Options for Receiving Missed Pay
If you believe there is an error in your pay, contact your HR representative to report the issue right away. The sooner you report an issue the more quickly it can be resolved. Central Human Resources and Payroll teams work with each employee on a case-by-case basis to determine an appropriate method for issuing missed pay.
Refer to Replace a Paper Paycheck if you need to replace a lost, damaged or stale dated paper check rather than missing pay.
UCSF uses the following options to issue payment for pay missing from your regularly scheduled pay cycle.
On-Cycle Payment
This option pays hours and/or earnings due to an employee on the employee’s next regularly-scheduled biweekly or monthly pay cycle. On-cycle payroll processing schedules and submission deadlines are set by the UCPath Center for all University of California locations.
When is missed pay paid on-cycle?
Payments will be scheduled on-cycle in situations where employees are missing small dollar or hour amounts and can wait until their next available pay cycle. Employees will also receive on-cycle payments in these situations.
- Refunds for local deductions, taxes, retirement
- Retroactive pay owed to an employee due to:
- Promotion or reclassification
- Mass wage increase
Off-Cycle Payments
This option is used to pay hours and/or earnings due to an employee that were not paid through the employee's regularly-scheduled biweekly or monthly pay cycle Similar to on-cycle payments, off-cycle payments will have all of the normal deductions for health, tax, retirement, and voluntary deductions taken, and an earning statement will be provided through UCPath online.
How are off-cycle payments made to employees?
Off-cycle checks are distributed using the same pay method you receive for your primary earnings paid on your regularly-scheduled biweekly or monthly paydays.
- Direct Deposit
- Paper paycheck, mailed using the US Postal Service
- Personalized Pay Card
How long does it take to receive an off-cycle payment?
- Issuing off-cycle payments requires coordination between UCSF and the UCPath Center (UCPC). HR requests for rush off-cycle payments submitted to the Payroll Office by 1 p.m. will be submitted by Payroll to UCPC by 2 p.m. the same day.
- The UCPath Center does not process off-cycle payments on days when other payroll processing activities occur (e.g., the pay confirm date for each pay cycle and the day prior to pay confirm when pay is being calculated). The current UCPath Center service target for off-cycle processing is 5 days from the day following the location’s request to the issue date.
- Depending on the pay method, additional time is required for the payment to be disbursed from the bank and to reach the employee:
- Direct Deposit: allow 1-3 days for your bank to credit your account;
- Paper Paycheck: mailed to your home address on the date issued and may be subject to mailing delays;
- Personalized Pay Card: loaded the day the payment is issued.
- Example:
A missed housing allowance payment that should have been issued to employee Karl Fog on March 1 is reported by Karl to The Bridge Center.
March 9
UCSF confirms the details of missed pay and submits the payroll request by 2 p.m. to UCPC.March 10
UCPC processes the off-cycle payment request with a next day issue date and transmits the bank file.March 11
The bank receives the bank file on the payment issue date.March 11 - 13
As Karl receives his regular pay via Direct Deposit, payment will be deposited into his account. It can take up to three days to deposit the funds into Karl's bank account.
What is not paid off-cycle?
Certain payments are always made on an employee's regularly-scheduled biweekly or monthly pay schedule.
- Retro pay for the difference in earnings owed to an employee for a prior pay period due to a reclassification, promotion, or correction in rate
- Refunds for tax, benefits, retirement, and other deduction corrections
Expedited Pay through Pay Card
This option is available when an employee did not receive full payment on their regularly-scheduled pay cycle. Pay Cards are issued within a day. Similar to on-cycle payments, off-cycle payments paid by Pay Card will have all of the normal deductions for health, tax, retirement, and voluntary deductions taken, and an earning statement will be provided through UCPath online.
What is the UCPath Pay Card and how does it work?
The UCPath Pay Card is a Visa prepaid debit card. It is not a credit card.
- Upon signing up, payment outside of your regular pay cycle will be provided to you through a pay card.
- You can initiate transactions using your secret PIN code, signature or through bill pay.
- Like a typical debit card, the purchase amount is deducted from the amount of money available. Balance information is available through a mobile device app or website.
- Need more information about the pay card option? Review Frequently Asked Questions.
Who may receive a UCPath Pay Card for expedited pay?
At this time the following employees may select the option to be issued a pay card:
- Non-represented policy covered staff
- Academic Student Employees (BX)
- Clerical & Allied Services (CX)
- Registered Nurses (NX)
- Postdoctoral Scholars (PX)
- Medical Residents (M2)
Issuing a pay card requires that the recipient has a Social Security number.
Why choose the UCPath Pay Card?
- Provides a faster way to receive pay when full payment has not been received on scheduled pay cycle.
- Rather than receiving a check through the USPS mail or a direct deposit to your account, your location will provide your pay through a pay card.
- Use of a Pay Card for missed pay will not affect how you receive your regularly-scheduled pay.
How do you sign up to be paid through Pay Card?
- Review the Cardholder Agreement, Fee Schedule, and Privacy Policy documents.
- Review the Form Instructions, and then complete and sign the Pay Card Consent Form.
- Submit the signed consent form to your HR or Payroll administrator.
Expedited Pay by Accounts Payable Check
This option is available only in situations of extreme financial hardship.
What is an Accounts Payable (AP) check and how does it work?
An AP check is issued locally through UCSF's Accounts Payable Office when requested by the Payroll Office. The payment does not go through a payroll gross-to-net calculation. Therefore, the payment amount available to the employee is conservatively estimated to leave room for deductions and taxes that will need to be taken from the payment. This payment is a form of emergency loan and will be collected when the payment is made through the UCPath payroll system.
- An estimated portion of the expected gross - between 50% and 70% - is available based on the deductions and taxes typically taken from your paycheck.
- Applicable tax withholding and deductions will be processed when this payment has been recorded in UCPath. This means that deductions associated with entities such as the employee’s health provider and retirement will not be updated until the pay can be recorded in UCPath.
- No earnings statement is available for the AP check payment.
- AP checks are available for pick up in person at UCSF's Mission Center Building, 1855 Folsom Street, in San Francisco.
- You must sign and return a consent form to your HR or Payroll administrator.
- In conjunction with issuing an AP check, an off-cycle request is submitted to the UCPath Center. When the off-cycle request is processed, the amount paid by AP check is deducted from the payment using the deduction code "Emergency Loan", and any remaining amount due is issued to the employee.
- After the off-cycle payment, deductions will be updated and employees can view their earning statement in UCPath Online.
- In the event of overpayment, the employee agrees to repay the overpaid amount or to have it deducted from their next available paycheck.
What is the process to receive an Accounts Payable check?
- Review the other options for receiving missed pay listed above.
- If you believe you meet the requirements, submit the signed consent form to your HR or Payroll administrator.