It is hard to believe it has been over a year since the Coronavirus pandemic started and we made the quick transition to remote work on our campus. At that time, no one could anticipate the duration of what was to come. Throughout this past year we have appreciated your partnership as we quickly introduced a new payroll summary process, introduced a Federal leave program, and have made several enhancements to the reporting process along the way. An additional reporting process update that we will be rolling out for better compliance with audit requirements, Payroll will start collecting hourly time sheets to ensure accuracy of pay for hourly employees, beginning April 16, 2021. Outlined below are further details about this process.
Summary process on OneDrive is NOT changing
While the current time entry and benefit usage summary process on OneDrive will NOT be changing, we will begin collecting hourly timesheets from timekeepers via email the day the summaries are due beginning on April 16, 2021.
What timesheets does Payroll need?
Payroll will be collecting hourly timesheets on any hourly employees that timekeepers used to submit timesheets for prior to COVID-19. If your department had previously established a time recording process for student employees that process can continue.
How will we handle signatures and approvals?
In the fall, we surveyed timekeepers and found that most are receiving the current hourly timesheet from their employees. However, given our remote work environment, ink signatures and scanning capabilities are limited. With this information, we have determined the following to be an acceptable means of approving time reporting.
Employees should use the Salaried Non-Exempt/Hourly Time Sheet and Benefit Usage Report from the Human Resource Services website to report their time. If they can ink sign and scan the document to their supervisor for approval, this is the preferred method, and they should continue to do that. If they are unable to ink sign, they should type their name in the associated field. They should then email, from their NIU email account, their time sheet to their supervisor for approval.
The supervisor should then either ink sign and scan or type their name as approver and forward to the timekeeper for processing. It is acceptable if the supervisors and timekeepers want to develop a process of email approval and the timekeeper adds the supervisor’s name. However, this process needs to be documented and maintained for audit purposes.
Timekeepers should create an hourly timesheet for employees who do not report their time using the Salaried Non-Exempt/Hourly Time Sheet and Benefit Usage Report based on the information the employee sends to the timekeeper via email or text message. Type the employee’s name in the associated field on the form and maintain the email or text for audit purposes. This process should also be documented and maintained at the department level for audit purposes.
We have developed a webpage with a visual to illustrate this process flow and a list of frequently asked questions. Please share with employees and supervisors when you notify them of what you will be needing starting in April.
How will I get the timesheets to Payroll?
Timekeepers should email the hourly timesheets for their department to payroll@niu.edu by 4:30 p.m. on the date the hourly summaries are due. All timesheets should be attached to one email. We will accept paper copies in the HR drop box outside the main HR building.
What do I do with the email correspondence between employees and supervisors?
Timekeepers should continue to maintain the email correspondence between employees and supervisors as well as any documentation on internal approval processes at the department level for audit purposes. It may be necessary to provide this documentation in future audits. Only the actual hourly timesheets should be emailed to payroll@niu.edu for review and processing.
Past Time Sheets
In all our communications, we have indicated the need for departments to continue to track time reporting and sick and vacation usage. We also communicated that we would collect this information when we return to operations on campus for recordkeeping purposes. Since it will likely be fall before we see a greater return to campus, we are going to start looking at collecting these records from departments. However, given the volume of records to collect, we will not be able to do all departments at the same time. We will be sharing more information on this process in the coming weeks. However, if a department has all past records ready to deliver to payroll, please email payroll@niu.edu and we will be sure to prioritize your unit.
Future Automation of Time Reporting
While this may feel like a step backwards in the way in which we have been processing, it is a necessary step to ensure audit compliance and accuracy of pay. Please know this is temporary and the university has made identifying a solution to report time electronically a top priority. We will keep you informed as that project moves forward.
Upcoming Deadline and Teams Meeting
Timekeepers should email hourly timesheets for the April 1 to April 15 payroll to payroll@niu.edu by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, April 16, 2021. We will be hosting two Teams meetings in the next few weeks for timekeepers to attend to discuss this new process and the information contained in this email. We will send appointments for both sessions to all timekeepers. It is only necessary to attend one session, the information shared will be the same.
We appreciate all that you are doing to ensure employees are continuing to be paid on time. We need your continued partnership with this new process and any future automation that is implemented. Please direct any questions to payroll@niu.edu and we look forward to “seeing” you on Teams soon.
Thank you for your service to the NIU community.
