The hours worked by employees, whether contract or unit employees, can be tracked within the Payroll module of the School Accounting System. Tracking the hours the employees worked is required in some states for inclusion on applicable state government reports, such as the state retirement or unemployment report, and is also utilized with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Hours Tracking option; however, any district wanting to track the hours worked can do so. To track hours worked within the School Accounting System, complete the steps below for all the applicable unit and contract employees.
Tracking the Hours Worked for Unit Employees:
From the Payroll screen, select the Maintenance menu and then Pay Codes.
Bring up the pay code for which to have the hours worked tracked (for example, bring up the Regular Hourly Rate pay code).
Select the Hours Worked field. A checkmark will appear in the box if the field is selected. By selecting this field, the Hours field for entries in Pay Period Entries and Employee Absences for this pay code will automatically be completed (based on the number in the Units field) in order to be included in the total hours worked for the employees.
Enter the number of hours worked for each unit included with entries made for the pay code in Pay Period Entries and Employee Absences in the Hours Per Unit field, or leave the field blank to default to 1. When the entries are made for this pay code in Pay Period Entries and Employee Absences, the number entered here will be multiplied by the number entered in the Units field for the entry and the total will be displayed in the Hours field.
Save the changes and then repeat the steps for each applicable pay code.
When making entries in a batch of Pay Period Entries or Employee Absences, the appropriate number will automatically display in the Hours field if the pay code is set up to track the hours worked in the Pay Code File. The number of hours can be changed for each entry if needed in order to correctly record the number of hours worked by the employee for the particular entry.
Tracking the Hours Worked for Contract Employees:
From the Payroll screen, select the Maintenance menu and then Employees.
Bring up the desired employee to edit.
Click the Wages tab.
On the Wages screen, double-click the desired contract from the lower left-hand corner of the screen.
Complete either the Hours Per Day field or the Hours Per Payroll field; both fields cannot be completed for a pay code.
If desired, enter the total number of hours the employee works for this contract per day in the Hours Per Day field. The number cannot be greater than 24, but can be up to 8 digits long (including the decimal point) and will be rounded to 4 decimal places by the system if capable. When calculating a payroll, the number entered in this field is multiplied by the number entered in the Days This Pay Period field for the payroll calculation batch to reflect the total number of hours worked in the pay period for the employee for the particular pay code.
If desired, enter the number of total hours the employee works in a pay period in the Hours Per Payroll field. The number cannot be greater than 2,080, but can be up to 8 digits long (including the decimal point) and will be rounded to 4 decimal places by the system if capable. When calculating a payroll, the number entered in this field is reflected as the total number of hours worked in the pay period for the employee for the particular pay code.
Note: If a contract for an extracurricular activity is set up to be paid over 12 months and the Hours Per Day field or the Hours Per Payroll field is completed, keep in mind the hours worked are calculated for all 12 months when the contract is paid even though the activity may only be for a short period (for example, the coach of a sport may actually only work at that duty for 2 months while the contract is paid over 12 months); to avoid having the hours worked overstated, consider leaving the Hours Per Day field and the Hours Per Payroll field blank for the extracurricular activity contracts and then manually adjust the hours worked to include the extra duty hours as needed.
Save the changes and then repeat the steps for each applicable contract employee.
When calculating a payroll, complete the Days This Pay Period field on the Calculate Payroll screen by entering the number of days included in the pay period, if the Hours Per Day field is completed for one or more employees. The system will then calculate the total hours worked for the pay period for the applicable employees by multiplying the number of days in the pay period by the hours per day (for example, 20 days X 8 hours per day = 160 hours for the pay period).
Note: If applicable, select the Exclude Contract Hours From ACA Tracking field for a pay group in the Pay Groups List on the Calculate Payroll screen to not have the hours worked tracked for contract pay codes for employees for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Hours Tracking option (will still be tracked for inclusion on the other applicable government reports, such as retirement and unemployment reports). Typically, the Exclude Contract Hours From ACA Tracking field is selected for a pay group only during the summer months when contract employees who are defined with a service break (on the ACA Hours screen in the Employee File) are getting paid for their time while on break; for example, if the contract employees in a certain pay group who are defined with a service break did not work any hours in June, July, and August, select the field for the appropriate pay group when completing a payroll calculation to pay the June, July, and August wages. The Exclude Contract Hours From ACA Tracking field is only applicable for the Payroll Types of Regular, Extra, or Pay Off Contracts, as hours worked are not tracked in payroll calculations with Payroll Types of Expense Payroll, Purchase Order, or Reversing GAAP.
Viewing the Hours Worked for Unit and Contract Employees:
Once the hours are tracked for the employees, the Hours Worked Report can be generated to view the hours worked for each employee for a specific payroll batch (by generating the report using the Unposted report selection during a check cycle), or for a particular month or range of months (by generating the report using the Posted report selection). The Hours Worked Report is accessed in Payroll under the Check Cycle menu, then Pre-Check Reports, or under the Reports menu, then Check Cycle Pre-Check Reports (PR).
Also, the hours will be included on the applicable state government reports and in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Hours Tracking option, and can be viewed and/or adjusted as needed.