Manage Period Activity Pay Assignments

Overview

Activity Pay is the compensation type for Adjuncts, Post Doctoral Fellows, Student-Related Jobs and Additional Compensation. Manage Period Activity Pay Assignments is a step in the Hire, Add Job and Edit Job transactions for these employee categories. You can also submit this as an ad-hoc transaction.

  • When making changes to an employee’s existing Activity Pay compensation, such as updating details or adding a new activity, begin with Step 1. We have also included examples of editing existing activity pay which address scenarios such as cancellations. See the Scenario section at the end of the tip sheet.
  • When assigning Activity Pay as a step in a larger business process (such as Hire), begin with Step 4.

Important Transaction guidelines

Before you submit an ad hoc Manage Period Activity Pay Assignments check the End Employment Date of the job. Make sure the date is current and has not expired. You can modify the date by using the Edit Job > Extend Fixed Term Job transaction. 

If you are submitting this transaction for an Adjunct, make sure the courses have been assigned in SIS. SIS sends a data file of course/section and, if applicable, contact hours to the employee’s record in PeopleSync. In the employee’s record, click Job on the left side menu > Worker History > View Worker History by Category button > Click on the Compensation Tab. In the Period Activity History section click on the Period Activity Eligibility links. (We discuss this further in step 7).  

roles & approval chain

This transaction is submitted by the HR Analyst and routes to the HR Partner then the Finance Executive for review and approval.

(Note on who can initiate. Many of the roles in PeopleSync share the same functionality. The HR Partner can submit the same transactions as the HR Analyst. Refer to the Organization Support Roles Descriptions guide for list of roles and function.)

Steps

  1. Navigate to the employee record.
  2. Click the Actions ellipse > Compensation > Manage Period Activity Pay Assignments.
  3. Under Employee Selection:
    • The Effective Date defaults to the current date, however you can modify it. Enter the date or click the calendar icon and select a date.
    • If the is more than one position/job make sure to select the correct one in the Position field.
  4. Under Assignment Details:
    • In Academic Period enter in a period or click the menu icon > By Academic Year. Next, select the academic year and then select the period. 
      • For Adjuncts (including Graduate Adjuncts) select a period beginning with “Adjunct”.
      • For Post Doctoral Fellows, Student-Related Jobs and Additional Compensation, select a period beginning with “Non Adjunct.”
      • If you are making changes to an employee’s existing activity pay you must select the same Academic Period that was selected when the activity pay was first assigned.
      • Once the activity pay has been approved you will see the activity pay on the employee record by selecting Compensation from the left side menu. Appointments the are categorized by the full academic period (e.g. “Adjunct Year 22-23” or the current academic period will display in the Current Activity Pay tab. For an appointment labeled with the a past or future academic period select the Activity Pay Overview tab.
    • Next, select the Period Activity Pay Matrix which aligns with the Academic Period. Click the menu icon > Eligible Matrices and select a matrix. For example, if you selected “Adjunct – Fall 2020” for the Period, then the Period Activity Pay Matrix is “2020/2021 – Activity Pay Minimum & Increase Period”.
  5. On the Manage Period Activity Pay Assignments screen first complete the Reason field. You will see two reasons:
    • To generate a Labor Law Form, select:  Period Activity pay > Assign Activity Pay > Assign Activity Pay – Generate Form 195 (WTP Notice). (Note this reason is only applicable to Adjuncts, PT Faculty and Non-Hourly student employees, i.e. those hired into Student-Related jobs.) who work in New York. Refer to the Labor Law Form tip sheet for more information.
    • If you do not need to generate the form (or for Additional Compensation Jobs), select Period Activity pay > Assign Activity Pay > Assign Activity Pay
  6. In first column, Activity, you will see the following fields listed below. 
    • Eligible Activity – This field is for Adjuncts who have been assigned to course(s) in Albert. (See the Important Transaction Guidelines section above). Click the menu icon and select All Eligible Activities and select the course/section. Notice the Activity and Task fields now prepopulate. 
    • Activity – If you do not see the field above, or the course/section is not listed, complete the Activity field. The Activity Pay Map. This provides a complete list of applicable activities by employee category or job profile. Click the menu icon and select By Category. Refer to the chart below:
    • Adjuncts (both regular and Graduate Student Adjuncts) Can only be assigned to activities with one Letter/one number combinations. An example is A1-Lecture or H5 – Other Duties.

      For Local 2110 Graduate Adjuncts (These are grad students assigned to the STNT07 job profile) they must be assigned to teaching activities (such as A1). Review additional details in the Add Graduate Adjunct tip sheet.
      Additional Compensation Click on 1 – Additional Compensation and select among the three letter codes. An example is OTH – Other or SUM – Summer Pay.
      Post Doc Fellow Enter STP. This stands for STP – Post Doc Stipend.
      Student-Related jobs Enter RST. This stands for RST – Non-hourly Student Pay.
      Adjuncts (Reg/non-graduate) and tutoring For tutoring appointments of non-graduate adjuncts use H5 (X56) – Tutoring; do not use H5 – Other Duties. Refer to the HR Community blog post here.
    • Task – In the task field enter the course/section for Adjuncts.
      • It is recommended that you enter in part of the course/section and allow the system to find this item. Do not click the menu icon because there are too many courses to load.
      • Note this field is left blank for Additional Compensation, Post Doc Fellows, and Student-Related.
      • A validation rule will require you to enter in a course in the Task field if the adjunct activity is course-based. (An example is A-1 Lecture will require a completed Task field.)
    • Comment – Enter in comments if needed. A validation rule will remind you to enter in a Comment if an H activity is selected. This is a soft warning and the transaction can still be submitted.
  7. In the next column, enter in the Activity Start and End Dates. Enter the dates or click the calendar icon and select dates.
    • Notice that once you click enter, the system prepopulates the dates fields in the last column marked Payment – The Use as Payment Date Range check box is now selected. However, you can modify the Payment Start and End Dates if needed.
    • Guidelines for Payment dates – We recommend that you use start /end dates which align with pay period. For example Adjuncts are assigned to the Semi-monthly Employee pay period. An example of dates would be 9/1 to 12/31 not 9/3 to 12/5.
    • Refer to the Assign Pay Group tip sheet to find out what pay schedule the employee will be assigned to. Refer to the Payroll Schedule to review dates.
  8. In the Units column review or enter the Quantity and Assigned Unit Rate.
    • These fields will prepopulate if the Adjunct was assigned to the course in Albert and contact hours were assigned, however you can also modify the fields.
    • For adjuncts the Quantity is typically the number of contact hours. A validation rule which will require that you enter in a Quantity that is greater than 1 for adjunct activities based on contact hours. An example is A-1 Lecture will require hours greater than 1.
    • Assigned Unit Rate is the Hourly Rate. 
      • Note for Local 7902 eligible appointments in J-Term 2023, Spring 2023, or Summer 2023, refer to the post in the HR Community blog for minimum hourly rates.
      • Note that for non-teaching adjunct activities such as H5, Additional Compensation, Post Doc Fellows and Student-Related jobs, it is common to enter a “1” for the Quantity and the total amount to be paid in the Assigned Unit Rate field.
  9. Once these fields are completed, the Compensation column displays the Total Amount.
    • The system multiplies Quantity by the Assigned Unit Rate.
    • For example, for an Adjunct, 30 contact hours X $100 = $3,000; or for a Student-Related job such as Research Assistant, 1 X $10,000 = $10,000.
  10. (Optional) Use the Customize Payments button only if you need to change the disbursement amounts by payment. 
    • The payment by default will be split evenly across each period that falls within the payment start and end dates.
    • You can customize the payments to schedule differing payment amounts, even having a $0 payment for certain periods if desired.
    • If your period activity pay includes retro periods (payments with scheduled pay dates in the past), we recommend putting in $0 for the retro periods and add those amounts to the next scheduled payment.  This will ensure the payment will be included in the regular on cycle payment and not require a retro payment.
    • Example: Activity Pay for a lecture beginning on 1/16 is entered late into PeopleSync. Payroll has just closed for the 1/16 to 1/31 pay period. Instead of requesting an offcycle, add this missed payment amount to the next pay date. See sample below:
      Paydate Amount Correct amount to:
      1/16/2023 500 0
      2/15/2023 500 1000
      2/28/2023 500 500
    • Reminder – Do not use this tool to disburse all payments to a semi-monthly employee as if they were monthly. An employee should regularly be paid according to their assigned pay group.
  11. If you need to enter in a Costing Override click on the 0.
    • A pop-up screen displays where you can enter in the costing in the Worktags section.
    • Click the plus icon to enter in more chartfields if you will be applying splits.
    • Keep in mind that the Pay Period End Date and the Costing Override End Date should match AND coincide with the end date of a pay period.
      • For example, if an Adjunct is teaching from 9/1 to 12/10:
        Correct! The Pay Period End Date is 12/15; Costing Override End Date is: 12/15.
        Incorrect! Pay Period End Date is 12/10; Costing Override End Date is 12/7. In the Incorrect example, the salary will be charged to the chartfield indicated on the costing override through 12/7. The remaining salary covering the period 12/8 to 12/15 will be charged to the default costing (which appears on the Organizational Assignment page).  
      • You can refer to the Assign Costing Allocations tip sheet for more details.
  12. Lastly if you need to enter in more courses or assignments, click the plus icon to add in a new row and repeat the steps above.
  13. Enter a comment if needed.
  14. Click Submit.
    • Note: if you see the following error, “Employment End Date of this position has expired, so activity pay can’t be submitted. Please process an Edit Job to extend the end date and re-submit”, you will need to click Save this transaction for later and submit an extension. See the Scenarios section below.
  15. The transaction routes to the HR Partner and the Finance Executive for review and approval. If you an approver refer to the How to Approve a Transaction tip sheet.

How To Modify Activity Pay: Scenarios

Canceling

If you need to cancel an activity pay and it has not yet started to payout:

  • Contact PeopleLink and request that the activity pay is rescinded. Rescinding removes the transaction.
  • Alternately use the Do Not Pay option. This stops payment but does not remove the transaction. It will remain in the employee’s record.
    1. Select Actions ellipse > Compensation > Manage Period Activity Pay.
    2. Remember to select the same Academic Period that the activity pay was originally set up under.
    3. Check the box Do Not Pay. Include comments as needed.
    4. If there are several rows in the activity pay and you only need to remove one of the rows/ activity, click the minus sign to delete the row. 

If you want to cancel an activity pay that has already started paying out:

    • Navigate to the employee record.
    • Select Actions > Compensation > Manage Period Activity Pay.
    • Remember to select the same Academic Period that the activity pay was originally set up under.
    • If there is more than one position or job, you may be prompted to select the job.
    • In the Activity End Date and Payment End Date fields, enter the date of the last completed payment.
      • Tip: Run the Employee Gross Pay Report to view completed payments and dates.
    • Edit the Total Amount. If the employee should not receive further payments, the Total Amount should equal the Paid to Date Amount.
      • Please note, the most common error is made in the Total Amount field; please be sure to review this amount.
    • Lastly, if you wish to recover any past payments, submit a ticket with PeopleLink and request a recovery of payment. Be sure to include the N#, job #, the amount that has been overpaid, and the pay period dates.

Extending

  1. Navigate to the employee record.
  2. If there is more than one adjunct job, select the correct job.
  3. Select the Job Tab. Review the End Employment Date.
  4. If you need to change this date, select the job, Actions ellipse > Edit Job > Extend Fixed Term Job.
  5. Change the End Employment Date.
  6. This will route to the HR Partner and then Finance Executive for review and approval.
  7. Once approved, initiate the Manage Period Activity Pay transaction and follow the steps above starting with step #8.

 

Last updated in March 2023