BANKING
Employees with benefits are required to sign up for direct deposit.
This is accomplished by completing the form “Authorization Agreement
For Automated Deposits.” For current employees wishing to drop, add, or
change information, a new form must be completed and submitted to
Payroll. It is important to notify Payroll immediately should an
emergency such as theft occur prompting a hasty hold on your
account.
Payments are made directly to the employee’s bank account through the
Automated Clearing House, which includes out of state financial
institutions. Employees are allowed to use one primary bank and may
choose one or both of the credit unions listed below as a secondary
bank.
Refer to the Credit Union section of the yellow pages of your local
phone directory for the nearest branch locations and phone numbers.
COMPENSATORY TIME
Staff employees are permitted by Washington State Labor Laws to receive
compensatory time off in lieu of pay. This must be by the employee's
voluntary request only and used within the same monthly pay period.
Compensatory time for any hours worked over 40 must be given at one and
one-half times the overtime worked. Exempt employees (faculty and
administrators) are not eligible for compensatory time off.
EMERGENCY ADVANCE (DRAW)
If the need arises, the request should be directed to Payroll with one business days’ notice. The following limitations apply:
The university reserves the right to approve or reject, in its sole discretion, any request for an emergency advance.
HOLIDAY COMPENSATION
Although there is no requirement in law, the university's policy
provides for pay at the rate one and one-half times the normal hourly
rate, over and above the monthly salary, whenever benefits eligible
staff employees are required to be present on holidays observed by the
university.
INCLEMENT WEATHER
Whenever inclement weather creates hazardous travel conditions,
university employees and students are urged to use caution and personal
discretion. In extreme weather situations, the university may decide to
cancel classes and/or close the university. A determination will be
made by 5:30 a.m. for morning and afternoon classes, and by noon for
evening classes and activities. Call the campus closure hotline, (253)
535-7100, for information regarding the status of PLU's hours of
operation. Notice will also be given to the following radio stations:
KPLU, KIRO, KOMO, KUOW, and to the following TV stations: KIRO, KOMO,
KSTW and KING.
Since the university is a resident campus some services are essential
as long as students are in residence. Employees in departments
providing services to resident students should check with their
supervisors as to attendance policies during such closures.
No employee will lose pay as a result of an official closure. Staff
employees required to work will receive extra compensation for the
hours they worked by submitting those hours on an hourly time sheet to
Payroll.
Employees unable to report for work due to weather conditions on days
when the university is open should report those days on an absence
report form as vacation, sick leave or leave without pay.
JURY DUTY
Employees who are subpoenaed for jury duty will be allowed time off
work to serve unless they prefer to petition the court to be excused
from serving for hardship or other reasons.
Those who are required to appear in court (when not a litigant) or are
called to jury duty will continue to receive their normal pay. The
court paid daily stipend must be remitted to the university to offset
the continued salary expense. However, the employee retains any mileage
reimbursement received from the courts.
MEAL PERIODS
Meal periods are not included as paid work time. Employees are allowed
a meal period of at least thirty minutes commencing no less than two
hours nor more than five hours from the beginning of the shift. No
employee will be required to work more than five consecutive hours
without a meal period. Employees are free from work duties during their
meal period and are allowed to leave the work area. Employees working
three or more hours longer than a normal work day (typically eight
hours) will be allowed at least one thirty minute meal period before or
during the overtime period.
MILITARY RESERVES & NATIONAL GUARD OBLIGATIONS
Active members of the National Guard or military reserves are eligible
for an adjustment of wages if a difference exists between their PLU
salary and their military pay and allowances during the annual
encampment or active-duty training. To be eligible for this benefit,
members must be on an active pay status with a unit (drilling on a
monthly or weekly basis) and must submit a statement of earnings for
the annual active-duty period.
All employees who are called to duty for the National Guard or military
reserves are required to submit a Leave of Absence request form to
Human Resource Services as soon as their unit notifies them. To
report the leave of absence on their timesheet, the employee has the
option of using vacation to receive their regular PLU salary in
additional to their military pay, or it may be indicated as leave
without pay.
National Guard members called to emergency duty in time of disaster or
civil disturbance will receive differential pay for up to ten working
days in one year.
OVERTIME PAY
Exempt employees are not eligible for additional pay for time worked
beyond that which is regularly scheduled. In recognition of the fact
that exempt employees work beyond regularly scheduled hours, the
university has established a liberal vacation plan for these employees.
Supervisors may adjust the work schedule within a work week as may be
reasonable and prudent to avoid exceeding the forty-hour limit for
staff (non-exempt) employees. So long as the forty-hour limit is not
exceeded, overtime pay is not required.
When working hours cannot be held to forty hours in one work week,
staff employees are entitled to overtime compensation at the rate of 1
1/2 times normal pay. This requirement is based on state and Federal
law. The supervisor must authorize overtime work in advance. The
university reserves the right not to pay unauthorized overtime.
While the university recognizes that work in excess of 40 hours per
week may be unavoidable due to the nature of certain jobs, it is in the
best interests of the individual employee to limit overtime worked. An
employee who consistently works more than 40 hours weekly does not have
adequate time away from the job in which to rest and relax. Over
extended periods of time, this can affect not only job performance but
ultimately the physical and mental health of the employee.
REST PERIODS
Employees are allowed a rest period of ten minutes to fifteen minutes
on university time for each four hours of working time. Rest periods
should be scheduled as near as possible to the midpoint of the work
period with consideration for the work involved. No employee will be
required to work more than three hours without a rest period. However,
where the nature of the work allows employees to take intermittent rest
periods equivalent to ten minutes to fifteen minutes for each four
hours worked, scheduled rest periods are not required. Rest periods are
not cumulative and may not be used to shorten workdays. Voluntary
attendance at Chapel may be substituted for the morning break.
SALARY PAYMENTS [Revised April 2008]
Payday normally falls on the 30th of each month for work performed
during that month. When the date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, payday
advances to the previous Friday.
Compensation for salaried employees covers the entire month.
Compensation for hourly employees covers the period as shown on their
time sheet, and may also be found on the Pay Schedule and Guidelines
annual memo.
To comply with the American Job Creation Act of 2004 which revised
the Internal Revenue Code 409A, faculty and administrator's pay plans
are determined by the PLU administration and are administered by Human
Resources.
TIME SHEETS
All administrators and staff must complete a time sheet each month.
Time sheets are revised each calendar year and may be downloaded from
the Human Resources web site. Exempt employees are required to
report leaves and holidays only. Non–exempt employees are
required to report all hours worked in addition to their leaves and
holidays.
Supervisors are responsible for ensuring that time sheets are
completely accurate, and that they are submitted to Payroll by the
monthly due date. Time sheets not completed by the employee until after
the due date are held and will be processed in the following month’s
payroll.
WORK WEEK
A work week is defined as a recurring period of seven consecutive
twenty-four hour periods (168 hours). The established university work
week begins at 12:01 Saturday morning and ends at 12:00 midnight Friday
night.
The work week for non-exempt employees is the basic unit for determining the proper wage due employees.