While many position funding considerations are connected to the fiscal year, there are also calendar year-end functions that affect pay. This is especially true for grant-funded positions.

Identifying overpayments with grant funding  

Pay that posts to a SpeedType reflects effort allocated to that SpeedType. When pay posts to grants and contracts SpeedTypes, the effort must be certified through the electronic Personnel Effort Reporting System (ePERs). Sometimes, errors in HCM can result in overpayments to employees, and sometimes these overpayments are funded by grants and contracts.  

There are two important things to consider when this happens: 

1. Overpayments from grant-funded SpeedTypes now reflect effort on the affected grants that does not reflect actual effort. Move the overpayment portion of pay from grants and contracts SpeedTypes to a unit SpeedType where the liability can be held until the overpayment is returned by the employee. 
2. If overpayments span multiple pay periods, and those pay periods cross ePERs terms, then the overpayment credits must be posted by term. For example, if an employee was overpaid in May and June, when the overpayment is returned, a credit for May must be processed in one manual check, and a credit for June must be processed in a separate manual check, reflecting the corresponding earnings periods separately. 

Reconciling overpayments with grant funding 

Once the overpayment credit has been returned, ensure the funding for the overpayment and the credit for the return are aligned on the same SpeedType(s). This way, the pay will produce a “net zero” amount, and effort will not be reflected where there was no effort. Use this quick Payroll Expense Transfer (PET) strategy to align overpayments with credits. 

1. Create a new PET for the employee. Use the earnings period(s) for the original check(s) where the overpayment occurred. 
2. All the paychecks, including the original and returned credits, will display regardless of their pay period end dates (when the overpayment and the credit were posted). 
3. Determine the overpayment portion of each check. In the PET Earnings tab, find the “New Check Distribution” section. Enter the same funding for the overpayment(s) and the credit(s) so they will post to the same SpeedType when the SpeedType is completed. 

Think ahead to prevent re-certifications 

Make the certification process a breeze for employees paid through grant funding by ensuring pay during each ePERS term is posted correctly before the employee certifies. 

1. When a PET changes funding after an employee certifies their effort in ePERs, a new certification is required. 
2. If an overpayment credit posted with earnings periods that crossed ePERs terms, the employee will not be able to recertify. Reach out to system.hrgl.team@cu.edu for assistance. 

Neutralize negative ePERS amounts 

Any negative ePERS amounts will cause the certification to fail.  

Any exception time (i.e., VAC, SCK) that posts to a paycheck generates a cost for the number of hours at the annualized hourly rate. 

In order for the employee to be paid only the monthly salary amount, a “-RGS” line is created to offset the added exception time. This way, the employee is still paid exactly their regular monthly salary, the VAC and SCK balances can be reduced, and at fiscal year-end, the liability can be calculated. 

Negative RGS lines occur when funding in the current pay period does not match exception time (i.e., VAC, SCK) funding from the previous earnings period. The “-RGS” line does not have an entry to “offset,” so it stands alone, orphaned.  

A PET can be used to correct the issue by applying the same final distribution to each section of a position’s funding in that paycheck. 

1. In the PET Earnings tab, anytime the column values change in the “New Check Distribution,” a new section is created where funding is calculated at 200%. For example, when a check has multiple positions, or multiple earn codes, or multiple funding end dates, a separate section calculates 100% of the funding for each of those cases. 
2. This means that a separate section is created for the -RGS line at 100%. 
3. Use the PET funding template to apply 100% distribution to the entire position’s earnings, including RGS, leave (VAC, SCK), “-RGS”, dock codes, etc.  
4. After applying the funding to all the position “sections” distributed at 100%, each section will reflect the same funding distribution and all the -RGS will offset consistently and proportionally.  
5. Once the PET posts and there’s no orphaned “-RGS” amount remaining, ePERS can be certified. 

Handle effort reporting for employees whose effort overlaps the fall and spring terms 

Worried about effort reporting for new employees hired during the overlapping bi-weekly pay period in January posting to both fall and spring terms? Here is a solution to ensure the right effort is posted to the right ePERs term. 

1. ePERS uses the earnings begin and end dates rather than the pay period to track effort.  
   1. If you upload the last bi-weekly timesheet from My Leave that crosses the current and new calendar year, it will post pay from the biweekly pay period — in December (fall term) and January (spring term) — to the ePERS spring term only. 
   2. If all the effort in the last biweekly pay period should post separately to ePERs fall or spring terms, use CU Time to enter the pay.  
2. Use earnings begin and end dates that are entirely in December to post to the ePERS fall term.  
3. Use earnings begin and end dates that are entirely in January to post to the ePERS spring term.  
   1. If a new hire only starts effort in the new year, use CU Time to create an earnings period beginning January 1 to pay the employee for hours worked. The pay will post to the ePERS spring term only. 

Need extra help? 

Learn more about payroll contracts for faculty on the HCM website. You can also email hcm_community@cu.edu or System.HRGL.Team@cu.edu. 

Additionally, you can find HCM queries here: 

1. Log into the employee portal. 
2. Open the CU Resources dropdown menu and click Business Tools. 
3. Select the HCM tile and choose HCM Community Users from the drop-down menu. 
4. Click the HCM WorkCenter tile. 
5. Select the Resources tab and click the query you desire.