Payroll Basics for Drexel University College of Medicine

Pay Frequency

Bi-weekly pay cycle - includes hourly (non-exempt) administrative staff, student employees, research assistant stipends, scholarship/fellowship stipends, per diem employees and part-time exempt employees.   Bi-weekly employees are paid every other Friday on a one week lag, meaning that when you receive your pay check, it will represent payment for all hours worked through the previous Friday.  Payment for the current week’s hours worked will be included in the following pay check.  Please see the payroll processing schedules posted on the payroll web page for a complete listing of pay periods and pay dates.

Monthly pay cycle – includes full time salaried (exempt) faculty and professional staff and is paid on the last working day of the month.  Monthly employees’ salary (annual or per semester) is divided by the number of months that they will be employed during the year/semester and paid out in even installments.  Salaried employees are not paid on a lag basis, meaning that when you receive your pay check, it will represent payment for all services performed during the current month through the last day of the month.  Partial months worked are pro-rated based on the number of days worked out of the number of available work days in that calendar month.  Please see the payroll processing schedules posted on the payroll web page for a complete listing of pay periods and pay dates.

Time Reporting Requirements

Bi-weekly pay cycle – employees must report all hours worked and time off taken in order to be paid.  Stipend recipients do not have any time reporting requirements.  Employees who are paid by the hour must report their hours on a personal timesheet, which must be signed by your supervisor.  Each department has an assigned departmental timekeeper who will collect your personal timesheets, summarize the hours on the Organizational Timesheet and submit it to payroll for processing on the last day of each pay period.

Monthly pay cycle – employees who are eligible to receive paid time off must report any time off taken during the calendar month.  All other salaried employees do not have any time reporting requirements.  Each department has an assigned departmental timekeeper who will collect your hours and report them to payroll for processing.  Departmental timesheets for salaried employees are due to payroll by the 20th of each month.  Since salaried employees are paid through the last day of the month, you must report all time off that you have taken or plan to take through the end of the month.  This means that you will have to report your time off in advance for the last few days of the month.  Please notify your departmental timekeeper as soon as possible if your actual time off varies from what was previously reported so that a correction can be sent to payroll.

Direct Deposit

All employees are encouraged to take advantage of direct deposit.  Direct deposit is the safe, convenient way for you to have your pay deposited into your bank account on pay day.  To sign up for direct deposit, you must complete the Direct Deposit Authorization Form available on the payroll web page.  All direct deposit authorizations are subject to verification, which usually takes two pay periods after Payroll has processed the form.  After signing up for direct deposit, employees should always verify the available balance in their bank accounts before making any payments from such accounts.

Once your direct deposit becomes active, you will no longer receive a paper pay check stub.  You will be able to view and print your pay stub information online using the Drexel One portal.  Instructions for accessing your pay stub information are posted on the payroll web page.

Pay Check Distribution

Bi-weekly pay cycle – pay checks are sent to your home department for distribution on pay day.

Monthly pay cycle – pay checks are mailed to your Employee Home address.  Every effort is made to mail your pay to you in sufficient time for you to receive it by pay day.  However, there can be no guarantees with the mail.  If you have not already done so, we strongly encourage you to sign up for direct deposit to avoid any mail-related delay in the receipt of your pay.

Please note that pay stub information is available to all employees through the Drexel One portal, whether the payment was made by check or direct deposit.  You may view your earnings and deduction information for individual pay dates or a range of dates online anytime, anywhere.  This information is usually posted at least one day before pay day and can answer many common questions, such as how much your net pay will be or whether your pay will be a check or a direct deposit.

W-2 Reporting

Each year the University must issue a W-2 form to all employees who received taxable wage payments so that the employees can file their taxes.  These forms are sent out no later than January 31st, to report the taxable wages paid during the previous year.  W-2 forms are mailed to your Employee Home address.  If you prefer, you may opt out of having a paper W-2 mailed to you and you may print your own W-2 form from the Drexel One portal once it is available.  Instructions for choosing online delivery and printing instructions are available on the payroll web page.