Payroll

The Office of Student Employment, in partnership with the Comptroller’s Office, is implementing a new tool for student employee time reporting called TimeClockPlus to enhance the payroll reporting process for students. Beginning July 1, all hourly student employees will transition to using this automated timekeeping online tool to record their hours worked.

“As student employment resources continue to evolve and modernize, we are pleased to implement a new tool for our students that enhances the process for time reporting and makes it easier for students to capture their hours using any device,” says Camille Donabella, director of student employment and operations.

Read the full story at Syracuse University News.

On Friday, August 28, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Treasury Department issued guidance on a potential employee payroll tax deferral directed by a presidential memorandum released on August 8, 2020. The deferral provided employers the option to defer withholding the employee portion of social security tax payments from September 1 through December 31, 2020, with the deferred taxes to be repaid from January 1 through April 30, 2021. The deferral applied only to employees whose wages are less than $2,000 for a weekly pay period and to salaried workers earning less than $104,000 per year.

After consulting with tax, legal, and compensation experts, the University has decided not to participate in the optional deferral. Since this program only postpones tax payments, the University chose this option in an effort to safeguard our employees from higher withholdings beginning January 2021.

If you have any questions, please contact the Payroll Service Center at 315-443-4042 or payroll@syr.edu.

Syracuse University’s Payroll Office pays nearly 12,000 employees every month. Even though the majority of the University’s employees take advantage of direct deposit, nearly 10 percent still receive paper checks on payday. In addition to helping the University meet its sustainability goals by eliminating the need for paper, direct deposit removes the need to physically travel to your office mailbox and then to the bank to deposit paychecks, says Jean Gallipeau, University comptroller.

Read the full story at Syracuse University News.

Due to changes to the federal tax law passed in 2018, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has updated the 2020 version of Form W-4. Form W-4 is completed by every Syracuse University employee to determine how much federal income tax is withheld from each paycheck.

The IRS does not require all employees to complete the updated form. It will be used by employees hired after 2019 and can be used by employees that want to make a withholding change after 2019.

Read the full story at Syracuse University News.

A cross-functional team continues to make progress to introduce timesaving systems to improve timekeeping and core HR transactions. This technology will bring new, simpler processes that result in the quicker inputting of more accurate data, ultimately allowing employees to spend less time on administrative functions and more time on their individual priorities. With the assistance of operational leaders and a knowledge network of department administrators, the project remains on track for a July 30 go live.

Full story available from Syracuse University News.