Special Pay Circumstances

The 12-month period will begin on the first day of the first pay period of the fiscal year. The fiscal year begins July 1. New academic employees can begin their 9- or 10-over-12 plan the following payroll year.

If you are signing up for 9-over-12 for the first time, be sure to complete the 9-over-12 Memorandum of Agreement (.doc) before the first pay period of your normal term. The memorandum describes the 9-over-12 plan and the approvals you'll need to start the plan.

You only need to fill out a new memorandum once, the first year you begin the plan.

To stop the 9-over-12 process, complete the 9-over-12 Memorandum of Agreement (.doc) and check the "Stop" box.

Active Employees
If you have been mistakenly overpaid, your department will contact you. Your department will explain the circumstances of the error, discuss the repayment process, and get your consent to make deductions from your paycheck until the amount has been repaid. 

Terminated Employees
If you are a terminated employee, your department will contact you about the overpayment and send the overpayment information to Payroll Services. Payroll Services will contact you with the repayment amount due and answer any questions about the process and how it will be reflected on your pay statements and W-2. 

9-Over-12 Employees Leaving Before the End of Their Appointment
If you are on a 9- or 10-month appointment and elect to be paid over 12 months, you may see an overpayment if you terminate before the end of your appointment or take an unpaid leave of absence. You will be responsible for repaying the amount overpaid.
 

The pay reversal process will "back out" a payment made to you in error. It is used only when a payment is made that you should not have received. When you return the check or repay the net pay amount that was originally given to you in error, Payroll Services will "reverse" the original payment to reduce your year-to-date taxable gross and tax amounts as though the payment had never been made. 

Your pay will be adjusted if you have received a partial overpayment. You must repay the net overpayment amount by personal check. The adjustment process will first reverse the payment that was incorrectly made and then calculate the payment the way it should have been paid. The difference, or net amount owed, will show as "Adjustment Earnings" in the "Hours and Earnings" section of your adjustment pay statement. The statement will also show the net amount from the original payment as a "Net Pay Adjustment" under the "After-Tax Deductions" section of your statement. The pay adjustment process reduces your year-to-date taxable gross and tax amounts to what should have been paid.

For more details, see HRMS Business Process: Overpayment Collection (pdf). 

If you have been mistakenly overpaid, your department will contact you. Your department will explain the circumstances of the error, discuss the repayment process, and get your consent to make deductions from your paycheck until the amount has been repaid. 

If you are a terminated employee, your department will contact you about the overpayment and send the overpayment information to Payroll Services. Payroll Services will contact you with the repayment amount due and answer any questions about the process and how it will be reflected on your pay statements and W-2. 

If you are on a 9- or 10-month appointment and elect to be paid over 12 months, you may see an overpayment if you terminate before the end of your appointment or take an unpaid leave of absence. You will be responsible for repaying the amount overpaid.

The pay reversal process will "back out" a payment made to you in error. It is used only when a payment is made that you should not have received. When you return the check or repay the net pay amount that was originally given to you in error, Payroll Services will "reverse" the original payment to reduce your year-to-date taxable gross and tax amounts as though the payment had never been made. 

Your pay will be adjusted if you have received a partial overpayment. You must repay the net overpayment amount by personal check. The adjustment process will first reverse the payment that was incorrectly made and then calculate the payment the way it should have been paid. The difference, or net amount owed, will show as "Adjustment Earnings" in the "Hours and Earnings" section of your adjustment pay statement. The statement will also show the net amount from the original payment as a "Net Pay Adjustment" under the "After-Tax Deductions" section of your statement. The pay adjustment process reduces your year-to-date taxable gross and tax amounts to what should have been paid.

For more details, see HRMS Business Process: Overpayment Collection (pdf).

Garnishments are court-ordered deductions. Payroll Services is required to withhold amounts from an employee's pay to satisfy a child support order, tax debt, or court judgment. There are several common types of garnishments:

• Creditor garnishment: This is a legal order that authorizes the withholding of part of an employee's wages to satisfy a debt owed to a creditor. Payroll Services is required to comply with the court order and remit the amount stipulated, up to the maximum allowed by law.
• Child support withholding: An employee's wages may be withheld to satisfy a child support order from a court or a state child support enforcement agency. The enforcement of child support orders is a joint federal/state responsibility.
• Tax levy: Federal or state tax levies require deductions from an employee's wages to satisfy a tax debt. Tax levies must be satisfied before all other garnishment orders, except for child support.
• Bankruptcy orders: These take priority over other wage claims, including tax levies and child support withholding orders received before the bankruptcy. All other garnishment orders are stopped because the trustee will pay them out of the amount withheld under the bankruptcy order.
• Student loans: Congress has authorized garnishment of wages to repay delinquent student loans granted under the Federal Family Education Loan Program or Guaranteed Student Loan Program. Child support orders take priority over student loan garnishments.

See the University's Workers Compensation policy for information on replacing lost wages due to job-related injury or illness (see Questions 13 & 14).

Contact your department's payroll administrator to stop payment on the check and request a replacement check.

Occasionally someone may want to verify your employment or income at the University of Minnesota (for example, if you apply for a mortgage, loan, or apartment lease, or as part of a reference check). The University uses an automated verification service, The Work Number, for all such requests.

If you need to provide verification of your employment or income, you can simply give the requesting verifier The Work Number's contact information: www.theworknumber.com or 800-367-5690.

• If the verifier needs the University's employer code, it is 12278.
• If the verifier needs a salary key to verify your income, or if you would like to view your Employee Data Report, follow these instructions:
• Go to The Work Number website: www.theworknumber.com.
• First-time users: If you’ve never logged in to the application before, click on “Register Now” to start the process. Users will be required to enter personal information to verify the account they are attempting to access and validate identity.
• Returning users: The log-in procedure changed in November 2019. If you haven't logged in to the application since then, you will log in as usual with your previous username and password. Once you’ve logged in, you will be prompted to create a personalized username. You will use that new username for all subsequent logins. For your security, you may be prompted to re-authenticate yourself. Follow the on-screen steps.
• Once you are logged in, follow the on-screen instructions to either generate your salary key or produce your Employee Data Report.
• Note: Most income verification requests will not require you to generate a salary key. Follow the steps above only if the verifier specifically asks you for a salary key.
• If you have any questions or issues, contact The Work Number at 800-367-2884 Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. EST. For TTY for hearing impaired employees, call 800-424-0253. If you have other questions, please contact the University of Minnesota Contact Center at 612-624-8647 or 800 756-2363.
• You can download your Employee Data Report (EDR) at any time. The EDR will show not only U of M information but also information from other employers if they have contracted with The Work Number for employment verification. It will also list all verifiers who have accessed your data in the past three years.

How does the University of Minnesota do employment verifications?

The University uses a third-party vendor to provide automated verification of employment and income. The Work Number is an automated, secure service to verify employment status or salary information. Typically, you may need verifications when you apply for a loan, lease an apartment, or apply for a job. The University has followed the example of many other large employers, both public and private, and has outsourced employment verification to streamline the process and provide service to employees and verifiers 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

How often is the verification database updated?

The University sends an updated file to The Work Number after each biweekly pay cycle.

How does the verification process work?

Most large lenders and employers already use The Work Number and are familiar with the process. Others may register with The Work Number by visiting www.theworknumber.com or by calling 800-367-5690.

Are employees charged for verifications?

Employees should not be charged for verifications from The Work Number. Most lending institutions or property managers charge flat loan-processing fees to cover the cost of verifications such as these. If employees receive a charge that is identifiable as a Work Number verification, they may request a refund from The Work Number by calling 800-996-7566.

How secure is the site?

The University sends the biweekly file to The Work Number using file transfer protocol (FTP) with PGP encryption. The Work Number uses a 128-bit secure sockets layer (SSL) encryption in all the account areas of the site where personal information is exchanged with their computers. The Work Number uses very stringent data security standards and physical building security to protect the computer equipment and data center that run the service. Activity on The Work Number site is recorded in system and application logs. The information is reviewed regularly as part of its standard practice. 

For more information, visit The Work Number website.