Benefits and Human Resources Activities

• Where do I find my HR consultant?

  You can find your HR consultant at hr.okstate.edu. Please go to https://hr.okstate.edu/consulting-services/index.html for more information.

• Who verifies employment?

  Employment Verifications are handled by OSU New Hire. Any Benefits questions can be directed to OSU-Benefits@okstate.edu.

• Who completes the OTR Verification of Members Termination of Employment Retirement Form?

  The OTR Verification of Member’s Termination of Employment Form is completed by OSU-Benefits.

• Where do I update my HR address?

  The HR Use Only Address is updated by OSU New Hire.

Leave

• Can an employee transfer sick leave from another institution?

  We do not accept sick leave from other institutions (including public schools). The extended sick leave account is only for leave earned, 960 hours at OSU. Please contact OSU Human Resources if you have any questions. OSU Policy: 3-0716 Administration & Finance - 3.01 Sick Leave Plan – part F indicates that all unused sick leave is forfeited upon termination (with a period of reinstatement for rehire).

• How is compensatory time payout calculated?

  If compensation is paid to an employee for accrued compensatory time off, such compensation will be paid at the regular rate earned by the employee at the time the employee receives the payment or the rate of pay at the time the compensatory time was earned, whichever is greater. The PPA/ENP should include a second line for the difference in the rate of pay using earnings code 121.

• How does an employee request compensatory time payout? Are there any limitations?

  Employees can request compensatory time payout at any time. They should send a request to their HR departmental contact. The Department will submit a PPA to pay out the leave. Per OSU policy, employees who accumulate more than 240 hours of compensatory time are automatically paid hours over 240 on the next payroll.

• What do I do if leave balances do not match department records?

  First verify total leave balances in PEALEAV in Banner. If you do not have access you can email a request to your fiscal officer. If the records do not match, you will need to reconcile the differences for all positions using PEILHIS. Your fiscal officer should be able to get this for you. See FAQ: “How do I reconcile leave to my records”

• How do employees enter parental leave on their leave reports?

  Absence sends an email to the supervisor on how to enter their leave. The employee cannot enter the leave. The supervisor enters the parental leave for the employee. Please contact absence@okstate.edu for further information.

Overpayments

• I have discovered that an employee was overpaid. Now what?

  You should contact your fiscal officer. You will need to complete and submit an Overpayment Recovery Initiation (ORI) Form. Forms and instructions can be found on our website.

• Why does the employee repay the gross when they only received the net amount?

  OSU only receives the net amount from the repayment of overpaid wages in the year the wages were overpaid. Overpayments affect the employee’s taxable wages and withholding amounts as their W-2 for the year the overpayment occurred will include the overpaid gross amount and related tax withholding. When the overpayment is repaid in the year of overpayment through regular paychecks, the gross amount is recorded. This is done to correctly report the employees’ taxable wages and tax withholdings. OSU records the gross amount of the overpayment with regular pay. The repaid gross amount is used by Banner to calculate the related taxes. The taxes on the repaid gross offset the taxes due on the regular wages on the paycheck. This corrects the taxable wages and taxes reported to the IRS on the W-2 at the end of the year. The employee’s regular net pay is reduced by the net pay of the original overpayment (excluding any benefits).

• After I submit the Overpayment Recovery Initiation Form, what do I need to do?

  You do not need to take any further action. Payroll will calculate the net and gross pay of the overpayment (excluding any changes in benefits), notify benefits if there are changes in benefits, contact the employee (copying the requester), and work with the employee to setup repayment.

• How does a terminated employee repay an overpayment?

  A terminated employee repays an overpayment by mailing or dropping off a check to Payroll Services. The check must be made out to Oklahoma State University and the memo line must include the employee's CWID as well as the word "overpayment". The overpayment amount can be submitted to the Bursar for terminated employees to pay online but there is a credit card fee.

EPAF General Questions

• When will my EPAF be approved?

  We process EPAFs, and all payroll transactions based on deadlines and due dates. Currently, the priority is the EPAFs for the current period. We will work the EPAFs as soon as possible. We strive to have EPAFs approved within 2 business days of reaching our queue.

• When will my EPAF be applied?

  Fully approved EPAFs are applied M-F after 4pm. The order EPAFs are applied is not controlled. It is done by a mass apply and there are usually hundreds to process daily. Only certain EPAFs may be applied for the 1-2 business days during the start of payroll processing. This includes the EPAFs not related to the payroll being processed, for example, New Hourly Employee EPAFs will not be applied during the first 1-2 business days of biweekly payroll processing.

• Is there a training for EPAFs?

  Payroll checklists for EPAF review are published to payroll.okstate.edu.

  IT has put together EPAF training on Cornerstone. Search for “EPAF”.

• Why doesn’t Payroll correct errors rather than return the EPAF for correction?

  Payroll cannot make changes to EPAF’s. We only have the option to return for correction with a comment or approve them.

• When should I request Payroll remove end dates for EPAFs?

  Removing the end date for an EPAF is only available for future dated end dates. This is required when there was an initial EPAF entered with an end date, but the employee is leaving the job earlier. To remove a future end date, email payroll to request the end date be removed.

• Will ENP EPAFs roll over to the next payroll if they were not applied?

  ENP EPAFs that are not applied for the pay period effective date will not automatically rollover to the next payroll and must be deleted and re-entered. For example, an August Effective Date and JM payroll not applied by the deadline for JM8 will not rollover to JM9.

• What are some Common EPAF Entry Errors

  • LWOP change needs to be in LWOP status

  • Accrue leave set to “no” with leave category that earns leave (employee will not accrue leave)

  • Terminate job record is set to active

  • Transfer from bi-weekly to monthly with another active bi-weekly position. Employees cannot be both monthly and bi-weekly

  • Transfer from a terminated position causing 2 terminations in a row in NBAJOBS which causes payroll errors

  • Incorrect salary amounts or factor and pays for monthly employees (the salary divided by the pays is the amount the employee will receive monthly)

  • Account Code - defaults to teaching and is not changed.

• What is the personnel date?

  The personnel date is the actual date of the transaction (the actual hire date, termination date, or change date). For monthly paid employees, additional actions may be necessary if the personnel date does not match the action/effective date including submitting an ENP EPAF for retroactive pay or Overpayment Recovery Initiation (ORI) forms (when termination action/effective date is after personnel date).

EPAF Errors

• EPAF Error “Effective must be greater than Last Paid Date”

  This means the originator is trying to make a change to the position before the last paid date. The originator will need to change the effective date to be after the last paid date and let them know they can submit a PPA or ENP for the unpaid leave.

• EPAF Error “This employee already has a primary job.”

  Employees can only have one primary job. The Originator will need to revise the EPAF to make the new job secondary. If the new position needs to be the employee’s primary position, then once the EPAF is applied the originator can submit an email to Payroll to request them to change the new position to primary and the old position to secondary. This process is the same if the primary position is ending in the next payroll and the new position is after the end date.

• EPAF Error “Not a valid active position.”

  This means the position itself isn’t active in NBAPOSN. The originator should contact their HR Rep and have them open the position.

• EPAF Error “Employee cannot be terminated. All jobs must be ended first.”

  This means the originator is trying to terminate the employee, but they still have open positions in other departments. If the originator cannot see the other positions, they will need to contact Payroll and request a list of the departments and fiscal officers.

• EPAF Error “Contract End Date must not be later than Base Job End Date”

  This means that the originator is trying to end the position, but the position has a contract date for later in the year or possibly next year. The contract date is listed on NBAJOBS base job tab. The originator will need to submit a separate email to payroll and request that the contract end date for that position be changed to the new termination date.

• EPAF Error “Termination date has to be >= jobs end date”

  The employee termination date cannot be before all jobs end dates. The originator needs to delete the EPAF and enter termination job EPAFs for all active positions first.

• EPAF Error “Date cannot be after base job end date”

  This means the position itself has an end date on it. (This can be checked in NBAPOSN). The originator will need to have their HR Representative make the position active again.

• EPAF Error “New effective date cannot be after employee’s termination date”

  The employee’s position already has been terminated. The originator will need to submit a Rehire EPAF.

• EPAF Error “EPAF not applied before deadline”

  The originator needs to submit a new EPAF. This will not roll over to the next payroll.

• EPAF Error “First Name, SSN/SIN or Birth Date are incomplete, or Sex Code is invalid. Review GTVLGSX for valid Values”

  Contact New Hire to request they update the information.

• EPAF Error “Current hire date must be equal to original hire date”

  Contact New Hire to have the date changed so the EPAF can be processed.

Direct Deposit and Paychecks

• How do I set up or change my direct deposit information?

  With limited exceptions, Oklahoma law (74 O.S. 292.12) requires that state employees receive their paychecks electronically through direct deposit to a checking or savings account. To establish Direct Deposit through Banner Self Service input your banking information to allow paychecks to be directly deposited into your account. Instructions can be downloaded from this link or follow the steps below:

  1. Go online to my.okstate.edu and login with your OSU email address and password.
  2. Click “self-service”
  3. Click “Employee Dashboard” tab
  4. Click “Direct Deposit Information”
  5. Click the “Setup” or “Modify Direct Deposit Allocation”
  6. Enter banking information and click “Save Deposit”
  7. Review the Direct Deposit Information Effective for future payrolls
• What is the bi-weekly pay schedule?

  Biweekly employees are paid every two weeks. Paychecks are issued every other Friday 2 weeks after time is worked.

• How does a 3rd bi-weekly paycheck pay out with deductions?

  When there is a third check of the month, benefits are not deducted from the check. On your paystub located on Banner Self Service, you will see that the employee column is blank in the deduction section indicating no deductions are taken.

• What is the monthly pay schedule?

  Monthly paid employees are paid on the last working day of the month for the first through the end of the month. Monthly leave reports are prepared and submitted for the 16th of the prior month through the 15th of the current month. Leave taken in the prior month is charged against leave balances in the current month when the leave report is approved.

Exempt Employee

• What criteria must be met to be an exempt employee?

  Exempt employees earn a salary rather than an hourly rate, so employees are exempt so long as they are entitled to a monthly base payment higher than the FLSA minimum threshold, regardless of the number of hours of work they complete per week and earn the salary threshold set by the FLSA to be exempt. The minimum salary threshold of the FLSA changes every year, so it’s important to stay current on the regulations for proper employee compensation. AND meet EITHER one of the following: Executive exemption - Covers most managers and supervisors, an employee’s primary duty must be management of the enterprise or a recognized subdivision or department thereof. The fundamental requirement is that the employee must regularly direct the work of two or more subordinate employees. Administrative exemption – Covers office managers, financial consultants, sales directors, production planners, inspectors, insurance agents, and human resources employees and requires an employee’s primary duty be office or non-manual work directly related to management or general business operations. In particular, the duties must include the exercise of discretion and independent judgement regarding matters of significance. Professional exemption – Covers learned professionals and creative professionals. Learning professionals’ primary duty must involve advanced knowledge in a specialized field of science or learning, generally acquired through prolonged study – often a college degree. Engineers, pharmacists, medical technologists, nurses, dental hygienists, physician assistants, and accountants are common examples. Creative professionals include editorial writers, journalists, graphic artists, actors, and artistic painters. Outside sales exemption – Covers sales personnel and requires an employee’s primary duty must be making sales away from the employer’s place or places of business, which of course excludes inside sales employees, unless they qualify separately for the executive or administrative exemption.