Payroll Procedures for School District New Employees

1. What Your Business Manager Needs you to Know about Payroll!!

2. How we got here?

3. Who Has Authority???

4. What Goes in the Personnel File? • Application and Transcripts • MS Certificate • Teacher Assistant Documentation • Checklist with items attached • Board Approved Recommendation Letter • Copy of signed contract • Copies of insurance forms • Changes to insurance • Any Changes or Transfers • Termination or Resignation • Termination Checklist

5. Sample School District NEW EMPLOYEE CHECKLIST Name: ________________________ Social Security Number: _______________ Hire Date: _______________ Effective Insurance Date: ________________ First Payroll Check: _______________ Retirement Yes or No Payroll Issues: Enter State Withholding ______ Enter Federal Withholding ______ Direct Deposit: ________ State Health: Apply or Waive Premium: 116-_______ 103-_______ ***Send Appropriate Insurance Paperwork to employee and dependents State Life: Apply or Waive Premium: 117-_______ 109-________ Unum: Apply or Waive Premium: 119-________ Vision Care: Premium: 120-_______ AFLAC: Premium: 123-________ Other Insurance Notes: Mail or Fax Appropriate Insurance Paperwork to companies: ____________ Enter Employee in Payroll ____________ Location _______ Employee Type: _______ Salary Schedule _______ # Days ______ Summer Pay Flag _______ General Ledger Budget Code: ______________________ Amount: _____________ Leave: Sick __________ Personal ___________ Substitute ____________ _ All procedures have been performed on this checklist and filed in the employee’s personnel file.

6. Checklist for New Employee • Checklist • Personal Data Information Form • W-4 Federal Withholding Form • State Withholding Form • Authorization Agreement for Direct Deposits • Payroll Authorization Form • Immigration Form • Child Abuse Registry Check Form • New Hire Form • (2) Copies of Social Security Card • (1) Copy of Driver’s License • Retirement Enrollment Form (if applicable) • Retirement Beneficiary Nomination Form (if applicable) • Insurance Data Sheet • Blue Cross-Blue Shield Health Insurance Application • State Life Insurance Application • Unum Life Insurance Application • Aflac Dental Insurance Application • Vision Care Application • Fingerprints • E-Verification

8. Example Termination Checklist • TERMINATION CHECKLIST • Name: ________________________ • Social Security Number: _______________ • Termination Date: _______________ • Does employee have state health insurance? ________ • If yes, send COBRA papers within 14 days of effective insurance termination date. • Effective Insurance Termination Date: _______________ • Sent COBRA Papers to employee and dependents if applicable: ___________________ • Payroll Procedures: • Examine all deduction records and make adjustments for the next payroll • Notes: • Final Check Date: ___________________ • Send Final Sheet to MSIS Clerk: ______________ • Certify any unused leave and mail to PERS: _______________ • Terminate Employee on computer (mark terminated and no pay): ________________ • Close out budget amount on computer: ________________; Total Days Worked _______ • _________ All procedures have been performed on this checklist and filed in the employee’s personnel file.

9. Points to Consider • Payroll Concerns • Closing out at June 30 • General Ledger Reconciliation • Insurance Reconciliations • Internal Controls • Areas that may be costing you $ • Considerations in going hourly • Direct Deposit Issues • Cross Training • IRS Compliance Check

10. Closing out at June 30 • Accrued Payroll • Cash – Transfer or Not • Retirement – Consider reporting July accrued payroll on June report to save increase in employer’s portion of retirement • Terminated employees – Do you update the budget in payroll to the amount actually paid?

11. General Ledger Reconciliation Do your payroll clearing withholding accounts zero monthly? • Debit balances in insurance accounts • Unrecorded expenditures • Premiums withheld in error • Credit balances • Premiums withheld but never paid • Void Checks – Are the withholdings corrected?

12. Insurance Reconciliations Payroll or Insurance clerk reconciles the insurance billing but: • Do they continue to add an employee on the reconciliation without following up why that individual did not appear on the billing timely? • Does the employee even have coverage? • If not, did the paperwork get forwarded? If it did, did the insurance company post the employee to the proper group?

13. Internal Controls • Consider sending monthly reports to program coordinators • Consider requiring employees to complete insurance paperwork on-site • Never make changes or corrections to an employee’s paperwork • Require all changes in writing

14. Areas that may be costing you $ • Wage & Hour – Is overtime calculated and paid on non-worked time? • Worker’s Comp – • Is overtime easily identified? • Are supplemental payments to certified employees properly classified?

15. Considerations in going hourly • Give adequate notice • Meet with affected employees in advance • Provide groups of employees with a schedule of hours to be worked for and the cut-off for each payroll • Always cut-off hourly payrolls at the end of the week

17. Other items to consider • Insurance withholding – Consider requiring supplemental policies to charge and bill over 9 or 10 months • State Health and Life will have to be prorated and withheld over 10 months or the employee will have to bring in the money over the summer months • School Calendar – Starting school later or earlier can affect employee’s earnings! • Bad Weather Days – Other than Katrina, there is no authority to pay hourly employees for hours not worked

18. Direct Deposit Issues • Follow-up on voided direct deposits to insure that the funds were actually returned to the district. • Funds may have been deposited to someone else’s account? • Bank may have sent an error correction on the direct deposit information, but forced the funds into the employee’s account? • Consider limiting this to local banks or at least banks with brick and mortar locations within the State of MS. • In case of a problem with an internet bank, it can be hard to get assistance.

19. Cross Training • It is absolutely essential that more than one employee knows how to process payroll • The payroll clerk should document the procedures to be followed so that another employee would be able to come in and process a payroll in an emergency.

20. IRS COMPLIANCE CHECK How We Got Chosen? Do you have the authority to withhold social security and retirement? Do you know about these forms? • Form 941 Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return • Form 945 Annual Return of Withheld Federal Income Tax • Form W-2 Wage and Tax Statement • Form W-3 Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements • Form W-4 Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate • Form W-9 Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification • Form 1099 (Information Returns) • Form 1096 Annual Summary and Transmittal of U.S. Information Returns Other Areas of Consideration: Information in the Circular E Vehicles owned by the School District Compliance with the Cafeteria Plan Employer paid Cell Phones

21. Discussion