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Payroll: Off-cycle Checks

Certain circumstances call for an interim or “off-cycle” check to be issued before the next scheduled pay date.  The off-cycle check provision is not to be used as an alternative to submitting payroll information timely.

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

1. The employee received no money at all on the regular pay day
2. The employee is missing more than $50.00 from a biweekly check
3. The employee is missing more than $250.00 from a monthly check
4. The employee is being involuntarily terminated

Exclusion:     Pay for extra compensation (in addition to base pay) is not eligible to be processed on an off-cycle check, regardless of the amount.

Required Paperwork  An off-cycle check request will be considered for payment only after the following documents have been received in Payroll:

• Job documentation (Payroll Authorization Form “PAF”)
• TIMEaccess record or other appropriate substantiation of payment needed
• Off-cycle Check Request form (submitted in the body of an email and copied to the FO)

Requests  A request for an off-cycle check that meets the criteria and is submitted with all appropriate documentation to the Payroll Department by 10:00AM 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 check issue date.

Distribution  An off-cycle paycheck will be available for pickup at the Payroll Department at 8:30AM on the day after it was processed (Tuesday or Friday). The employee and/or requesting department will be notified when the off-cycle check is ready to be picked up.

 * NOTE * Direct deposit is not available for off-cycle payments!

Procedure to Request an Off-cycle Check 

1.    Determine that the payment meets one of the criteria listed above.

2.    Complete the Off-Cycle Check Request Form (open as “Read-Only”).

3.    Submit the Off-cycle Check Request Form to Payroll (instructions are on the form).

4.    Ensure that Payroll has all necessary pay documents (PAF, TIMEaccess record) to process the payment.