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 the credit union 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.
Staff employees are permitted 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 within a work week must be given at one and one-half times the overtime worked. Exempt employees (faculty and administrators) are not eligible for compensatory time off.
If the need arises, the request should be directed to Payroll with at least 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
Revised January 2011
Although there is no requirement by law, the university's policy provides for additional pay at the rate one and one-half times the regular rate, whenever certain benefits eligible staff employees are required to be present on holidays observed by the university.
INCLEMENT WEATHER
Updated January 2011
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 6:00 a.m. for morning and afternoon classes, and by 1:00 p.m. for evening classes and activities. Visit www.plu.edu or 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 Public Schools Emergency Communication System (PSECS).
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 their time sheet as vacation, sick leave or leave without pay.
JURY DUTY
Revised January 2011
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. Juror pay for services from the court must be remitted to the Payroll Office to offset the continued salary expense. However, the employee retains any mileage reimbursement received from the courts.
PLU may support and release employees from their regular job duties to volunteer as a Citizen Corps member during a county emergency. The supervisor has discretion to release the employee relative to job responsibilities at PLU. Please contact the PLU Emergency Programs office to register for Citizen Corps.
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.
To report the leave of absence on their time sheet, 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.
Refer to the Military Call to Duty policy for additional information.
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 (nonexempt) 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 the regular 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 that the university did not know or permit to be worked.
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.
Employees are allowed a rest period of ten 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 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 rest period.
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 Payroll Processing Schedule 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.
All administrators and staff must complete a time sheet each month. Time sheets are revised each calendar year and may be downloaded from the Payroll web site. Exempt employees are required to report leaves and holidays only. Nonexempt 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.
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 nonexempt employees is the basic unit for determining the proper wage due employees.