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 

All non-exempt employees are expected to utilize TIMEaccess to electronically capture and submit their time to Payroll. Employees who cannot use the time clocks or Web clock to record their punch times will be instructed by their department on what 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. 

Time records must be accurate and reflect time worked or time for attending University activities approved by a manager. TIMEaccess records 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 is to reflect actual time worked, not what the employee was scheduled to work.

The employee’s manager (or the designated Approver) is required to approve the TIMEaccess hours before they will be processed by Payroll.

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 preapproved.

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.