Washington and Lee University
To: All University Employees
From: Steven McClure, Director of Human Resources Deborah Caylor, Associate Treasurer and Controller
Date: February 8, 2007
We’re moving! No, not offices but our payroll processing method. You are probably now asking – “Why does it matter to me”? All employees currently paid through our payroll system will be affected by the movement in one way or another. However, hourly, non-exempt employees and their supervisors will see the biggest impact. The new payroll processing method allows us to record the actual number of hours or days worked, or leave (sick, vacation, holiday) taken for a particular pay period. This is different than what we traditionally have done in payroll processing where only the total hours worked in a pay period, not the specific days or hours worked were recorded. This means that non-exempt employees will be able to track their hours and days worked more accurately, which in turn, helps to ensure they receive the correct overtime pay as required under Federal overtime regulations.
To complement the introduction of this new payroll process, the University will also implement Datatel’s Web Time Entry module. This allows employees to submit time electronically instead of using timesheets or other forms of paper notification. A template with the standard hours displayed will aid the employee with quick entry. Employees who do not have access to computers or cannot use computers will work through their supervisors and departmental staff to record their hours worked and/or their leaves. Web Time Entry forwards the employees submitted time to their supervisors for approval or modification, then sends the information electronically to Payroll for processing. An advantage to the supervisor is that tracking of leave time by paper, Excel spreadsheets, etc. will no longer be necessary.
Another benefit of the Web Time Entry module is that it allows the University to accurately track compensated leave for exempt employees. However, exempt employees will not have to submit hours worked on a daily or weekly basis. The only use of the system for exempt employees will be to record compensated leave.
Why is this new payroll process being implemented? First, our campus-wide software provider, Datatel, will no longer support our current means of processing payroll effective August 31, 2007. So, in order to ensure that we remain responsive to our employees, we must move forward. This move by our software provider comes at an excellent time considering that the University’s external audit firm recommended to the Board of Trustees at its October meeting that we do the exact same thing this software will do for the University. Lastly, this change in payroll process will aid the University in staying compliant with federal wage and hour laws.
What can you do in the meantime? We will continue to process payroll in the same manner as we have for the time being. However, it is important that all employees and their supervisors keep an accurate count of their vacation balances. As we implement the new modules we want to make sure that these balances are correct.
The Business Office, Human Resources and University Computing will be working together to ensure that the conversion goes as smoothly as possible. As we move closer to the time of conversion, there will be a series of training sessions for both employees and their supervisors to ensure the understanding of how the process works.
Finally, we ask that supervisors post this notice on their bulletin boards or distribute it for employees who do not have regular access to email.
Thank you.
