Payroll

Frequently Asked Questions

All career employees are paid on the first day of each month. What happens when the first of the month falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or public holiday?

Payday is always the first day of each month for career employees. If the first falls on Saturday, Sunday, or a public holiday, then payday will be the Friday before the first of the month or the day before the public holiday. An exception to this rule is January 1. PayDay will be the first scheduled work day after the holiday.

How do I complete the W-4 form to arrive at the correct number of allowances to claim for federal and state tax withholding?

The Payroll Division is not qualified to answer this question. You should contact a tax accountant.

I am an exempt employee. Am I allowed to be compensated for overtime?

Exempt employees are not allowed to be compensated for overtime. According to Personnel Policies for Staff Members (PPSM) Policy 31, "Hours of Work":

EXEMPT EMPLOYEES
The workweek for full-time exempt employees is normally considered to be 40 hours, and for part-time employees the proportion of 40 hours equivalent to the appointment percentage; however, greater emphasis is placed on meeting the responsibilities assigned to the position than on working a specified number of hours. Exempt employees do not receive overtime compensation or compensatory time off, or additional compensation beyond the established salary for the position except as provided in Staff Policy 30.I, Administrative Stipend for Temporary Assignments.

I am an exempt employee. Am I allowed to accrue compensatory time for hours worked over 40 in a work week?

The accrual of compensatory time for exempt employees violates University Personnel Policies for Staff Members Policy 31, "Hours of Work":

EXEMPT EMPLOYEES
The workweek for full-time exempt employees is normally considered to be 40 hours, and for part-time employees the proportion of 40 hours equivalent to the appointment percentage; however, greater emphasis is placed on meeting the responsibilities assigned to the position than on working a specified number of hours. Exempt employees do not receive overtime compensation or compensatory time off, or additional compensation beyond the established salary for the position except as provided in Staff Policy 30.I, Administrative Stipend for Temporary Assignments.

Why are there additional lines on the DPE for my biweekly employees?

The vacation leave assessment for biweekly employees occurs every other pay cycle because for biweekly employees their leave accrual eligibility is based on a four-week cycle (two biweekly pay cycles). In order to perform the assessment the payroll system must reference both a B1 and B2 pay cycle this means that sometimes it must refer to a prior months pay cycle in order to know the full gross pay on which to base the assessment. This occurs anytime the B1 and B2 do not fall into the same month.

For example, in April there were 3 biweekly pay periods that ended in April. 


The pay periods ending 4/16 and 4/30 form one four-week cycle on which to base an assessment, but the 4/2 pay period is missing a B1. In this case the payroll system will pull in the prior months B1 in order to reference the hours and pay rate the employee received. 

This reference line is then included on the DPE in order to fully disclose what hours were included in leave assessment calculation. Notice that all of the other benefit fields and gross earning field show "0", this is a good way of identifying when this process has occurred. To predict when this will occur refer to the Payroll Processing Schedule. Anytime you see that the first BW in a month is a B2, expect that the payroll system will need to reference a prior months pay cycle in order to calculate the leave assessment.

How do UCSB employees stop United Way Payroll Deductions?

UCSB employees should contact Liz Molina at liz.molina@bfs.ucsb.edu

Hire Entry & Follow-Up

Do I need to include the employee's SSN when submitting the Full Hire Template prior to the employee's first day?

The Full Hire Template can be submitted without the SSN so long as the department explains the reason for not including it in the template's comment box. The comment should explain that the SSN will be updated via the Personal Data Change Template on the employee's start date. However, if you choose not to include the SSN, you must complete the DOB to help identify the new employee, should the same name already exist in the UCPath system.

What type of documentation needs to be provided when updating the SSN on the employee's first day?

None. You will submit the SSN using the Personal Data Change Template on the employee's start date. Since we validate all DOB, SSN and Name Changes through the Social Security Number Verification System (SSNVS), no documentation needs to be attached. Please Note: The person submitting the Personal Data Change Template is responsible for validating the documentation before completing the template. If we discover an error in the information that is contained on the template,  we will cancel the template, explain why we are cancelling it and ask for you to re-verify any supporting documentation.

Work Authorization

How does my employee know how to complete their Work Authorization?
The Department is to inform the employee that they will be getting an email from Tracker, and that they need to complete Section 1 online before, or on, their first day. The employee should then go to Business and Financial services to complete Section 2 by their third day of work (e.g., if your employee starts on Monday, and Section 1 is done Monday morning, Section 2 must be done by Thursday at 3:30 pm).
My student employee does not have their original documents on campus. What can be done?
The employee will have to get their original documents before completing their I-9. Per USCIS regulations, only Original documents are acceptable for I-9 documentation.
What do I need to do to make sure the employee gets their Tracker email?
Go to Service Now and submit a Tracker I-9 ticket to Trigger the I-9 before the employees start/effective date. This can be done without Path approval just enter TBD where it asks for the ID #. You can then update BFS later with the EEID once you get it back from Path.
How do I know if the employee has completed their I-9?
In UC Path, go to People Soft > Workforce Administration> Personal Information> Security Clearance. Under Security Clearance, it will say "U14 I-9 Complete," the date will be listed, and the Source will say "Tracker." If the Security Clearance field says "U14 I-9 complete" and the date is within the last 3 years, the employee does not need to be in Tracker (their original I-9 is still valid).
If an employee mistakenly deletes their Tracker email, what do we need to do?

Please open a ServiceNow ticket to request BFS to resend the email.

I have an employee whose work authorization is approaching it's expiration date. What do I need to do?

Please contact BFS via Service Now and include the employee's name, employee ID, original start date, and email address. You will receive an email when the employee can visit a worksite to complete their re-verification.

What time can employees visit BFS to be verified?
Due to COVID 19 precautions all I-9’s must have a remote section 2. Please use Service Now to provide the appropriate information to BFS.
How do I nominate employees for GLACIER?

The process has not changed. NRA employees should be nominated by the department. For more information, see https://www.bfs.ucsb.edu/accounts-payable/non-resident-alien-information.

UC Path alerted me that a position funding is requiring E-Verify. What needs to be done?

You will need to open a Service Now Ticket for Work Authorization and in the comment box let us know that the employee needs E-Verification. BFS will take care of the E-Verify process and inform you if we need any additional information from either the department or the employee to complete.

I have an employee that is working remotely from another state. How can we have their work authorization completed remotely?

The department will need to open a ServiceNow ticket for work authorization. Provide the name, employee ID, email, and start date of the Employee. In the additional comments section enter the name of a representative of a college or university local to the employee who is willing to assist us with the I-9 process; include the rep's email and title, plus the institution name. We will then send a special link to that representative to complete section 2 on UCSB’s behalf. This needs to be done prior to the employee's start date to ensure USCIS compliance of the I-9.

I have a remote employee working outside the United States, do they need a Tracker I-9?
No, only those employees living and working in the United States need an I-9. You must indicate in UCPath that the employee is living and working outside the US. If your employee moves to the US later and continues to work for UCSB, you will need to contact BFS to have us complete an I-9. It will be up to the home department to update the employee's status in UCPath in this situation.
I have a TA that is being paid over four months but not starting until the Fall quarter starts. Is there anything we need to do as far as the I-9?
Yes, Tracker does not inform BFS that this is a four payment TA, nor does UCPC. We need the departments to let us know so that we can correct the start date to the employee's first day of work.
I keep getting emails from BFS but my employee never started and changed their mind about the job. Can I just ignore them?
Please don't ignore these emails. You need to do a termination in UCPath, but also inform BFS by submitting an I-9 ServiceNow ticket. If the I-9 is not complete, UCPath will not put the termination over to Tracker so it stays on our dashboard. The same holds if you need to change the employee's start date - always inform BFS Tracker I-9 via an I-9 ServiceNow ticket.
What are some tips and solutions to prevent "out of compliance" I-9 issues with new hires/rehires?
  • Departments are not responding to the BFS Work Authorization Analyst's communications about their employees being late on Section 1 and/or Section 2 of their I-9.
    • When our work authorization analyst reaches out to you, please respond so we can work together to have your employee in compliance. Even if the employee decided not to take the position, please respond letting us know.
  • Departments are hiring employees with a retroactive effective date due to late hire, or are not allowing enough time for the UCPath Center to approve the hire (UCPath approval times have increased as other campuses go live).
    • Remember to future-date your hires; UCPath defaults to the same day which does not allow proper time.
    • If your hire template is still pending, please contact BFS via ServiceNow to prevent a non-compliant I-9. We will manually send the employee Section 1 to start the I-9 process. Please note that a pending hire will need to have been entered into UC Path.
  • Departments are not selecting “Home” as the email type, which prevents the system from generating the Section 1 email to the employee.
    • On every hiring template please select “Home” as the email type, no matter what the employee's email address is.
    • Please confirm with your employee on the effective date if they received the I-9 email. If they have not, reach out to BFS via ServiceNow.
  • Departments are contacting BFS after the employees’ effective date to send or resend the employee the I-9 Section 1 email, or to request a remote Section 2 for the employee.
    • As soon as you know your employee will not be working on campus, open a ServiceNow ticket to set up a remote Section 2. You can do this for a pending hire template if needed.  
  • Employees are indicating to BFS that they are late due to not having time in their schedule to come in.
    • Allow your employees time on their first day to come to BFS to complete their I-9. Our I-9 desk is open Mon-Fri from 8:30 am – 11:00 am and 1:30 pm-3:30 pm.