Spot an error? Let's fix it before payday.

Please use the information below to correct pay.

Ensure proper pay

Use the Earning Codes and Pay Groups Job Aid. Find into which pay group your employees fall so you categorize them correctly.

See job aid

 

Stop or pull pay to avoid errors

You may prevent pay-related errors under the following conditions:

  1. An employee is going to be overpaid due to a termination, short work break, or a reduction in FTE.
  2. An employee has passed away, and pay must be issued to his/her estate or heirs.
  3. A physical check must be intercepted and rerouted to a new address.
  4. There was an error—of any kind—that will result in an overpayment.

Stop or pull pay deadlines: If one or more of these conditions applies, you can prevent the payment by submitting a pull request to payroll before the pull deadline. Please refer to deadlines on CU's payroll production calendars.

How to pull/stop pay

Please notify the employee that his or her pay is being pulled and why. Email HCM_Community@cu.edu, and title the email Check Pull with the Employee's Name and ID.  

  • the affected employee's name. 
  • the employee's CU ID.
  • the pay period end date.
  • the reason for the pull (e.g., "prevent overpayment"; "bank account closed").
  • When the correct pay will be entered in the offcycle.  (If the employee has benefits, Payroll will look for the employee ID in the offcycle while it is processing to take benefits/deductions from the offcycle pay.)

If this process will require that a check be reissued, please enter the correct pay into CU Time.

Please note: 

  • If an employee’s pay is pulled to avoid overpayment, the entire check must be pulled. 
  • If an employee is being paid from two records on the same pay cycle, it is not possible for Employee Services to pull pay from one record and allow the rest of the pay to go through.  In the event a department must pull an employee’s pay, the payroll liaison must notify the other department(s) so the makeup pay can be entered in the off-cycle to pay the employee correctly and as close to the original pay date as possible.
  • If a payroll liaison is unsure if the employee is being paid from a second department or he or she needs a contact for the other departments, Employee Services may assist in researching this information.

When you don't issue replacement pay after pulling or stopping pay

If you cancel pay but do not request replacement pay, you will also cancel any benefits deductions the employee generally has. Please contact Employee Services to ensure employees' pay isn't adversely affected. You also must notify the employee that you will not be issuing replacement pay so he/she can make appropriate arrangements. Employee Services is not responsible for any bank overdraft fees or penalties.

Late pay

Reasons for late payments may include:

  • late entry or late approval of job data (past the payroll schedule deadlines).
  • incorrectly entered job data.
  • hours or amounts not entered or approved before payroll is processed.
  • late hire of employees.
  • an international employee's Social Security number was not available when wages were earned.

Late Pay should be paid through the offcycle.

1. Special off-cycle payroll

Get step-by-step help.

Enter employee time manually
Note: Please ensure that the "off-cycle" option is selected.

Do you manage employees who don't use My Leave or Kronos?

Enter employee time via the Regular Earnings Upload process
Note: Please enter "Y" within the off-cycle field on the Regular Earnings Load spreadsheet.

You can issue late pay by entering employee time and leave into the special offcycle payroll by the deadlines posted in the payroll production calendar (generally 5 p.m. each Tuesday). When you meet the weekly offcycle time-entry deadline, affected employees will receive their pay on Friday of the same week.

Entering late pay on a faculty contract? Please enter this pay via special offcycle payroll using the earnings code CRG  for regular contracts and CRX for student contracts. (DO NOT use RGS or REG which will overpay the employee).

 

 

 

2. Handdrawn warrant requests

Handdrawns must be used instead of issuing pay via off-cycle payroll only in the following circumstances:

  • involuntary separation (See Termination for Cause Procedures, layoffs)
  • lost check replacements (A handdrawn can be submitted if a lost check has not returned to CU after 10 business days from the original issue date.  Please ask the employee to set up direct deposit for the reissue.)

     

  • final payout for a deceased ore retired employee
  • pay is to be processed in conjunction with an overpayment
  • department no longer has access to the employee's position number
Note: If you request a handdrawn warrant for any reason, DO NOT enter the associated data into CU Time. By doing both, you will overpay the employee.

Overpayments

If you overpay an employee, you must recoup the wages for the university, per CU policy and State Fiscal Rules.

  1. Correct any errors within HCM that caused the problem.
     
  2. Notify the employee of the overpayment and make appropriate adjustments to his/her record.
     
  3. Review the  Notice of Overpayment Guide.
     
  4. Complete and submit the Notice of Overpayment Adjustment Form.
    Send the original form to Employee Services, send a copy to the employee, and save a copy for your department's records.
     
  5. Employee Services will handle the overpayment management process, including working with the employee to create a repayment schedule via personal check or payroll deduction. Note: All payments must be made to Employee Services and NOT the employee's department.

Deduction errors

General deductions—Contact the department or unit providing the service so it can review and correct the deduction as necessary.

Benefits deductions—Call Employee Services' benefits professionals at 303-860-4200, option 3. The team will review the information and correct the deduction, if necessary.

Tax deductions—Contact an Employee Services payroll counselor at 303-860-4200, option 2, with questions about federal and state tax withholding, the Old Age, Survivors And Disability Insurance (OASDI) Program, Medicare tax and occupational tax.

Fix improper or final pay

Use handdrawn payroll warrants address issues that cannot be rectified in CU Time.

These are the only the circumstances under which you should issue pay through a handdrawn payroll warrant:

  • involuntary separation (termination for cause, layoffs)
  • lost checks replacements  (A handdrawn can be submitted to stop payment on a lost check if it has not returned to CU after 10 business days.  Please ask the employee to set up direct deposit for the reissue.)
  • final pay for retired employees
  • final pay for a deceased employee (must be paid to their estate)
  • overpayments (ensure leave and earnings are taxed differently)
  • termed over 60 days (reinstate CU retirement contributions)
Note: If you request a handdrawn warrant for any reason, DO NOT enter the associated data into CU Time. By doing both, you will overpay the employee.

Handdrawn warrants

  1. Complete the Handdrawn Form.
  2. Submit the form to offcycle_pbs@cu.edu (or click the submit button on the form).  Please do NOT submit the form to HCM Community .
  3. Call payroll at Employee Services at 303-860-4200 Option 2 if you have a question regarding handdrawns.

Steps

  1. Ensure the job data for the employee in question has been entered into HCM, has been approved and contains the proper effective date.
     
  2. If the employee is paid hourly, enter the number of hours for each pay period you'll be requesting.
     
  3. Complete the Handdrawn Warrant Request Form and submit it to Employee Services. Please check the payroll calendars for deadlines. Note: Handdrawn requestors must have HCM access.
    • If the employee has not set up direct deposit for his/her pay, Employee Services will issue a him/her a paycard to the mailing address the employee last entered in the employee portal.

    • For involuntary terminations: Submit to Employee Services all final paperwork and leave payout hours before notifying the employee of the termination. If Employee Services receives all required information, it will process the handdrawn warrant within six business hours, if the system is available. Please call Employee Services to coordinate the payout. 

    • For voluntary terminations: In most cases, a handdrawn warrant is not necessary. Please ensure you calculate leave payout hours, obtain required payout authorization and enter those hours into CU Time by the published time-entry deadline. Only request a handdrawn warrant for employees awaiting final leave payout who were terminated during the previous two pay periods, retired or transferred.  
  4. Employee Services will review the request and ensure the employee has not already been paid the requested amount before approving or denying the request.
    • If you haven't received confirmation of your handdrawn warrant being processed after three business days, contact Employee Services for a status update. Until then, you should not guarantee payment to the employee.

    • Processing is contingent upon Employee Services receiving all required paperwork, the department accurately updating the data in HCM and the system's availability.

Additional pay

Additional Pay refers to payments that are not part of an employee’s regular based salary. Pay such as overtime and vacation payouts are regular earnings and are not considered additional pay.

Common qualifying circumstances for additional pay include but are not limited to:

  • awards
  • bonuses
  • moving and relocation expenses
  • incentive pay

For a complete list of circumstances and respective earnings codes, please refer to page two of the Additional Pay form. 

Only employees who had an active CU appointment when one of the above circumstances occurred is eligible to be issued additional pay.

Process Additional Pay

Additional Pay can be processed through either the additional pay transaction page or by entering the pay into CU Time as a one-time payment. Contact your campus HR office to confirm your campus policy on when to use the additional pay transaction page and when the pay can be entered directly into CU Time.

To use the Additional Pay Transaction Page, please refer to the  Additional Pay: Entering a One-Time Payment guide to complete this process.

Approve Additional Pay with the Additional Pay Form

The Additional Pay Form is used to obtain approval signatures for pay that is not considered an employee’s regular earnings.  Your campus may require that approval signatures be obtained on the Additional Pay Form for particular earnings codes.  Please contact your campus HR to ask if your campus requires the Additional Pay Form for a particular situation of additional pay.  If the form is required, please ensure it contains all the appropriate approval signatures before entering the data into HCM. 

Download the  Additional Pay Form to collect this information. Please ensure this form contains all the required signatures before entering its data into HCM. Use the Additional Pay: Entering a One-Time Payment guide to complete this process.