Time Records

SMU’s Employee Time Records Policy 4.12 specifies that “time records must be accurate and reflect time actually worked.” The following guidelines are established to ensure compliance with this University policy.

Time Records for Non-Exempt Employees 

Time records must be accurate and reflect time worked or time in attendance of University activities approved by a manager.

All non-exempt (hourly-paid) employees are expected to utilize TIMEaccess to electronically capture and submit their time to Payroll. Timesheet records in my.SMU capture the “punch” information and log all edits, additions, and deletions made to the record as well as who made the entries. The time reported for each day on the timesheet should reflect actual time worked, not what the employee was scheduled to work. Employees can use both the physical time clocks in various locations around campus and/or use the feature in my.SMU to record their IN and OUT punches. The Webclock function is systematically activated when their non-exempt job record is established. There is no need to request this feature and it cannot be removed by request either.

Special note re: students with multiple jobs: Webclock can be used for all active job records, so if a student worker has two jobs on campus, he/she must intentionally select the correct job (based on home base org) for which the punch is being recorded.

Employees who cannot use the time clocks or Web clock to record their punch times will be instructed by their department on what alternate mechanism (time card, log, spreadsheet) they are to use for recording their hours worked. The TIMEaccess Approver for the employees' department will transfer that information into TIMEaccess for approval and submission to Payroll.

CAUTION: The risk of keeping payroll records outside of my.SMU is there is no opportunity for the Payroll Office staff to follow-up with Approvers to address pending records. In addition, during emergencies that interrupt business operations (such as inclement weather), employees may not be paid correctly or on time if their hours worked are not reflected in my.SMU.

The employee’s manager (or the designated Approver) is required to confirm the accuracy of the timesheet and approve the TIMEaccess hours before they will be processed by Payroll for payment to the employee.

SMU Rounding of Hours

Click here for an explanation of SMU's rounding of hours.

Overtime Pay for Non-Exempt Employees

The SMU workweek begins on Saturday at 12:00 AM and ends at Friday at 11:59 PM. SMU pays overtime pay to non-exempt employees for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours per workweek. For overtime purposes, “hours worked” includes SMU paid holiday hours. Other types of paid leave (vacation, sick, etc.) are not considered hours worked and, therefore, are not included in the calculation of overtime hours.

Advance notice should be given to employees who are needed to work overtime whenever possible. No overtime should be worked unless specifically requested and approved by the department’s manager. However, if overtime is worked, it must be paid – even if it was not pre-approved.

Time Records for Exempt Employees 

Monthly (exempt) employees are paid a salary each month. Monthly staff and Post Doctoral employees and report their time off (paid or unpaid) in accordance with university policies. Monthly employees report their time off (or confirm that no time was taken) each month via their TIMEaccess timesheets in my.SMU.edu. Employees must report the actual leave taken during the month, and the employees’ managers (or the managers' delegates) must approve the time reporting in TIMEaccess. The time off for each month is reported by the end of each month, and processed with the following month’s payroll (after approval).

Deadlines for Reporting Time 

Refer to the current year’s Payroll Processing Schedule to determine the deadlines for biweekly pay papers and time records, as well as monthly pay papers and TIMEaccess reporting.