General Salary Policies and Procedures

University employees are paid on one of three payrolls: biweekly, semi-monthly, or monthly with payments made directly to a financial institution through Electronic Direct Deposit. Employees must complete and submit to Payroll a form indicating the financial institution to which payment is to be made. Individuals failing to make this designation must pick up their checks at Disbursements.

Faculty and administrative/professional staff are paid monthly on the first of the month for salary earned during the preceding month. If the first falls on a Sunday, payment is made on the next university business day. Employees on nine-month, academic-year appointments are paid for one-half of August (payable on September 1) and one-half of May (payable on June 1) and for the eight intervening months (payable on October 1 through May 1). These employees may request through HR Data Control that their nine-month, academic-year salary be prorated over twelve months with payment beginning September 1 and ending on the following August 1. Individuals appointed on a twelve-month, fiscal basis are paid monthly through the year beginning July 1 and ending on the following June 30. Those individuals approved for less than one fiscal or one academic year are paid according to the dates of their contracts and the applicable university policy.

Civil service hourly employees (i.e., those in negotiated, prevailing, or part-time range classifications) are paid bi-weekly, every other Friday, according to a published payroll schedule. Due to the payroll process itself, including the time required for the gathering and input of actual hours worked, there is a two-week delay between the end of the work period and the pay date. Generally, civil service in full-time range classifications are paid semi-monthly, on the 1st and 16th of each month, for salary earned during the preceding half month. If pay day falls on a Sunday, payment is made on the next university business day.

New employees who are eligible for benefits must, through individual appointment or group orientation, choose from various benefit options before they are placed on the payroll. Current employees are encouraged to make appointments to visit Employee Benefits whenever they have questions or wish to discuss changes in their benefits package. For benefits provided through the State of Illinois, most changes in coverage can be made during the annual Benefit Choice Period (April and May). However, many changes may be made at other times. Information about changes in the benefits package is regularly communicated to employees in the Human Resources newsletter, Campus Concerns.

Late Paperwork

When appointment documents are received after the processing of the applicable payroll but prior to pay day, a manually calculated voucher check is prepared by Payroll and distributed either by mail-to-home or the employee may pick up the check at Accounts Payable.

Changes in Place of Check Distribution

Employees may file a new Electronic Direct Deposit form at any time; however, a distribution change cannot become effective until the next payroll cycle.

Voucher Check Payments at Time of Separation

When an employee leaves the employment of the university through resignation, layoff of undetermined duration, termination, death, or retirement, his/her payroll records will be closed and a lump-sum payment will be made of all earnings, accrued and unused vacation, and any balance of payable sick leave. The amount of benefits, if any, to be paid to an employee must be confirmed by Human Resources prior to completion of the separation form. The fiscal officer (or department representative) is required to contact Employee Records to confirm final benefit information.

Generally, the employee’s final payment may be as early as the effective date of separation, or no later than the employee’s next scheduled pay date.Unless special arrangements are made, individuals with term academic appointments ending in May or August receive final payment on the first of the following month.

In cases where employees resign for the purpose of accepting another category of university employment (e.g., resignation from a civil service appointment to accept a faculty position), accumulated benefits will be carried forward to the new appointment.

Departmental Certification of Payroll

The Fiscal Officer Payroll Certification is an after payroll process report that is sent out by the Payroll Office for Faculty/Staff payrolls and by FAO Student Employment for Student Payroll. It is directed to each fiscal officer on campus for which an employee is providing services to the fiscal officer's unit and budget purpose. The report lists the employee's earnings, FWS information and employer charges. Problems that are found should be reported to the Payroll Office immediately. The employing department has the responsibility to review, verify, sign and retain the certifications for up to 3 years, pending any audit requests.