Avoiding Underpayments and Overpayments

Payroll Deadlines

The Payroll and Workday Approval Deadline Calendar has separate deadlines for HCM processes and Time and Absence processes. This calendar is an invaluable resource during the payroll period! Follow these suggestions for making sure all those deadlines are met.

Submit Time and Absence Transactions the Night Before the Deadline 

The hard deadline for Time and Absence transactions is 9:00 pm on the Timesheet Approval Deadline. To ensure time and absence entries are entered before the cutoff, we suggest completing department level approvals the evening before the Timesheet Approval Deadline. Remember that hours worked and absences taken must be submitted and approved in advance of this deadline.

Leave Plenty of Time for HCM Processing 

The deadlines for HCM transactions are indicated on the calendar by an exclamation point icon. Please submit those transactions as far in advance as possible, as they often require corrections or adjustments that take extra time to process. Additionally, processes like Add Additional Job and Change Job often require the UWHR HCM Operations team to perform the "Switch Primary Job" process.

Reports to Help You

What Reports Should I Run?

Visit the Workday Reports pages for lists and descriptions of payroll reports, as well as Job Aids listing useful reports by security role. We have provided an abbreviated list of reports that should be run prior to payroll:

When Should I Run Reports? 

The best time to start reviewing payroll reports is three days before the Timesheet Approval Deadline. Review your reports and submit necessary changes as soon as you have identified problems. Your report results will change based on the actions you take once payroll is recalculated. Therefore, we recommend re-running the reports each morning for those three days in order to see the results of the changes you've made.

What if I Find a Mistake? 

  1. Determine what is causing the error; ask these questions to help avoid under/overpayments:
    1. If the worker is on leave, have the time offs been entered?
    2. Have the time sheets been submitted? Have they been approved?
    3. Are the compensation end dates correct? Or are they missing?
    4. Does the worker have the correct compensation plan (e.g., PDR employee should have a PDR compensation plan, not a general salary plan)
    5. Is the FTE accurate?
  2. Once you've determined what the problem is, take corrective action in Workday if you can. If you cannot, contact the Payroll Office and provide the relevant details.
  3. Re-run your payroll reports to determine if the issue was resolved. You should see changes the morning after you took action. If your issue was not resolved, contact the Payroll Office and indicate in the summary of your message that this is regarding an under/overpayment.
    1. Read more about processes for managing underpayments and overpayments.

Common Issues Impacting Payroll

Missing or Partially Entered Leave of Absence: 

Leaves of Absence in Workday will often require associated tracking time offs and payroll time offs. It is critical to ensure that these time offs are entered and that they are correct. For example, payroll time offs, in most cases, should not be entered on weekends. Please see our Leave of Absence Job Aid (PDF) for tips and guidance on entering time offs correctly. 

Missing Compensation: 

A worker may be missing a compensation plan if the actual end date on their compensation plan has passed. Run R0321: Upcoming End Employment Dates regularly to audit your end dates. 

Compensation Plan Type does not match the Position or Job Pay Rate: 

Ensure the compensation plan you've chosen aligns with the Position or Job pay rate. For example, hourly jobs should have hourly plans. Additionally, there are special compensation plans for PDR and Trainee positions, so it is critical to ensure those are in alignment. 

0% FTE 

Non-hourly workers should never be reduced to zero FTE. The only scenario in which we would reduce a salaried employee's FTE to 0% is when they have been approved for Reduced Responsibility (Academic only - see the job aid, below, for more information). Otherwise, when employees need to remain active in the system but should not be getting paid, they should be placed on the appropriate leave of absence paired with "Unpaid Time Off." 

Failure to Terminate/End Job: 

When people end an employment relationship with the University, the termination MUST be entered. If you are unsure if you should initiate a Termination, Change Job, or other transaction, the job aids below provide more guidance on which process to use when. 

Unpaid Academic Job Profiles and Worker Types: 

Unpaid academics should have both the Unpaid Academic Job Profile and the Unpaid Academic Employee type. Check the Worker Profile to ensure these items have been entered correctly.

Staffing Event Job Aids