Using Academic Pay Periods

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Overview

Academic Pay Period is a recurring period that is not associated with the fiscal year, and refers collectively to Annual Work Period and Disbursement Plan Period. Annual Work Period and Disbursement Plan Period are selected during Hire, Change Job and Add Additional Job; the values are not selected during Create Position.

The purpose of this reference guide is to provide an overview of Academic Pay Period, guidelines for how they should be used in Workday, and guidelines when needing to make changes to Academic Pay Periods for active Employees

Key Points:

• Academic Pay Periods are displayed with a fiscal year because they are recurring periods. This year will not be visible in Workday because the options provide flexibility over each consecutive fiscal year.
• An Employee’s Primary Job and Additional job, if any, are each assigned an Academic Pay Period independent of the other
• Employees paid on a salaried basis will be continue to be paid yearly during each academic pay period they are assigned to a position until terminated. Hourly employees are paid for hours submitted and approved by the Manager regardless of Academic Pay Period.
• The Annual Work Period and Annual Disbursement Period must match when completing a business process
• The Academic Pay Period options in Workday are predefined values representing the most-often used periods system wide. To submit a request to add an Academic Pay Period, contact your HR office who can submit the request through the Workday governance process
• An Employee must be in a Faculty, staff or Graduate Assistant position with an FTE of 50% or more AND in an Academic Pay Period of 4.5 months or more to be benefits eligible
• Employees who are going to be on a break for a semester (e.g. Faculty / students not working during winter or summer break) do not need to be terminated

About Academic Pay Periods

Academic Pay Period Defined

Academic Pay Period defines the period used for calculating Academic Pay as an annualized amount over 12 months. The calculation includes the worker’s compensation, percentage of year and FTE to determine total base pay for monthly paid workers. An Academic Pay Period is comprised of two periods, the Annual Work Period and the Disbursement Plan Period. The start date is always the 1^st or the 16^th and the end date is always the 15^th, 30^th or 31^st.

Workday Annual Work Period

The continuous period of time (in months) during which an Employee is working and is assigned compensation. This period will have both a start and end date (e.g. September 1 – December 15).

The Annual Work Period determines benefits eligibility; it does not drive pay. An Employee must be assigned an Annual Work Period of at least 4.5 months to fulfill part of the requirements for benefits eligibility. A new Employee’s Hire date can be any date within the Annual Work Period and the first payroll will be prorated for a salaried Employee.

Workday Disbursement Plan Period

The period of time (in months) during which an Employee receives compensation. This period will have both a start and end date (e.g. September 1 – December 15) and must match the Annual Work Period designated for the Employee.

The Disbursement Plan Period drives payroll for the months during which a salaried Employee is paid. This period does not drive payroll for hourly Employees because hourly Employees must submit the hours worked and the hours must be approved

Note: Request One-time Payment can only be processed during the Disbursement Plan Period.

Academic Pay Periods and Impact to Benefits

An Employee in a Primary Job position that should be benefits eligible must ALWAYS be in an Academic Pay Period that is at least 4.5 months and the position should be designated as at least 50% FTE. If the benefits eligible Employee will work an extended appointment into subsequent months that does not fall within the Primary Job’s Academic Pay Period, be sure you choose an Academic Pay Period that meets the duration requirement so as not to remove benefits from the worker.

Making Changes

If an Employee’s job responsibilities or Faculty appointment require a change to the Academic Pay Period, a change can be made using the Change Job business process. However, this can have negative impacts on the Employee if not done appropriately.

For example, if the Employee was originally assigned the Academic Pay Period of Fall semester only and their work will be extended into the next Spring semester with no break of service at the same percent effort, the new Academic Pay Period should encompass both the Fall and Spring semester together.

Accommodating Semester Breaks

Salaried Employees

The Employee will only be paid during the Academic Pay Period for which they were assigned and presumably working. Employees who work less than a full 12 months, e.g., Faculty most often work 9 months, can be assigned a 9 month Academic Pay Period. Termination is not necessary at the end of the 9 months if there is a reasonable expectation the Employee will return to Faculty responsibilities after the one semester break.

Common academic practices for Faculty and Graduate Assistant Employees generally recognize that a summer or other single full-semester break is considered an inactive employment period but do not require the Employee to be terminated. Breaks of more than one semester should most likely see the Employee terminated due to the extended non-active period to minimize confusion and risk. In other words, as long as the Employee is assigned to an appropriate Academic Pay Period, the Employee can take a semester break without being terminated or placed on a Leave of Absence.

Hourly Employees

Employees who submit timesheets and for which a timesheet is approved, will be paid regardless of the Academic Pay Period to which they are assigned. If you are concerned that a returning student Employee will be paid during a break (Winter / Summer) for time not worked, you can communicate with Managers and Timekeepers to monitor timesheet submission and make necessary corrections. You can also terminate the Employee and rehire them at the start of the next semester for which you expect them to return.

Workday Services Recommendation

Workday Services recommends that if an Employee is not going to be working for the member for two consecutive semesters, the Employee be terminated and rehired upon return. This recommendation is based on the idea that needs can change for both the member and the Employee during the absence.

WARNING: If the Employee is not terminated prior to the reoccurrence of their assigned academic pay period, that non-working Employee will be paid. This will require corrections for payroll personnel.

Primary and Additional Job with Academic Pay Period

The primary job for benefits-eligible Faculty and Graduate Assistant Employees should be the job that predominantly represents the full academic year or academic semester appointment. Typically the primary job will be the 9 month or more period Academic Pay Period.  An extended appointment into the summer months is appropriate as an additional job for three months or less.

IMPORTANT: Never switch the additional job so that the summer job becomes primary because it will remove benefits eligibility from the Employee.