247 – Payroll Procedures
Policy
The present system for the reporting and recording of an employee’s work record provides for entry of the employee’s time into a computerized system on a daily basis and generating a printed payroll at the end of the pay period. This system conforms to rules and regulations set out in Harris County personnel regulations, the Harris County Auditors accounting procedures manual, and Harris County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) policies relating to overtime and paid absence from duty.
If the employee’s bureau or division uses the TeleStaff system, notations on his or her personal calendar shall be submitted in lieu of the supporting affidavits mentioned below.
Procedure
Staffing
Each bureau will designate supervisory personnel who will be responsible for generating employee time records and procuring the necessary affidavits to support the time records.
Each bureau will designate primary and alternate timekeepers who are responsible for processing the time records. Timekeepers must attend and successfully complete training in the functions of recording, reporting, and maintaining time records. The HCSO payroll office will coordinate this training.
Recording, Reporting, and Scheduling Hours Worked
The time record shall be kept on the standardized time and attendance record form. Each supervisor shall accurately log the time worked. The record shall be updated daily and forwarded to the timekeepers.
All supporting affidavits for time records shall be submitted promptly and forwarded to the timekeepers in a timely manner. They shall be in alphabetical order, have proper signatures, and accompany the time record sheet upon submission to the timekeepers. Each work day is either eight or ten hours. If there are more or fewer hours worked, then the appropriate affidavit must be provided to support the variation.
Each HCSO employee shall ensure proper and accurate records pertaining to the time and attendance records and all supporting documentation.
Each employee shall sign and date his or her own time and attendance record. Doing so attests to the accuracy of his or her time and attendance record.
All documents associated with payroll shall be legible, properly completed, and signed by the employee when submitted.
The employee shall not be permitted to sign the time and attendance record until the completion of the last day of the pay period. The employee will have until the following Friday to sign the time and attendance record. Any changes noted by the employee to the time and attendance record at the time of his or her signature shall be forwarded to the timekeepers immediately. If the employee is unable to sign before this deadline due to an extended absence, the employee shall sign the time and attendance record immediately upon returning to duty.
A designated supervisor shall ensure that the time and attendance record is completed for each employee in accordance with this directive. By signing, the supervisor shall attest to the accuracy and completeness of the time and attendance record.
All affidavits (authorized time off from duty or approved overtime) shall be submitted promptly with the time and attendance record, signed by the employee and supervisor, and forwarded to the timekeepers. All authorized time off from duty or approval of overtime shall be documented on the appropriate form.
The timekeepers are responsible for entering time into the computer in accordance with the schedule reflected in the HCSO payroll calendar.
No person shall falsify or cause to be falsified any time record of any HCSO employee. Doing so shall be grounds for disciplinary action which may include termination.
Regular employees working at least 32 hours per week receive a holiday if it falls on a day they regularly work or perform services on the workday before or after the holiday. Employees on a leave of absence, unpaid FMLA leave, or who are receiving workers’ compensation temporary income benefits do not receive holiday pay.
If a holiday falls on the normal day off of a regular employee who works 40 hours per week, the employee records the appropriate number of holiday hours on the time record on the dates of the holiday (not to exceed eight hours per day). These hours are added to the employee’s compensatory time balance on a straight-time basis, subject to a 240-hour maximum.
Only eight (8) hours are allowed for the holiday. If the holiday is taken, and the employee works a 10-hour day, the employee is responsible for ensuring that his or her compensatory time balance will accommodate the difference of the two hours.
Each workday’s time shall be indicated numerically to show actual hours worked or by letter codes used to denote the reason for absence.
Overtime: Add the overtime to the regular hours worked, and show total hours for that day. An approved overtime authorization form must be submitted prior to posting the time.
| Letter Codes Used: | |
| A | Compensatory time hours |
| B | Family illness hours |
| C | Workers’ compensation hours |
| F | Funeral leave hours |
| G | Floating holiday hours |
| H | Holiday hours |
| I | Sick leave hours |
| J | Jury / witness duty hours |
| A copy of the jury summons or affidavit from the court must be submitted with the time and attendance record. It is not a HCSO form. | |
| L | General leave hours (leave of absence) |
| M | Military leave hours |
| Military leave must be accompanied by military orders. | |
| S | Family Medical Leave hours (FMLA) |
| V | Vacation hours |
| X | Docked hours (not paid) |
| Y | Docked workers’ compensation hours |
| Z | Special overtime hours |
Timekeepers Quality Control
- Ensure all employees have signed and updated their own time record.
- Ensure the supervisor who prepared the time record has signed it.
- Ensure there is an authorization signature.
- Ensure all affidavits needed to support variances in the time record are attached.
- Entry of Reported Hours Worked
The timekeeper shall enter all reported information and mark the time record and affidavits with the date, time, and timekeeper’s name.
The time record shall be filed as a permanent record.
All corrections and late entries shall be made no later than 9:00 A.M. on the Monday immediately following the end of the pay period if that payroll is to reflect those changes.
Supplemental time records may be submitted if necessary.
Computer Generated Payroll Authorization Form
Bureau timekeepers shall have all time entered into the system by the deadline notified in the HCSO payroll calendar and immediately print a preliminary Form 132 (payroll sheets) for their bureaus to ensure the attendance data they have entered is reflected correctly. If corrections have to be made, they should be done immediately. During the payroll period, as many preliminary Forms 132 as necessary may be printed.
A HCSO payroll supervisor shall print a preliminary Form 132 for the entered department during the afternoon of the last day of the payroll period. The payroll clerks shall check this report for errors and ensure that any errors discovered are corrected by 9:00 A.M. the following Monday. Once this is done, the supervisor shall print the final Form 132 for the department and then authorize the payroll.
All supportive documents and affidavits pertinent to that payroll, which are required by the Auditor’s Office, shall be forwarded to them upon authorization of the payroll.
Any supplemental payrolls required shall be entered by bureau timekeepers by the deadlines stated in the HCSO payroll calendar.
Supplemental and final payrolls shall be processed in the manner prescribed in items 1, 2, and 3 of this subsection.
Distribution of Payroll
Each bureau shall designate a person or persons to whom paychecks for that respective bureau may be released.
This person or persons shall be ones other than those responsible for entering the hours worked (timekeepers).
A sample signature for each person so designated by each bureau shall be submitted to the HCSO payroll section and maintained in their files for future references.
Upon receipt of the payroll (paychecks) from the Treasurer’s Office, the HCSO payroll section shall separate the paychecks according to bureau assignments.
Each bureau shall be contacted, and the designated person shall proceed to the HCSO payroll section. Paychecks for the bureau shall be released upon signature of the designated person.
Distribution of Paychecks
Paychecks will be released to the respective employee, upon proper identification, by each bureau.
If an employee wishes for someone else to receive his or her paycheck, he or she must state so in writing and designate the person to whom the paycheck will be released. This must be submitted in person by the employee in advance.
Verification of Compensatory Time, Vacation, and Sick Leave Balances
Requests for verification of compensatory time, vacation, and sick leave balances shall be directed to the bureau or division timekeeper.
Current balances of compensatory time, vacation, and sick leave are reflected on each payroll check or notification of deposit stubs. Additionally, the bureau or division timekeepers may access these balances.
Sick / Doctor Affidavits
Payroll clerks shall only receive payroll documentation from the various designated bureau- and division-level timekeepers.
A sick / doctor affidavit will only be accepted from the employee on the eve of a payday between the hours of 8:00 A.M. and 10:00 A.M. if the affidavit is signed by someone in the employee’s chain of command.
Sick / doctor affidavits, when required, must be submitted to the appropriate timekeeper, together with the signed time and attendance record. If the employee has not returned to duty by this time, he or she shall have the doctor’s office fax the certificate to the timekeeper.
Revision
This policy has been revised on the below listed dates:
| April 21, 2009 | August 14, 2014 | ||
| January 4, 2010 |