Offcycle Paycheck Requests

Specific circumstances call for an interim or “off-cycle” payment to be issued before the next scheduled pay date. The off-cycle payment provision is not, however, to be used as an alternative to submitting payroll information in a timely manner.

Criteria  

An off-cycle payment will be processed for one of the following circumstances:

• The employee received no money at all on the regular pay day
• The employee is missing more than $50.00 from a biweekly check
• The employee is missing more than $250.00 from a monthly check
• The employee's job is being involuntarily terminated

Exclusion

Pay for extra compensation (that is in addition to the employee's base pay) is not eligible to be processed on an off-cycle payment - regardless of the amount. A request for exception to this exclusion (with explanation) must be sent by the school/area's financial business manager to the main Payroll mailbox.

Required Paperwork

An off-cycle payment request will be considered for payment only after the following documentation has been submitted to the Payroll Office:

• Job documentation - Hire/Rehire form (in my.SMU)
• TIMEaccess record or other appropriate substantiation of payment needed
• Off-cycle Check Request Form

Requests

A request for an off-cycle payment that meets the criteria and is submitted with all appropriate documentation to the Payroll Office by 10:00 AM of an off-cycle processing day will be included with that day's off-cycle payroll.

Processing Days

The off-cycle payrolls are scheduled to be processed twice a week, on Monday and Thursday. Note: An individual off-cycle payroll may be temporarily moved to another day of the week to accommodate an SMU holiday or irregular scheduled payroll processing. If an off-cycle payroll is going to be delayed, the person(s) who submitted a request will be notified of the modified payment date.

Distribution

The employee and/or requesting department will be notified when the off-cycle payment has been processed. The off-cycle payroll transaction will be disbursed via the employee's usual form of payment (direct deposit or negotiable check). The deposit of funds will be available in the employee's account(s) within one to two bank days of processing. If the employee does not have direct deposit information on file, the negotiable check will be mailed to the employee once he/she confirms the correct mailing address. In-person pickup from the Payroll Office is not allowed during this period of "social distancing."

* NOTE * As of April 2020, direct deposit is the default method of distribution!

Procedure to Request an Off-cycle Payment

1. Determine that the payment meets one of the criteria listed above.
2. Complete and submit the Off-Cycle Check Request Form. 
3. Ensure that Payroll has all necessary pay documents (Hire/Rehire form, TIMEaccess record) to process the payment.