Payroll

  • UCPath is the University of California's human resources, academic personnel, benefits, and payroll system for all UC employees systemwide. UCPath assists the Payroll Office in ensuring that all UCSF employees are paid in a timely and accurate manner that complies with State, Federal and University of California procedures and regulations, and that all payroll and benefit expenses are properly recorded in the University’s accounting systems. UCPath was implemented on June 1, 2020, and replaced UCSF's legacy Online Personnel and Payroll System (OLPPS).
  • An expense transfer is commonly used to correct the recording of a cost from an incorrect to a correct chartstring. There are separate processes for payroll expense transfers and non-payroll expense transfers. In conjunction with the transition to UCPath, UCSF's payroll expense transfer processes have changed.
  • UCSF employees use Huntington Business Systems (HBS) to submit hours and request leave. This guide provides a visual overview of the basic features for all employees, and how to quickly submit timesheets that do not need to be changed in any way.
  • UCSF uses The Work Number to provide employment and income verifications for employees. The Work Number is a secure, automated service providing employees with the ability to quickly deliver proof of employment or income to authorized verifiers. The Work Number is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
  • UCSF Employer Contribution Rates for Employee Benefits Appearing in the Distribution of Payroll Expense Report
  • Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement #47 requires two classification types of termination benefits – voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary termination benefits include inducements to hasten separation from employment or as a result of voluntary termination. Involuntary termination benefits include benefits provided as a direct result of an involuntary termination. These guidelines provide information to help departments assign Description of Service (DOS) codes to voluntary and involuntary termination benefits paid to employees through the Payroll/Personnel System (PPS). The Guidelines apply to termination payments made to employees in all personnel groups, including SMG, MSP, and PSS.
  • Take action UCSF employees use UCPath online to view and make changes to tax withholding allowances, health and welfare benefits, and personal and contact information. You can also view and print your earnings statements and Form W-2s for earnings issued on or after June 1, 2020. At Your Service Online (AYSO) continues to be available to view/print historical (prior to UCPath implementation) paycheck information and W-2 forms.
  • Article Contents E-Verify Background and Implementation Responsibilities of the Federal Contractor Employing F-1 Students on Optical Practical Training Where to Learn More E-Verify Background and Implementation
  • If you lost your paper paycheck, have a damaged paycheck, or have a paycheck more than 180 days old, please contact the Controller’s Office Solution Center for assistance.  Review Options for Receiving Missed Pay if you did not receive your paycheck or were not paid in full.  To Request a Replacement Check Employees that have misplaced a check are asked to wait 2 business days to see if the original check can be found.
  • Paychecks for UCSF employees will be issued from UCPath beginning with the June 1, 2020 payday for monthly employees and the June 10, 2020 payday for biweekly employees. Electronic earnings statements for prior pay issued from UCSF's legacy payroll system continue to be available in At Your Service Online (AYSO). To access your earnings statement using UCPath online:
  • Each month, if a payroll transaction attempts to post to a chartstring that is not at a posting level, the transaction will route to the Payroll Suspense Account. These payroll transactions are commonly referred to as “in suspense”. To keep the General Ledger and Distribution of Payroll Expense (DPE) report in sync, departments must use a salary cost transfer to move salary and benefits in suspense to a valid posting chartstring. Departments are also responsible for working with their Funding Entry Initiator in a timely manner to correct future position funding distributions and prevent continued suspended payroll transactions.
  • UCSF employees use Huntington Business Systems (HBS) to submit hours and request leave. UCSF managers also use HBS to fully review and approve employee timesheets and leave requests. This guide provides an overview of steps to approve or deny timesheets and leave requests. For complete details on acting as an HBS manager, including delegation of approval authority, editing timesheets, and reviewing employee leave balances, refer to the HBS for Managers job aid
  • UCSF employees use Huntington Business Systems (HBS) to submit hours and request leave. Managers, in addition to entering their own time and leave requests, use HBS to review, edit, and approve timesheets and leave requests for their employees, review employee leave balances, and reset passwords. This job aid visually explains completion of these tasks in HBS.
  • This guide explains how to create sub-TSGs and assign the desired employees and approver to each sub-group.
  • This job aid visually explains the methods available to log into HBS.
  • This guide provides a visual overview of the basic features for all employees, and how to quickly submit timesheets that do not need to be changed in any way.
  • This document explains how biweekly paid employees can enter and edit time prior to submitting a timesheet.
  • This job aid details how to request and enter leave on both monthly and biweekly timesheets.
  • UCSF employees use Huntington Business Systems (HBS) to submit hours and request leave. If a timesheet submission deadline is missed, the un-submitted timesheet is retained along with all previously submitted timesheets in HBS History. Employees are paid regardless of approval status of their timesheet at the time the pay period closes. However, employees should still review and submit the timesheet. This job aid explains the process of accessing and submitting an HBS History timesheet for employees. Managers, see the HBS for Managers job aid for information on approving history timesheets once submitted by employees.
  • Huntington Business Systems (HBS) is used by UCSF employees to submit timesheets and leave requests. HBS helps you submit a correct timesheet by providing notifications, errors, and warnings during the submission process. A timesheet containing errors cannot be submitted. Warnings are guidelines, and do not prohibit timesheet submission. This quick reference guide explains the errors, warnings, and notifications in HBS and what to do when encountered.
  • UCSF managers use HBS to fully review and approve employee timesheets and leave requests. Download the Managers' Quick Start Guide for an overview of steps to approve or deny timesheets and leave requests. For complete details on acting as an HBS manager, including delegation of approval authority, editing timesheets, and reviewing employee leave balances, refer to the HBS for Managers job aid.
  • A foreign national is an individual who is not a citizen of the USA. For federal income tax purposes, foreign nationals are classified by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as either resident or nonresident aliens. Foreign nationals receiving payments from the University are required to have a GLACIER record. GLACIER is a secure online Nonresident Alien (NRA) tax compliance system that foreign individuals use to provide their immigrant and tax data to UCSF. GLACIER helps determine tax residency, withholding rates, and federal income tax treaty eligibility. GLACIER also manages NRA paperwork, maintains NRA data, and prepares tax forms and required statements.
  • A Salary Key is a single-use, six-digit code that you can provide to a verifier as consent to access your income information. In most cases, your consent is provided at the point of application for a service (for example, when you sign a loan application or similar agreement), and in these cases, a Salary Key is not required. A Salary Key is never required for verification of employment; it may be required for verification of income. If you are asked to provide a Salary Key, use the instructions in this job aid to log on to The Work Number® and generate a Salary Key to provide to your income verifier.
  • Answers to questions about W-2 forms.
  • The goal of this guide is to explain the biweekly payroll accrual process in greater detail, including how to identify biweekly payroll accrual transactions within financial reports.
  • Information for prospective and current postdocs, postdoc alumni, and faculty mentors is available on the Office for Postdoctoral Scholars website.  In the Controller's Office:
  • The Federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (P.L. 115-97) signed into law on December 22, 2017 changed the taxability of some non-cash awards and other gifts provided to employees. If an award or gift (or portion of an award or gift) is taxable, applicable income tax withholding and FICA taxes will be deducted from the employee’s paycheck.
  • UCSF uses the web-based application Tracker I-9 Complete for Form I-9 and E-Verify processes for UCSF employees. 
  • All new Form I-9 and I-9 changes must be entered into Tracker I-9 Complete.  You must complete Historical Section 3 in Tracker I-9 Complete when an employee:
  • Occasionally, a department may hire an employee who will be paid by the University yet will not physically work at the University.  Regardless of where employees perform their duties, everyone employed within the United States must complete a Form I-9.  The employee must also complete the University of California State Oath of Allegiance, Patent Policy, and Patent Acknowledgement Form (UPAY 585).
  • University of California employees are not legally entitled to receive more money than they earned for each pay period. When an employee has been overpaid, an overpayment recovery plan is established to provide a method by which the overpayment can be recovered.
  • Complete details on how to review and approve a timesheet with multiple appointments are included in this job aid.
  • Employees, including student employees, who occupy multiple appointments (i.e., have more than one job and/or supervisor) should follow the procedures outlined in this job aid to enter and edit time and to complete (submit) timesheets for approval.
  • UCSF Health departments are open on the Cesar Chavez Day holiday. For Medical Center hospitals and clinics, Personnel Policy for Staff Members (PPSM) and some collective bargaining agreements allocate a floating holiday in lieu of an administrative holiday for Cesar Chavez Day.
  • This job aid explains modifications made to HBS to comply with the arbitration agreement between the University of California (UC) and the California Nurses Association (CNA).
  • Earnings statements for earnings issued prior to UCSF's implementation of UCPath are available online via At Your Service Online (AYSO). Information on how to view, print earnings statements, and reset your AYSO password is available below. Online earnings statements on AYSO provide information for the pay period selected and year to date totals.
  • In UCPath, hourly-paid biweekly MSP Physicians are assigned an individual position number for each base and non-base pay rate on which they were paid in the legacy payroll system. This change will impact how hourly-paid MSP Physicians must record their time in HBS in order to receive correct payment. This job aid contains four important things to consider when completing a biweekly Staff Physician timesheet in HBS after UCPath goes live on June 1, 2020.
  • On-cycle Payment Off-cycle Payments Expedited Pay through Pay Card Expedited Pay by Accounts Payable Check
  • HBS pay codes are tailored to timesheet groups which are determined by your collective bargaining unit, campus or UCSF Health affiliation, FLSA status (non-exempt or exempt) and pay frequency (monthly or biweekly). For questions about the use of HBS pay codes for leave entitlements:
  • For Employees on a Monthly Timesheet
  • Beginning April 3, 2022, nurses covered by the California Nurses Association (CNA) who elect to receive compensatory time in lieu of overtime pay will see a change to when shift differential is paid. In coordination with HR Labor and Employee Relations and CNA, HBS has been modified to pay shift differentials at the time the compensatory time off (CTO) is earned. This change does not apply to comped holidays or comp floating holidays. This reference guide provides examples of how HBS records the shift differential for compensatory time off.
  • Eligible employees earn vacation leave on a biweekly or monthly basis. For employees paid biweekly, vacation pay is recorded in the same earnings period as the leave is taken. For employees paid monthly, vacation pay is recorded in arrears. To accomplish the proper recording of leave for monthly paid employees, the UCPath Prior Period Leave Redistribution program “looks back” to retrieve the funding in effect at the time the leave was taken. The program then charges the corresponding chartstring(s) for the leave and credits the “reg-like” pay chartstring(s).
  • Contents How Leave Accruals and Service Credit Are Calculated Monthly Accrual Process Biweekly Accrual Process UCPath vs HBS Leave Balances Understanding Vacation/PTO Maximum Caps Vacation Accrual Timing for Monthly Employees at Their Vacation Maximum Cap Vacation/PTO Maximum Grace Period Exceptions
  • Beginning January 1, 2023 Senate Bill 1334 (SB 1334) introduced new missed meal and missed break rules for employees providing direct patient care or supporting direct patient care in general acute care hospitals, clinics, or public health settings. This job aid explains the HBS Pay Codes used for missed meals and breaks, and how to enter them in HBS. 
  • This guide explains how timesheet approvers and managers can use HBS Manager Reports to monitor timesheet completion and approval within their assigned Timesheet Groups (TSG) and/or Management Groups (MG).
  • This course provides an overview of all standard functionality in UCPath. It is intended as a prerequisite for all new transactional users of the UCPath system, including funding entry and salary cost transfer users.
  • This introduction to the UCPath PeopleSoft Fluid User Interface (Fluid UI) provides a general navigation overview for all UCPath transactors and demonstrates the features you can use to navigate to the menus and pages most commonly used by those with UCPath initiator, approver, and inquiry roles at UCSF. Duration: 10 Minutes
  • This course provides an overview of the UCPath Help site. It explains how to access the site, as well as how to navigate and search the site to locate learning and support resources for the UCPath.
  • This course prepares Funding Entry Initiators to look up, enter, update, and submit funding distributions using UCPath. It also prepares Funding Entry Approvers to review and approve funding entry transactions.
  • This course introduces two key UCPath concepts: Positions and Funding Entry. It is intended for department managers, administrators, and anyone interested in learning more about key UCPath concepts.
  • This course prepares Salary Cost Transfer Initiators to look up, enter, and submit salary cost transfers using UCPath. It also prepares Salary Cost Transfer Approvers to review and approve salary cost transfer transactions.
  • Beginning October 2023, represented academic student employees (ASEs) and graduate student researchers (GSRs) use the HBS Timekeeping System to record and submit time and leave. In the Controller’s Office, the Payroll Office is the functional owner of HBS used by ASEs and GSRs to report and track hours, personal time off (PTO), sick leave, and other leave. Timekeeping procedures differ, depending on the employee's FLSA status. Consult the following training resources for step-by-step instructions.
  • All UCSF employees are strongly encouraged to set up electronic direct deposit to receive their payroll earnings by direct deposit to up to three bank accounts on payday. Employees will enjoy several advantages when using this preferred payment method:
  • Payroll Processing Schedule Payroll Schedule - Through 2023 Pay Cycle Pay Date Pay Period Begin Pay Period End Funding Entry Deadline (by 7pm) Pay Confirm Accounting Period Journal Posts to the GL Pay Period Available in MyReports Note MO Thursday, December 1, 2022 Tuesday, November 1, 2022
  • On November 13, the UCPath Center successfully completed the implementation of the redesigned Salary Cost Transfer process. Accessing Salary Cost Transfer Pages Moving forward, Salary Cost Transfer Initiators and Approvers can access the new salary cost transfer pages from the Direct Retro folder within General Ledger Administration. You may want to create new favorites for these pages for quick access if you haven’t already.
  • To safeguard employee data, UCPath now sends an email notification to employees whose direct deposit information has been updated. This verification email is legitimate and is part of UCPath’s enhanced security protocols. If you authorized this change, no further action is required. If you did not make this change, or if you're uncertain, it's important to contact UCPath right away to verify that your account is still accurate. Contact UCPath at (855) 982-7284, Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
  • Go paperless before January deadlines to receive tax documents electronically.
  • Plan ahead for early HBS timekeeping deadlines for the December 24 biweekly pay period.
  • Review details for the December annual paid time off payout for UCSF Health employees.
  • Here are four actions you can take now to confirm your information in UCPath is complete and accurate.
  • Plan ahead for early HBS timekeeping deadlines for the December 24 biweekly pay period.
  • UCPath’s new Salary Cost Transfer process is launching on November 13, 2023. Here’s how to prepare.
  • Review guidelines for recording childcare expense reimbursements for eligible postdoctoral scholars.
  • Learn about a new UCPath roadmap initiative project.
  • The next twice-yearly compensatory time payout (opens in new window) will occur at the end of October.
  • Review details for the upcoming December 2023 payout.
  • Read about a recently reported backlog of UCPath payroll adjustment transaction processing.
  • New funding with an effective date of 10/1/2023 may be required as a result of October 2023 faculty range adjustments.
  • Review how to prepare for the November 2023 go-live.
  • Actions to take now to prepare for UCPath’s redesigned salary cost transfer process, scheduled to go live on November 19, 2023.
  • Key UCPath dates to help Funding Entry and Salary Cost Transfer users plan for fiscal year-end
  • A UCPath upgrade to bring improved navigation for UCPath transactors will go live June 20, 2023, requiring a system outage and early processing deadlines.
  • On June 20, 2023, the HBS timekeeping system will display an employee’s full lived or preferred name when one is recorded in UCPath.
  • As part of the UC Gender Recognition and Lived Name Policy, UCPath is being upgraded on June 20, 2023, to display an employee’s Lived Name throughout the system.
  • On April 30, 2023, the University of California began using The Work Number, a third-party employment verification vendor, to verify employment and income for student employees. Student employees no longer need to contact the UCPath Center for employment verification. The UCPath Center notified student employees by email and provided instructions for opting out and managing data stored in The Work Number. Student employees may opt out (opens in new window) using UCPath online.
  • Review salary cost transfer dates and reminders to avoid delays during year-end processing
  • Plan to approve timesheets for the biweekly pay period ending May 27 ahead of the May 29 holiday
  • The fiscal year-end funding rollover program is scheduled to run at the end of June 2023. This process requires a "freeze" period during which Funding Entry Initiators and Approvers cannot enter, update, submit, or approve funding transactions in UCPath. Review important dates, deadlines, and actions below, as well as how to get help during this year’s rollover activities. About the Fiscal Year-End Funding Rollover Process
  • Update: a previous version of this announcement did not include the go-live date. The announcement was also updated to include a training video link. On April 17, 2023, UCPath will update the Ask UCPath support site with a new design that improves access to information for all employees submitting an inquiry to the UCPath Center. Users will experience a redesigned landing page with the following features:
  • In July 2019, UCSF implemented a policy to provide Health Sciences Compensation Plan (HSCP) faculty a 12-week childbearing and childrearing (CB/CR) leave benefit. To support CB/CR leaves the campus applies an assessment to HCOMP faculty salaries. Salary and benefit expenses incurred while on a CB/CR leave are charged to the faculty’s normal department funding and are reimbursed from the CB/CR assessment pool.
  • The UCPath Center announced a new go-live date of November 19, 2023, for the redesigned salary cost transfer (SCT) process. In December, the UCPath Center announced they were reevaluating the March 2023 go-live date for the SCT Redesign project and that the system integration phase of the project would be extended. With the additional time, the UCPath Center completed a focused analysis to understand inconsistencies in percent of effort calculations across UCPath pages and processes. These inconsistencies require manual reconciliation by users in order to tie Distribution of Payroll Expense (DPE) data to UCPath Funding Entry and Salary Cost Transfer pages.
  • In response to managers’ requests and to support ongoing efforts to ensure timely timesheet approval, HBS has recently enabled the following reports for all managers and timesheet approvers:
  • Update: the UCPath Center has postponed this implementation, originally scheduled for April 2023. This announcement has been updated to include the current implementation timeline, now planned for May 2023. After additional testing, the UCPath Center has also confirmed that there will be no change to the look and feel of earnings statements for non-exempt employees.
  • To ensure UCSF complies with applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations, as well as UC policy and labor agreements, managers and timesheet approvers must approve timesheets in a timely manner. Approving timesheets by established deadlines is necessary for UCSF to ensure that employees receive a correct paycheck for each pay period and the correct accruals for the month. Failure to approve timesheets by the established deadline for each pay period may result in your employee being over- or underpaid. Established timelines for timesheet submission and approval are as follows:
  • Effective January 1, 2023, Senate Bill 1334 changed the rules about mandated meal and rest periods for public employers, including the University of California. SB 1334 applies to non-exempt employees of the University who provide direct patient care or support direct patient care in a general acute care hospital, clinic, or public health setting. Covered employees are entitled to one unpaid 30-minute meal period on shifts over five hours, and a second meal period on shifts over 10 hours. Employees are also entitled to one paid 10-minute rest break per four hours worked.
  • UCSF is enhancing the HBS Timekeeping System to address invalid chartstring values, also known as FAU (Full Accounting Unit) values. Effective as of the biweekly pay period ending February 4, 2023, this enhancement prevents the transmission of invalid chartstrings from UCPath and removes existing invalid and expired chartstrings. HBS users can expect to see the following changes: Current Timesheets
  • In December, HBS was enhanced to apply new daily overtime rules for employees in the Clerical and Allied Services Unit. Employees covered under the Clerical and Allied Services Unit contract earn overtime when work hours exceed the hours of a full-time employee’s regular daily schedule on pay status or when hours exceed forty hours on pay status in a work week. The new daily overtime provision allows that an employee whose work hours exceed their regular scheduled shift of eight hours, or more, a day will earn overtime.
  • The Pay for Family Care and Bonding (PFCB) program introduced in July 2021 is expanding (opens in new window). In 2023, the income replacement offered by PFCB will increase from 70% to 100% of eligible earnings. The increase is effective Jan. 1, 2023, for employees paid on a monthly basis and December 25, 2022, for employees paid on a biweekly basis and is available for up to eight workweeks per calendar year.
  • UCPath begins processing 2022 W-2 statements in late January. Employees from all UC locations will receive one W-2 statement from UCPath. Please take the following steps by January 13, 2023, to ensure the information on your W-2 is complete and accurate.
  • The UCPath Center is reevaluating the recently announced March 18, 2023 go-live for the Salary Cost Transfer (SCT) Redesign project. The integration testing phase of the project uncovered systemic defects related to inconsistent dollar and effort percent results during GL processing. The UCPath Center is assessing options for remediation and working with campus Controllers to determine a new go-live date. More information will be shared as a new timeline is finalized.