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From: HR/Payroll Department Contacts [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Janet Walker Sent: Friday, July 29, 2011 6:24 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Instant HR/Payroll: Overtime Election, MBPs Coming Later This Summer, an Update on the Timesheet Override Process, and an E-Verify Update for International Employees Sometimes HR & Payroll has a lot of technical information to communicate; this is one of those times. Please review and call us with any questions you may have. Non-Exempt Employees Can Choose Leave or Pay for Their Overtime Hours It's time for non-exempt employees (i.e. overtime eligible for all hours over 40 worked in a week) to initiate or change their election regarding how their overtime is to be handled by the Payroll Department. All non-exempt employees have the option of being paid for their overtime (which is the default) or to accumulate their overtime as leave. If a non-exempt employee has made an election in the past and does not want to change their election, they do not have to do anything. If they want to continue to receive pay for any overtime earned, they also do not have to complete a form. However, if the non-exempt employee would like to change their election from receiving pay to receiving leave or receiving leave to receiving pay, please ask him or her to complete an Overtime Leave Agreement Form <http://hr.gmu.edu/forms/OvertimeLeaveEmployeeAgreement.doc> and submit it to the Payroll Department no later than Friday, September 2. Unfortunately this deadline is firm and we cannot accept forms after that date. Please remember that an election commits him or her to their choice for one year until the next open enrollment period. This means that if the non-exempt employee elects leave accumulation he or she will receive leave and not pay for any overtime worked during the next academic year. Please contact Catalina Wheat at 3.2751 if you have any questions. VRS Online Member Benefit Profiles (MBP) Available Later This Summer Just a heads up that the 2011 online Member Benefit Profiles (MBPs) will be available in August through <https://www.varetire.org/myVRS/> myVRS. The MBP is the Virginia Retirement System's (VRS) annual benefit statement. Once we hear from VRS that the MBPs are available online, we will send out a targeted email to all VRS participants. Timesheet Overrides: An Update As we mentioned in the June 17th Instant HR/Payroll, we will be implementing a timesheet override post-processing review process. We had originally said that the bi-weekly phase would roll out in July. Instead it will roll out in August As a reminder, we are going to send an email to timesheet approvers with the names of employees whose timesheets had to be overridden. We're doing this to ensure 1) employees are paid on time and not penalized for timesheets that aren't approved; 2) we maintain appropriate controls for auditing and best practice purposes. If Payroll overrides an unapproved timesheet, an email will be generated to the timesheet approver, notifying them of the override. The approver will need to review the overridden timesheet(s) and acknowledge, via a return email, as to the accuracy of what was submitted by their employee(s). This new process will be rolled out in 2 phases: * Phase 1 will address all bi-weekly employees including wage and student wage and will roll out in August. * Phase 2 will address semi-monthly employees and will be implemented later in the year. If you have any questions about the post-processing review, please call Brian Young at 3.2629. E-Verify for International Employees (Including Student Employees) Beginning June 1st, Mason has been an E-Verify employer. During the implementation of E-Verify, the international I-9, E-Verify, and tax procedures have changed. Two flyers for use by international employees have been developed by Fiscal Services after consulting with the Office of International Programs & Services (OIPS), the Registrar, HR & Payroll and others. These flyers provide a step-by-step overview of the new process. One is for students <http://hr.gmu.edu/welcome/documents/NewInternationalStudentEmployeesHandout _URL07252011-1final.pdf> and the other for faculty and staff <http://hr.gmu.edu/welcome/documents/New_International_Faculty_Staff_Employe es_Handout_URL07252011-1final.pdf> . These links are also available on the NEW Center website <http://hr.gmu.edu/welcome/> . All international employees are asked to come to the NEW Center on or before their first day. There they will: * complete the I-9 paperwork * E-Verify will be started * tax paperwork preparation will be done by Fiscal Services' international specialists. All other paperwork for student and part-time, non-salaried faculty and staff (e.g. adjunct faculty and non-student wage employees) will continue to be completed at the unit or department. If you have any questions, please contact Michelle Lim at 3.3665 or by email at [log in to unmask] E-Verify Resources Just so you have it handy, below please find E-Verify information from previous Instant HR/Payrolls. From the June 24th Instant HR/Payroll E-Verify Update The world of E-Verify is a bit of a moving target. We thank you for your continued support and patience as we work toward resolving the procedural and processing changes that have been impacted by the Commonwealth's accelerated E-Verify requirement. Because there are some HR liaisons who are handling E-Verify in their departments and some who are having E-Verify handled centrally by HR & Payroll, we have broken out the communication below into two categories. 1. E-Verify Clarification for All HR Liaisons * We've encountered a bump in the new hire process with employees whose I-9 and E-Verify have to be completed on or before their first day of work AND they have not yet been entered into Banner. In these cases, there are two ways to handle it. * The preferred way is for the department to enter an EPAF assignment for new employees before sending them to the NEW Center. * If this is not possible, please have the new employee bring his/her offer letter or contract with them when they come to the NEW Center. This step is very important because without the offer letter or contract, we can't process them in I-9 and E-Verify. It slows down the new hire process and may make it necessary for the employee to have to make another trip to HR & Payroll. * Your assistance is most appreciated and will help ensure all new hires have a smooth onboarding at Mason. * When submitting an EPAF, the I-9 Form Indicator, I-9 Date, and I-9 Expiration Date are no longer required fields. You should be able to submit the EPAF without the I-9. 2. E-Verify Changes for E-Verify Users Only We have learned of some recent E-Verify changes and wanted to pass them along to you. Going forward we will continue to monitor E-Verify and keep you apprised. * Effective June 13th, E-Verify updated their system and changed their processing of List B & List C documents. Upon login you may have been required to complete a new (very brief) tutorial and a brief test. * Another change has occurred with the "Hiring Date" that is entered into E-Verify. You can now enter future hire dates. There are two things that must be done prior to entering an employee's information into E-Verify with a future hire date: 1. The employee must have accepted the job offer; 2. An I-9 must be completed. * You may have received an e-mail from E-Verify stating that they will be in contact with you. All information in E-Verify is up-to-date and they should only ask company profile questions, which you can find in E-Verify. If there is something that you do not know, please direct those phone calls to Michelle Lim. For help with Mason's E-Verify process, please contact Michelle Lim at [log in to unmask] or 3.3665. Please direct technical or system questions to the E-Verify Technical Support at 800-741-5023. From the June 17th Instant HR/Payroll E-Verify Frequently Asked Questions We want to thank all of you for taking the E-Verify journey with us. As we all adapt to this new state process requirement, a few questions have come to us which we'd like to address. Going forward, if you have additional questions, please forward them to Michelle Lim at [log in to unmask] and we'll update this FAQ. 1. How should international student wage employees be handled? For the short-term, international student wage employees should continue to go to OIPS to complete the I-9 and E-Verify. Beginning in early July (we'll keep you posted on the specific date), all international employees will complete I-9, E-Verify, and tax paperwork at University Hall. 2) 2. What are the NEW Center's extended hours for I-9 and E-Verify? The NEW Center's schedule through mid-September is below. * From now until Friday, July 8, the NEW Center will be open during its customary hours of Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 10:00 am. * From Monday, July 11 through Friday, September 16, it will be open Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 12:00 noon except .... * From August 22-26, the NEW Center will be open Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm. 3. What should I do with I-9s going forward? * Any I-9s you already have on file should be kept in the department. All original I-9s should have been sent to HR & Payroll at MSN 3C3. * Departments completing I-9 and E-Verify for your new employees should keep a copy of the appropriate documentation as specified during the one-on-one training session with Michelle Lim. * If you are not completing I-9 and E-Verify for your new employees, you do not need to continue to keep I-9s on file for employees hired on or after June 1, 2011. HR will not be sending copies to the departments. 4. You know, we think it might be easier on our faculty, staff, and student employees to do I-9 and E-Verify within the department. What's our next step? First, let us extend to you a great big Mason Thank You! Actually I-9 and E-Verify, while time sensitive, aren't that time consuming. Most people can be through the entire process in a few minutes. We understand that there are departments for whom this might not be possible. But if you'd prefer to keep this process within your department, please give Michelle Lim a call at 3.3665. The E-Verify system is easy to use and we'd be happy to provide one-on-one training.