel documents.

University departments use the online PEAR certification function to approve and certify upcoming pay for departmental employees. The online PEAR function identifies employees by name and position number and indicates the payment and budgets charged.

Notice Pears Ready

Payroll Services prepares PEAR data after the last working day of the pay cycle. Payroll Services sends an e-mail message to primary and secondary users when PEAR data is ready for certification.

The Payroll Documents Schedule provides the completion date.

Status

DEPTPAY defines the status of a PEAR review as Incomplete, Certified or Payroll. The user indicates the status of the review when he or she exits the PEAR Review function.

Certified

When the review is completed, the user enters X for Certified. This causes the status column on the Selection Screen to be updated from Incomplete to Certified.

Once the user has certified the PEAR, the change in status prevents him or her from adding or correcting any additional records. The user may query PEAR but may not update the data after the status has been set to Certified. See the PDF version of 55.22.10 for example.

Changes

If a change is required, contact Payroll Services (telephone 509-335-1610) prior to the review deadline to unlock the certified account.

Payroll

The status of Payroll means that the user has entered at least one correction and Payroll Services staff has reviewed the correction/ comment. All additions for employees not paid and any corrections/ comments will cause a Y to appear under Corr on the Selection Screen. The Y is an indicator to Payroll Services that at least one correction/comment or addition exists for this account. The AIS User ID of the Payroll staff member appears under Last Access.

Last Access

The columns under Last Access indicate the User ID, date and time of the last person to access the account. If these three columns are blank at the PEAR certification deadline, no one has reviewed the PEAR and some employees may not be paid correctly. See the PDF version of 55.22.10 for example.

PEAR Description

The following describes certain parts of the PEAR certification screens which may not be self-explanatory.

Parts

Each part is designated by a number under the P column.

Salaried Employees (Part 1)

Salaried employees are paid the same each pay period unless some intervention occurs to change the payroll, e.g., a Personnel Action changing the salary. These employees are designated by a "1" in the P column.

Positive Pay Employees (Part 2)

Positive pay employees are paid on the basis of hour or pieces reported to Payroll Services. See "Positive Pay Time Entry" above. These employees are designated by a "2" in the P column.

Below nonstudent temporary employee names, the PEAR indicates the monitor begin date (MBD) and the hours charged against the 1,050 maximum. See 60.26 for more information about temporary employment limits.

Below work study employees' names, the PEAR reports the work study dollar limit and the balance in dollars which the student may earn during the rest of the current semester.

Added Employees (Part 3)

Employees added by users during the PEAR review are designated by a "3" in the P column.

Name

Employees are listed alphabetically within parts 1, 2, or 3. When reference is made to an employee, use the name as printed on PEAR. See 90.75 for name change procedures and coding conventions.

Class

The job class is the classification code or the title code for the employee's position(s). Job Class codes are on the Personnel Action form.

E/T (Earnings Type)

For code definitions refer to the table above.

P/T (Payment Type)

Code Definition
CAN Cancellation of a check
CUR Payments included in current check
E/T Expenditure transfer
HDC Hand-drawn check
OVP Recovery of an overpayment

Hours

Hours paid in pay period for each employee.

Appointed Employees

The number of hours in pay status.

Positive Pay Employees

The number of hours paid. For piece workers, Payroll applies a formula to arrive at an hourly equivalent.

Staff Months

The staff month equivalent for the pay period.

Appointed Employees

To determine staff months divide actual hours paid by the total hours within the paycycle times the semi-monthly factor of .5.

Positive Pay Employees

To determine staff months, divide hours by 174.

Payroll Expense

The gross amount paid in dollars for each earnings type for each employee.

Hourly employees calculation is based on the number of hours times the rate of pay to equal gross pay.

Piece work employees calculation is the number of units times the unit rate for the gross pay.

Corrections

Review each payroll expense amount for overpayments or underpayments. If there are errors, request corrections as follows:

The above action results in a "C" (for correction) appearing on the payment line.

Social Security Number Corrections

See 55.05.

Make corrections as indicated above. Submit a copy of the employee's social security card to Payroll Services.

Omissions

If there are omissions, press PF4 to report unlisted individuals who should be paid.

Pay-Affecting Action Required

If pay-affecting action is required, route the appropriate document, e.g., Personnel Action form, online TEMPS entry, Position Action, or Expense Assignment Action form. Reference the document in the PEAR comment.

Terminating Employees

Pay special attention to PEAR data for a terminating employee to ensure that the employee is not paid beyond the last day of employment.

PEAR Retention

The department is to retain a copy of each PEAR in accordance with University records retention requirements. See 90.01. The department downloads the PEAR file and retains a copy in either digital media or paper.

To download a copy of the PEAR file for retention purposes:

NOTE: The department may download PEAR data in the Spreadsheet file format for internal recordkeeping purposes. However, the department must retain either a paper copy or a digital copy of the PEAR data plus comments record format in the Document file type.