Define an Anytime Pay Blackout Period for the US

The blackout period defines when employees can't request a pay advance because it's already too close to your main payroll run. The blackout period begins with the payroll's planned submission date, and its end date is determined by the payroll type and the blackout period offset.

Therefore, to enable blackout periods, you must enter the planned submission dates for each payroll pay period. You can upload this info in bulk through HCM Data Loader using the Payroll Time Period business object.

Note: Not setting a blackout period can cause problems with your payroll run. Employees submitting pay advances concurrently with your main payroll run could result in interlock issues.

Positive Offset Payrolls

For payrolls with a payment date that occurs after the end of the pay period, the blackout period runs from the planned submission date of the current pay period to the payment date minus the blackout period offset.

Here are some examples.

Bi-weekly payroll paid 7 days in arrears

You configure this payroll with the following periods.

Period number	Start date	End date	Planned submission date	Payment date
1	1/2/21	1/15/21	1/16/21	1/22/21
2	1/16/21	1/29/21	1/30/21	2/5/21
3	1/30/21	2/12/21	2/13/21	2/19/21

If you don't set a blackout period offset for the payroll statutory unit (PSU), the blackout period runs from the planned submission date to the payment date.

Period number	Start date	End date
1	1/16/21	1/22/21
2	1/30/21	2/5/21
3	2/13/21	2/19/21

If you set the PSU's blackout period offset to 2 days, the blackout period runs from the planned submission date to 2 days before the payment date.

Period number	Start date	End date
1	1/16/21	1/20/21
2	1/20/21	2/3/21
3	2/13/21	2/17/21

Bi-weekly payroll paid 3 days in arrears

You configure a payroll with the following periods.

Period number	Start date	End date	Planned submission date	Payment date
1	1/2/21	1/15/21	1/12/21	1/18/21
2	1/16/21	1/29/21	1/26/21	2/1/21
3	1/30/21	2/12/21	2/9/21	2/15/21

If you set the blackout period offset on the PSU to 2 days, the blackout period runs from the planned submission date to 2 days before the payment date.

Period number	Start date	End date
1	1/12/21	1/16/21
2	1/16/21	1/30/21
3	2/9/21	2/15/21

If you set the blackout period offset to 4 days, the blackout period runs from the planned submission date to the end of the current pay period.

Period number	Start date	End date
1	1/12/21	1/15/21
2	1/16/21	1/29/21
3	2/9/21	2/12/21

Payrolls with the Payment Date Within the Pay Period

For these payrolls, the blackout period runs from the planned submission date to the end date of the current pay period.

Here are some examples.

Bi-weekly payroll paid on the last day of the pay period

You configure it with the following periods.

Period number	Start date	End date	Planned submission date	Payment date	Blackout start date	Blackout end date
1	1/2/21	1/15/21	1/11/21	1/15/21	1/11/21	1/15/21
2	1/16/21	1/29/21	1/25/21	1/29/21	1/25/21	1/29/21
3	1/30/21	2/12/21	2/8/21	2/12/21	2/8/21	2/12/21

Note: This configuration ignores any blackout period offset on the PSU.

Bi-weekly payroll paid 2 days before the last day of the pay period

You configure it with the following periods.

Period number	Start date	End date	Planned submission date	Payment date	Blackout start date	Blackout end date
1	1/2/21	1/15/21	1/11/21	1/13/21	1/11/21	1/15/21
2	1/16/21	1/29/21	1/25/21	1/27/21	1/25/21	1/29/21
3	1/30/21	2/12/21	2/8/21	2/10/21	2/8/21	2/12/21

In this case, the blackout period runs until the end of the pay period and not the payment date.