Off-Cycle Payroll Checks

A. Overview

An off-cycle payroll check is a manual check that is processed between regular scheduled paydays on an exception basis due to missing or incorrect pay on the previous regular scheduled payday.

Department managers must ensure that their departments comply with payroll processing deadlines for the approval of job and positional hiring, position and pay rate changes, and time and labor data entry to reduce the need for requesting off-cycle payroll checks.

If an off-cycle payroll check is to be requested, administrators must ensure that employees and supervisors understand and adhere to this guideline.

Off-cycle payroll checks are subject to the following requirements:

• Off-cycle payroll checks will only be processed three times monthly.
• Off-Cycle Payroll Check Requests must be initiated within three business days after the regular scheduled payday to allow checks to be ready on the next off-cycle date.
• Direct deposit is not available for off-cycle payroll checks.
• Off-cycle payroll checks are issued for the missing pay amount less taxes, deductions, and other applicable payroll adjustments.
• Even though missing pay is otherwise eligible for an off-cycle payroll check, if an Off-Cycle Payroll Check Request is not submitted by the third business day after the regular scheduled payday, the employee will receive the amount on the following regular scheduled payday.
• Departmental procedures must be established to ensure deadlines are met for timekeeping and job- and pay-rate changes. Off-Cycle Payroll Check Requests are tracked, and the appropriate supervisory personnel are notified of recurring off-cycle payroll checks in a department due to late submissions.

B. Eligibility

• An employee's position change, job change, hire/rehire action request, pay rate change, or time and labor data entry submission did not meet the People Excellence or Payroll Services (Payroll) processing deadlines; and
• The requested retroactive payment for consideration is regular salary or hourly wages; and
• The regular salary or wage retroactive payment is at least:
  • $70 for all student employees and other employees with an FTE <= 0.5; or
  • $250 for all other employees with an FTE > 0.5; and
• The employee experiences and declares a financial hardship situation due to the missing earnings by signing the Off-Cycle Payroll Check Request.

C. Non-Eligible Pay Types

Off-cycle payroll checks will not be issued for the pay types listed below, because they are required to be system-generated or are ineligible for classification as hardship payments.

• Supplemental Assignment Pay
• Longevity Pay
• Hazardous Duty Pay
• University Salary Supplement Pay
• Overtime Payouts
• Retroactive regular salary or wages less than $70 or $250, depending on employee classification and FTE (see Eligibility)
• Payroll Voucher Form – HR Leave Administration Use Only (may include regular wages, vacation, sick and floating holiday pay)

D. Pay Advance Restriction

Per Article 3 Sections 50 and 52(a) of the Texas Constitution, as a state agency, UTSA does not have authority to issue credit to individuals. The off-cycle payroll check process cannot be used to provide credit to an employee, and therefore cannot be used to issue advance pay against future paydays or any other pay not yet earned by the employee.

E. Off-Cycle Payroll Check Request Process

1. Department/Employee Responsibilities

NOTE: Direct deposit is not available for off-cycle payroll checks. Printed checks are mailed to home addresses and are not available for pickup.

• Departmental staff and/or employee determine or provide the estimated amount that was not paid to the employee on the regular scheduled payroll.
• Departmental staff and/or employee determine eligibility for an off-cycle payroll check (final eligibility determination is made by Payroll after submission of the Off-Cycle Payroll Check Request).
• Departmental staff must ensure that:
  • All required information related to the Off-Cycle Payroll Check Request has been submitted to the appropriate centralized processing office (People Excellence or Budget and Financial Planning) if the missing pay item is job-, position-, or pay rate change-related; or
  • The relevant time and absence data has been entered, approved, and all exceptions (time entries) are resolved.
• The employee acknowledges by signature that the missing pay being requested on the Off-Cycle Payroll Check Request has imposed a financial hardship, and the employee agrees that the off-cycle payroll check will be mailed to the address on record in PeopleSoft as of the date of the request.
• The employee's supervisor and approving administrator (financial authority) certifies for accuracy and completeness of the following items:
  • Amount requested
  • Off-cycle eligibility
  • Submission of all pay-related documentation
• Departmental staff or the employee's supervisor submits the completed form to Payroll via email ( payroll@utsa.edu) or fax (210-458-4236).