28 Correct Errors in Pre-Payroll Processing

This chapter contains this topic:

• Section 28.1, "Correcting Errors in Pre-Payroll Processing"

28.1 Correcting Errors in Pre-Payroll Processing

After you review pre-payroll reports, you might discover errors in the gross-to-net calculations. Some errors you might encounter include:

• An employee is not included in a payroll cycle.

• DBAs do not calculate properly.

• The gross wages less the deductions that printed on an employee's payment do not equal the net wages on the Payroll Register.

The following examples describe common errors and the steps you would take to correct them.

28.1.1 Example 1: An Employee is Not Included in a Payroll Cycle

Occasionally an employee who should be paid this pay period is omitted from pre-payroll processing. Typically, an employee is omitted from pre-payroll processing for one of the following reasons:

• The selection criteria for the pre-payroll version did not include the employee.

• The date entered as the employee's pay start date or pay stop date is incorrect.

• No timecard has been entered for the employee.

To determine why the employee was not included in pre-payroll, locate the employee on the Employee Entry form. The screen should indicate that the employee is locked in pre-payroll.

28.1.2 Reviewing Selection Criteria

When the Employee Entry screen does not indicate that the employee is locked in pre-payroll, the employee was not included in the data selection for the pre-payroll program version.

Do one of the following:

• Reset the payroll ID and then change the selection criteria for the pre-payroll version so that it includes the employee. You should then process pre-payroll again.

• Issue an interim cheque for the employee.

If you issue an interim cheque, you should change the pre-payroll selection criteria after you complete payroll cycle processing.

See Also:

• Section 23.3, "Resetting the Payroll ID".

• Section 36.1, "Entering Interim Cheques".

28.1.3 Reviewing Pay Start and Stop Dates

If the employee is locked in pre-payroll, review the employee's pay stop and pay start dates on the Employee Entry form.

When the pay starts date is after the pay period ending date, or the pay stops date is before the pay period beginning date, the system does not include the employee in the payroll cycle. For example, if the pay period dates are 4/26 - 5/09 and the pay starts date is 5/10, the system does not include the employee in that payroll cycle.

28.1.4 Reviewing Timecard Information for Hourly Employees Only

If the employee who was not included in pre-payroll is paid hourly, verify that you completed either of the following:

• Entered a timecard for the employee.

• Entered standard hours for the employee on the Pay and Tax Information form. (Entering standard hours causes the system to automatically generate timecards for the employee.)

If the employee does not have a timecard for this pay period, enter one and then rerun pre-payroll.

28.1.5 Example 2: DBAs Do Not Calculate

In some cases, the system does not calculate one or more DBAs that should be calculated during pre-payroll. This scenario could happen even if the system properly calculated the DBA during the last payroll cycle. This condition might affect:

• All employees

• Some employees

• One employee

Use the Transaction Audit report or the DBA Register, which you can print during the print payroll cycle reports step, to determine how many employees are affected. Use the DBA One-Time Override window on Time Entry by Employee to review current DBAs for individual employees.

28.1.6 DBAs Did Not Calculate for Any Employees

1. On the DBA Setup form, locate the DBA.

2. Verify the information in the following fields:

   • Calculate in Pre-Payroll

   • Beginning Effective Date

   • Ending Effective Date

   • Pay Period to Calculate

3. Access the Basis of Calculation table.

4. Verify that:

   • The based-on PDBAs were calculated.

   • The based-on PDBAs are not zero.

   • The DBA is not based on another DBA that is assigned at a different level (employee, group, or DBA).

5. Make any necessary corrections to the DBA Setup form.

6. Access the second Pre-Payroll Processing form.

7. Verify the information in the following fields:

   • Year

   The year must match the year entered for the master pay cycle.

   • Period Number

   The period number is not specified.

8. Access the Master Pay Cycles form.

9. Verify the information in the following field:

   • Withholding Period

10. Make any necessary corrections to the payroll cycle information.

28.1.7 DBAs Did Not Calculate for Any Employees in a Group Plan

If you are using group plans to assign DBAs to employees, and the system did not calculate DBAs for any of the employees in that plan, verify the plan setup.

If you are using the Human Resources system to enroll employees in benefit plans, verify that the employees are enrolled in the proper plans.

If you are using Payroll to assign employees to DBAs, complete the following steps:

1. On Group Plan DBA Setup, locate the group plan in which the employees are included.

2. Verify the information in the following fields:

   • Beginning Effective Date

   • Ending Effective Date

   • Withholding Period

3. Make any necessary corrections.

28.1.8 DBAs Calculated for Only Some Employees

If you are not using group DBA plans, or if the employees whose DBAs did not calculate are in different DBA plans, complete the following steps:

1. Review the Deductions Not Taken and Deduction Arrearage reports to verify that the employees earned enough to cover their deductions.

2. Locate the employee on the DBA Instructions form.

3. Verify the information in the following fields:

   • Start Date

   • Stop Date

   • Pay Periods to Calculate

   • Group Code

   • Union Code

4. Make any necessary corrections.

5. On the DBA Setup form, locate one of the DBAs that the system did not calculate.

6. Access the DBA Limits window.

7. Using the information in this window, determine whether the employee has reached the limit for this DBA.

8. Access the Basis of Calculation Table.

9. Review the information and make any necessary corrections.

10. If the DBA uses a calculation table, access the Calculation Tables form.

11. Review the information and make any necessary corrections.

12. Using the DBA One-Time Overrides window that you access from the Time Entry by Employee form, determine if a one-time override exists for the DBA.

13. Using the Interim Cheque Entry form, determine whether an interim cheque was issued for the employee this period.

    If the DBA is set up to calculate once per period, and it is included on an interim cheque, the system does not calculate it during pre-payroll.

See Also:

• JD Edwards World Human Resources - Benefits Guide if you are using the Human Resources system to enroll employees in benefit plans.

• Chapter 15, "Working with Timecard Information" for more information about revising unprocessed and processed timecards.

• JD Edwards World U.S. Payroll I Guide for Deductions Not Taken Report.

• JD Edwards World U.S. Payroll I Guide for Deduction Arrearage Report .

28.1.9 What You Should Know About

Topic

Description

Arrearage Method H

When an employee does not have enough pay to cover deductions, the DBA setup determines if amounts are placed in arrears and, if so, how those amounts are deducted in the future. The current deduction amount and arrearage amount in history are considered separately when the DBA is set up with an Arrearage Method of H on the DBA Setup screen (P069117). If the current deduction can be taken in its entirety, but the arrearage amount cannot, the current deduction amount is taken. The arrearage amount itself is looked at by the system as a whole. It is either completely, or not taken at all. The arrearage amount is not partially backed off or taken. See Setting Up Deductions, Benefits, and Accruals (P069117) in JD Edwards World Canadian Payroll II Guide.