Emergency Payroll Checks

Directive Statement

This directive establishes the proper methods of requesting an emergency payroll check.

Reason for Directive

To ensure emergency check requirements are met and that emergency check requests are sent to Payroll Services by the stated deadline.

Who must comply?

All university departments.

Deadlines for Emergency (Off-Cycle) Requests

By the end of business on Tuesday of pay day week for a direct deposit on payday (Friday).

By noon on Monday following payday, for a direct deposit to be available Thursday after payday.

Procedures

NOTE: Supervisors must be diligent in approving time and be sure that a backup approver is available if the supervisor is unable to approve the time.  This is critical so that a financial hardship is not created for the employee.

Emergency Check Request Requirements

1. There must be a distribution on all employee records for which an emergency check has been requested
2. The employee was paid less than 80% of their regular wages (based on FTE)
   • If a non-exempt employee did not enter their time worked by the Time & Labor deadline, an emergency check will not be approved, regardless of the percentage of the underpayment
   • Time worked was not approved by the supervisor AND the employee is paid less than 80% of their regular wages
3. “Additional Pay” only qualifies for an emergency check for fellowships or other payments where the additional pay is the employee’s only source of income from the University
4. Please notate any extenuating circumstances Payroll Services should be aware of on the emergency check form. The below reasons are some examples that are options on the form and should be selected if applicable:
   • Late/New hires*
     • If the late/new hire is missing less than 20% of their FTE, this will not qualify for an emergency check.
     • If the employee has been paid for two or more pay periods and is missing time between their hire effective date and their first paycheck received, the missing time will not meet the criteria for an emergency check due to it being available to pull into a biweekly paycheck. 
   • Cancelled check needed to prevent significant overpayment

Prior to Completing a Check Request

1. Request must be received by the stated deadline
   • Please verify the submission deadline dates on the Bi-Weekly Payroll Schedules e-mailed to the UF Time and Labor Listserv
   • Note: Deadlines are likely to change during accelerated payroll periods
2. Payroll Services will process emergency check requests received by the end of day Tuesday deadline during the week of payday week, for a direct deposit on the payday Friday.  Emergency checks requests received by the Monday noon deadline during closing week, will be processed for a direct deposit on Thursday of the same week.
3. Cancellation of the regular payroll check and replacement with an emergency check can impact the employee’s benefits, since limited deductions are taken from these checks.  Therefore, there is the potential for a missing payment on health insurance or other issues.  Please instruct the employee to contact Human Resources Benefits to verify that all coverage is up to date with payment.  Employee’s timesheet should not be touched if the original check is cancelled
4. The emergency check is issued in place of the normal bi-weekly direct deposit payment

Submit Emergency Check Request

Please remember to enter and approve the employee’s time in myUFL before requesting an emergency check.

Disbursement of Emergency Checks

1. All emergency checks are direct deposit, with the exception of beneficiary payments. Beneficiary payments are mailed.

Last Reviewed

Last reviewed on 03/20/2024

Resources

Payroll Schedules

Toolkits

UF HR – Toolkits: Time and Labor

Contacts

Payroll Services: (352) 392-1231

Recruitment & Staffing: (352) 392-2477

Academic Personnel: (352) 392-2477

UF Benefits: (352) 392-2477

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