2016 Checklist for Locations Moving to Bi-Weekly Pay from Another Pay Cycle
1. Notice to Employees
For locations that currently pay weekly, they must provide employees a minimum of 90 days’ notice of the
change. Please see sample language below. Note: it is a best practice to give advance notice of 60-90 days
for any pay cycle change when changing from monthly or semi-monthly to bi-weekly.
Memo to Employees: Please be advised that effective with the ______, 2016 pay date [at least 90
days from current date), _______ Parish/School will begin paying on a bi-weekly pay cycle. Please see
__________ with any questions or concerns.
2. Teacher/Other Staff Member Contracts
For teachers or other employees who have written contracts that specify a pay cycle, we recommend that the
change be made coincident with the start of a new contract period. Any contract language referencing the
current pay cycle should be updated to match the new pay cycle.
3. Employee Relations Issues
The employee relations issues that may arise from a change from semi-monthly or weekly to bi-weekly (or
pay in arrears) should be considered and factored into the timing of the change. A few examples of
employee relations issues that have arisen in the past:
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One school that paid semi-monthly planned to change to bi-weekly in September 2015 and
announced the change in August 2015 through a letter sent to teachers’ homes. The way the pay
dates fell meant that employees would receive two smaller checks per month until December 2015, in
which three checks would be paid. The school decided to give notice that the change would happen
the following September given the hardship the lower amount of pay for the first 3 months of the
school year would cause some teachers.
Locations moving from semi-monthly to bi-weekly may wish to target July 2016 for the change,
since that month includes three pay dates, vs. two for the months August-November 2016. This way,
employees will be “ahead” in terms of pay vs. “behind” at the start of the Common Pay Date
schedule. Check any applicable contracts to see if there are limitations on changing in July.
One parish wanted to begin charging employees for dental insurance and also move to pay in arrears
at the same time they changed from weekly to bi-weekly. The changes taken together were too
much, so the parish delayed the dental insurance deductions to a future date.
One parish anticipated that employees would have a hard time moving to bi-weekly and pay in
arrears, as it would mean skipping a week of pay right after New Year’s. The location sent the
sample letter below to address this issue:
Please be advised that effective January 1, 2016, St. Mary’s Parish will begin a bi-weekly payroll
cycle. This means that employees will be paid every other Friday, starting with the January 15, 2016
paycheck, which will be the first bi-weekly paycheck. That check will cover the pay period of
December 27, 2015 – January 9, 2016. The work week will begin on Sunday. At this time, we will also
begin to pay lay employees in arrears, meaning that employees work for two weeks and then are paid
during the following week, on Friday. This helps to ensure accuracy in payments, especially in areas
such as overtime and other variable pay, and in tracking paid time off. If the transition to the January
15 pay date poses a financial hardship for you, please see _________ to discuss a one-time advance
that will be repaid through payroll deductions over the next several pay periods.
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4. Benefit Deduction Issues
a. Medical and Dental
Medical and Dental deductions should not be changed manually in IOI by locations. Instead, as long as the #
of Pays field is changed at least 3 business days prior to the location processing and closing its first Common
Pay Date payroll, these deductions will be changed automatically by BAS and loaded to IOI.
Note: all data entry outlined below is intended to be made in the first Open payroll of the new bi-weekly
pay cycle.
To determine if any deductions below apply to your employees, use the Deduction Express feature (under
Employee Maintenance) to review current deductions for all employees and priests.
b. 401(k) Plan
For employees who have requested a specific amount per pay period (ex: $100 per pay) as a deferral into the
401(k) Plan, inform employees that you will maintain the same deferral amount with each bi-weekly
paycheck unless they notify you of a different amount (see sample Memo). You may want to remind
employees of the benefits of deferring based on a % of pay vs. a dollar amount (i.e., amount saved will
increase automatically with pay increases; if employee is deferring 5%, she will receive the full employer
contribution for 2016 even if pay amounts vary each pay date). If the employee wants to make a change, she
should document it on a Salary Deferral Form available at www.catholicbenefits.org/401k and the change
should be made in the Voluntary Deductions screen. Note: for employees who have directed the location to
deduct a set amount for the entire calendar year (ex: $18,000), the location should carefully count the
number of pays remaining in the calendar year to ensure that the correct per pay amount is entered for all
remaining 2016 pay dates.
c. Involuntary Deductions – Garnishments/Levies
Garnishments and levies will need to be recalculated based on the new pay cycle.
d. Other Miscellaneous Deductions (AFLAC, Catholic Appeal, Tuition, etc.)
These deductions should be reviewed through the Deduction Express to determine if they are based on a per
payroll amount, a % of pay, or another calculation. The deductions should be adjusted as needed to be
correct for the first bi-weekly payroll.
e. GTLA
GTLA will automatically update once the Pay Cycle field in Employee Demographics is changed (see below
for additional detail on how to change this field).
5. Changes to Lay Employee and Priest Records in IOI
a. Employee Demographics
For hourly employees: Enter correct data in the following fields: Pay Cycle (bi-weekly), # of Pays (26), and
Cyc Std Hrs. For employees who are not benefit-eligible and who only work occasionally (ex: cantors),
please populate Cyc Std Hrs and # of Pays using your best judgment.
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For salaried lay employees: Enter correct data in Pay Cycle (bi-weekly), # of Pays (26), and Salary Per Pay
(calculated based on bi-weekly pay) and Cyc Std Hrs.
For priests: Enter correct data in Pay Cycle (bi-weekly), # of Pays (26), Cyc Std Hrs. No Salary Per Pay
amount should be entered.
6. Hours and Pay Rate Changes – Lay Employees
For Salaried Lay Employees: Under Employee Maintenance  Recurring Earnings, for salaried employees
who work the same number of hours each pay period, set up bi-weekly Default Hours on the Recurring
Earnings screen under Employee Maintenance. When creating this entry, be sure to select “Build recurring
earning – at payroll start” as the Recurring Control and set the Frequency to “Every pay.” Click “Save”
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when done. The Default Amount field should already be blank under Recurring Earnings and should be left
blank.
If salaried employees have other Recurring Earnings, you will need to repeat these steps with each Earnings
Code. You should review each Earnings Code appearing in that field under Recurring Earnings to determine
whether other Codes besides Regular are being used.
Also for Salaried Lay Employees, under Hours & Dollars Detailed Hours Entry, change Regular hours to
the correct per pay amount. Click “Save.” Any other Recurring Earnings will also need to be keyed here.
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b.
Priests Hours and Pay Rate Changes:
In the Recurring Earnings screen, choose the Priest Stipend Earnings Code, then change the Default Hours
field to 80 and the Default Amount field to be the monthly Stipend amount x 12 divided by 26. Click
“Save.” Note: If priests have other Recurring Earnings, you will need to repeat these steps with each
Earnings Code. You should review each Earnings Code appearing in that field under Recurring Earnings to
determine whether other Codes besides Priest Stipend and Room & Board (below) are being used.
If your location is not already recording Clergy Room & Board on a monthly basis, under Recurring
Earnings, choose the R&B Earnings Code and then change the Default Amount to the correct amount based
on 12 pays per year (i.e., $600 per month). Choose “First pay of month” under Frequency. Click “Save.”
Note: be sure to count the total number of pay dates in 2016, and confirm that the new Room &
Board recurring amount entered plus the amount YTD will total $7,200 for calendar year 2016.
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Also for Priests, under Hours & Dollars Detailed Hours Entry, on line 1, choose the Priest Stipend
earnings code, change Regular hours to the correct per pay amount, and enter the new Stipend amount into
the Other Earnings field. There is no need to enter Room & Board since this has already been set up as a
Recurring Earning. Click “Save.” Any other Recurring Earnings will also need to be keyed here.
b. Tax Overrides
For employees who have tax overrides (ex: withhold an extra $25 per pay period for federal income tax),
inform employees that you will maintain the same extra amount of withholding with each paycheck
unless they notify you to change it (see sample Memo). For any changes, obtain a new signed W-4/M-4.
To make changes, under Employee Demographics Tax Setup, enter any changes under the Amt or Pct
fields and click Save.
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c. Reviewing changes prior to processing first bi-weekly payroll
Use the Employee Maintenance Report, which shows before and after data changes, to self-audit your
changes prior to processing.
d. Notice to IOI
IOI does not need to be notified of the change in pay date. However, if the location receives a notice from
the IRS and/or the Massachusetts Department of Revenue of a change in tax filing frequency after the change
to the common pay date, this notice should be forwarded to IOI at [email protected] as soon as possible.
e. Pay In Arrears
The location should be reminded about paying in arrears (recommended) vs. paying current or semicurrent. To change to full pay in arrears, attached is a sample Memo on this issue.
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