PS-02.A.02 - Employee Time Reporting
EFFECTIVE DATE: February 17, 2023
ISSUE #: 6
PRESIDENT: Dr. Loren J. Blanchard
1. PURPOSE
This policy statement provides guidelines for preparing and submitting employee time to report payable hours worked, utilization of accrued leave, and hours of unpaid leave, as prescribed in SAM 02.F.03, Employee Time Reporting. These guidelines apply to all University of HoustonDowntown employees regardless of appointment type or source of funds from which the employee is paid.
2. DEFINITIONS
2.1 Timesheet: The electronic form used to capture punched times by biweekly employees when clocking in and out from work and reporting the use of paid or unpaid leaves of absence.
2.2 Supervisor: The person to whom the employee immediately reports and who is responsible for the employee's work assignment and oversight.
2.3 Time Reporting and Absence Management (TRAM): TRAM is an automated and updated application for capturing and processing time and leave for all employees.
2.4 Absence Management: The electronic process in PeopleSoft used by benefits-eligible employees for requesting paid and unpaid leave. Leave includes but is not limited to the following:
a. vacation
b. sick leave
c. unpaid leave
d. bereavement leave
e. emergency leave
f. any other paid or unpaid leave taken by the employee that is not coded in the annual payroll calendar
2.5 People Advantage Self Service (P.A.S.S.): P.A.S.S. keeps a history of all earnings, paychecks issued, direct deposits, W-2 forms, leave balances and benefits. Employees can view and print earnings statements and W-2 forms that have been issued since 2001. This feature gives employees 24-hour access to their payroll and benefits information.
2.6 Web Clock: Time collection system used by non-exempt employees through P.A.S.S. Non-exempt employees are responsible for punching in and out to report time worked and meal breaks. Time is transmitted from the web clock punches to the University's payroll system for processing.
2.7 Reports to Manager: Employee's supervisor or proxy who has been assigned to process punches and leave requests reported through TRAM. Time approvers may approve, deny or push back absence requests for an employee. If the absence request is approved, no further action is needed. If denied, the employee must cancel the denied request in order to submit a new absence request. If pushed back, the employee must edit, update, or cancel the request.
2.8 TRAM Administrator: Employee responsible for reviewing payable time and exceptions and running relevant reports and queries in order to assist the "Reports to Manager." TRAM Administrators do not have the ability to adjust or approve payable time, or to approve absence requests.
2.9 Time Reporter: Term used for non-exempt employees when recording time worked and meal breaks daily utilizing the web clock in TRAM and submitting absence requests. Time Reporters are employees who are paid through the UHD payroll system on an hourly basis, including regular support staff, student employees, and temporary non-exempt staff.
2.10 Time Administration: The PeopleSoft process that is run during the payroll processing period, which converts reported time generated from the employees' clock in and out punches to payable time. Time administration calculates rules such as overtime, applies these rules and then calculates actual hours of pay.
2.11 Payable Time: The number of hours for pay that result from the daily punches and the application of payroll rules.
2.12 Punch: Term used to describe the action when a time reporter enters their time via a web clock. Punches include, in, start meal, end meal and out.
3. POLICY
3.1 Each non-exempt employee is required to clock in and clock out to record time worked by entering in and out punches on a web clock and submit absence requests for time to be deducted for vacation, sick leave, or other periods not at work during regularly scheduled workdays. Each electronic timesheet must be reviewed and approved by the employee's supervisor or designee to ensure time worked and leave taken are accurately reported.
3.1.1 Employees will clock in using a web clock located in PASS.
3.1.2 Punch times automatically feed to an electronic timesheet where they are converted to hours of pay.
Each exempt employee (including faculty, administrative and professional staff) is required to submit absence requests electronically through TRAM for time to be deducted for vacation, sick leave or other periods not at work during regularly scheduled workdays, as applicable.
3.2.1 Exempt employees are not required to clock in or out. Regular hours worked, based on their FTE, are pre-approved in the system and need not be submitted electronically.
3.2.2 Exempt employees are required to submit an Absence Request in PASS for any paid or unpaid leave that is considered exception time. When the absence request is approved by the manager, the hours will automatically post to the electronic timesheet.
3.3 Falsifying information pertaining to leave taken or not reporting leave is strictly prohibited and may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination. Managers who make changes to absence requests or make incorrect adjustments to reported leave on the electronic timesheets may be subject to discipline and dismissal the same as the employee who falsifies their leave requests.
4. PROCEDURES
4.1 Each employee's supervisor or assigned proxy must approve absence requests and electronic time submissions posted to the time sheets from the web clock or TCD on a weekly basis.
4.1.1 Absence Requests not approved within the weekly timeframe will not pay until the next pay period.
4.1.2 Electronic timesheets that are not approved by the deadline prescribed by the University of Houston System (UHS) Payroll Office will not be processed until the next pay period.
4.1.3 Reports to Managers who consistently fail to complete their required payroll tasks on a timely basis may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.
4.2 The University of Houston-Downtown Payroll Office publishes annually a payroll calendar reflecting appropriate due dates for processing absence requests and electronic timesheets of exempt and non-exempt employees.
4.3 All non-exempt employees must account for hours worked and meal breaks by reporting their time via the web clock. On a typical day, non-exempt employees will record four punches on the web clock. These are: (1) In (when arriving to work), (2) Meal (when leaving for lunch), (3) In (when arriving back to work), and (4) Out (when leaving for the day).
4.4 Non-exempt employees should clock in and out using the correct punch type. Incorrect punches which are not corrected by the manager may result in the employee being paid incorrectly or not being paid until the correction is done.
4.5 Exempt employees should submit their absence requests any time prior to or during the month in which the leave will be taken so that leave balances can be updated in a timely manner.
4.6 TRAM Administrators are responsible for reconciling the time reporting process.
4.6.1 TRAM Administrators must ensure that all electronic biweekly timesheets and absence requests are approved and all errors corrected.
4.6.2 TRAM Administrators must also forward all documents supporting the absence requests to the Payroll Office once the absence requests have been submitted and approved.
4.6.3 Advanced Authorization for Overtime forms are required whenever an employee works overtime. Once the reported hours from punches are verified and approved, the Advance Authorization for Overtime should be sent to HR for scanning into the employee's payroll record. TRAM currently does not allow the attachment of documents to the absence request and electronic timesheet.
4.6.4 TRAM Administrators must run the payroll trial and final verification reports before payroll confirms. The trial reports should be checked and verified against the electronic time reported for non-exempt employees and the absence requests for exempt and non-exempt employees.
4.6.5 Corrections to hours for pay or approved absence requests must be processed in Payable Time before payroll confirms.
4.6.6 TRAM Administrators who consistently fail to complete their required payroll tasks on a timely basis may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.
5. REVIEW PROCESS
Responsible Party (Reviewer): Vice President for Human Resources
Review: Every three years on or before April 1st.
Signed original on file in Human Resources.
6. POLICY HISTORY
Issue #1: 09/15/03
Issue #2: 05/01/06
Issue #3: 04/05/11
Issue #4: 07/09/15
Issue #5: 08/20/18
REFERENCES
SAM 02.F.03, Employee Time Reporting