The University of Texas at Arlington

General Information:

The Fair Labor Standards Act requires that all nonexempt employees prepare time cards. The employing department may require exempt employees to prepare a time card.

1. Monthly nonexempt employees are paid based on their appointment. However, the monthly nonexempt employee shall complete a time card that supports the salary paid on the appointment for each monthly pay period. If an employee fails to work and/or report hours absent with pay for the total appointed work period each month, the department must adjust the employee's appointment via an Electronic Document to reflect the Leave of Absence without pay.

   Note: If a department must adjust repeatedly an employee's appointment for Leave of Absence without pay, Payroll Services recommends that the department appoint the employee on an hourly appointment.

   Payroll Services each month mails to the departments a pre-printed time card for each nonexempt monthly employee. The employing department shall retain the completed time card three years after the fiscal year end per the Record Retention Schedule.

   All overtime earned by monthly paid employees is paid on the semi-monthly payroll that pays on the fifth working day following the end of the month in which the overtime was earned.

2. Semi-monthly nonexempt employees are paid based on the hours recorded on the time card and then reported on the Departmental Payroll Voucher. Payroll Services mails to the departments a generic time card that can be copied for each hourly employee.

   The employing department completes a Departmental Payroll Voucher, paper or electronic, to transmit to Payroll Services the hours to be paid to each hourly employee. The time card is attached to a copy of the Departmental Payroll Voucher and retained in the department. If the department enters the Payroll Vouchers electronically, the department records the OV1 document ID number on the time card or attach a screen print of the OV1 to the time card. The employing department shall retain the time card by pay period for three years after the fiscal year end per the Record Retention Schedule.

   All overtime earned by hourly employees is paid on the semi-monthly payroll that pays on the fifth working day following the end of the month in which the overtime was earned.

Preparation of Time Cards:

1. The time card must be completed in ink and signed by the employee and the supervisor.

2. Corrections must be initialed by the supervisor.

3. Each employee must record the ACTUAL time of arrival and departure on his/her time card.

4. It is the responsibility of the department head to determine the method of calculating the time worked and applying this method consistently within the department. Time worked may be calculated by rounding to the nearest quarter hour or by using actual time.

5. Each department may use the time cards issued by Payroll Services, Exhibit 1-5A, Monthly Employee Time Record, Exhibit 1-5B, Hourly Employee Time Record, or develop their own time card. Departments may reference codes for the time records in Exhibit 1-5C, Time Record Codes. Each time card must include, at a minimum, the following:

   • EMPLOYEE NAME - Name is to correspond with the employee's Master Record in *Define.

   • UT EID - Always verify that the UT EID is correct.

   • DEPT - The department account number from which the employee is to be paid.

   • TITLE CODE - Payroll title code as indicated on appointment on AL1 screen in *Define.

   • RATE - The hourly rate of pay, if an hourly employee.

   • PERIOD ENDING - The ending date of the pay period.

   • EMPLOYEE TITLE - Appropriate title that corresponds to the title code.

   • PERCENT OF TIME - Total percent of time an employee is appointed.

   • IN/OUT - The actual time of arrival on the job, lunch in and out, and the actual time of departure.

   • DAILY TOTALS - Total amount of time reported each day.

6. PAY PERIOD TOTALS

   1. HOURS WORKED - Number of regular hours actually worked during the pay period. The regular hours reported shall not exceed the percent of time on the appointment. For example: If the employee is appointed at 50% time, the regular hours reported will not exceed 20 hours in any one week. Hours exceeding 20 hours and up to 40 hours in one week will be reported as Straight Time Earned and will be paid on an overtime document.

      Work study students will not be appointed over 19 hours and may not receive overtime in any circumstances.

      Note: The time card in all cases shall reflect the actual time of arrival and departure. The department must calculate hours based on exact time of arrival and departure.

   2. HOURS ABSENT WITH PAY - Report number of hours for approved absences including holidays, vacation, sick leave, or FLSA comp time taken.

   3. OVERTIME HOURS EARNED - For eligible employees who have worked more than 40 hours in a given week, enter the actual number of overtime hours earned.

      • If an employee works 40 hours during a week with an 8 hour holiday, the extra time is considered straight time, not overtime.

      • If the end of the pay period falls in the middle of the week, overtime is not earned unless the hours worked in that partial week exceed 40 hours. The next pay period, the department must review the hours worked in that previous partial week to determine if the employee has earned overtime during that complete forty hour work week that has been separated on two time cards.

   4. STRAIGHT TIME EARNED - Number of straight time additional hours to be paid.

   5. COMP OVERTIME HOURS EARNED - For employees who are accruing comp time instead of being paid for overtime earned, enter the actual number of comp hours earned.

   6. COMP STRAIGHT HOURS EARNED - Number of straight time comp hours earned.

   7. TOTAL HOURS REPORTED - Total hours reported in the pay period.

   8. EMPLOYEE SIGNATURE - The employee must sign the time card in order to receive a check on the day of distribution. THE EMPLOYEE SHOULD ALWAYS BE CERTAIN THAT ALL OF THE INFORMATION ON THE TIME CARD IS CORRECT BEFORE SIGNING. IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE EMPLOYEE TO CHECK FOR ERRORS THAT MAY CAUSE THE EMPLOYEE TO BE PAID INCORRECTLY.

   9. SUPERVISOR SIGNATURE - By signing the time card, the authorized supervisor verifies that the time reported is accurate. All errors on the time card (white-out, cross-out, etc.) must be initialed by the supervisor.

   10. All hours in the work week, both worked and absent, must be shown with the appropriate code:

       Hours Worked

       Code	Description
       R	REGULAR HOURS - SHOULD NOT EXCEED APPOINTEDHOURS
       CS	COMPENSATORY TIME AT STRAIGHT TIME - EARNED
       CO	COMPENSATORY TIME AT OVERTIME RATE - EARNED
       OT	OVERTIME - PAID
       ST	STRAIGHT TIME - PAID

       Hours Absent

       Code	Description
       V	VACATION - PAID
       H	HOLIDAY - PAID
       S	SICKNESS - PAID
       J	JURY DUTY - PAID
       L	LEAVE OF ABSENCE - PAID
       O	OTHER ABSENCE (APPROVED IN ADVANCE) - PAID
       F	FUNERAL LEAVE
       A	ACCIDENT BENEFIT (UNDER WCI)
       SP	SICK POOL HOURS- PAID
       SN	SICKNESS - NOT PAID
       ON	OTHER ABSENCE - NOT PAID
       MT	MILITARY TRAINING
       LW	LEAVE OF ABSENCE - NOT PAID
       SC	STRAIGHT TIME COMPENSATORY TIME - USED
       OC	OVERTIME COMPENSATORY TIME - USED

       Questions concerning time cards or paychecks may be directed to the employing department or to Payroll Services, ext. 2-5426.

Each exempt employee who does not complete a time card shall complete a monthly Absence Report. The department may design an Absence Report but it shall contain at a minimum, the following information:

1. Department
2. Employee's name
3. Employe's UT EID
4. Month/Year of Report
5. Date of Absence
6. Hours of Absence
7. Reason for Absence
8. Type of allocation (sick leave, vacation, etc.)
9. Employee signature and date
10. Supervisor's signature and date
    
    

The department shall use the monthly Absence Report to enter information on a monthly basis in the Employee Time Module in *Define.

The Absence Report shall be retained in the department for three years.

The employing department may require nonexempt employees and exempt employees who complete a time card to complete a monthly Absence Report in addition to a time card.