Illinois State University Policy Web Site

Initiating body: Vice President for Finance and Planning
Contact: Payroll Office 438-7677
Revised on: 05/2003

3.1.42 Exempt Civil Service and Academic Employees Benefit Reporting

Policy

Benefit reporting must be completed by all academic employees who accrue benefits, and exempt civil service employees. Each of these employees should receive a Report of Benefit Usage. On the report, daily usage of sick and/or vacation time is recorded for the month and returned to the Payroll Office. This procedure enables the Payroll Office to monitor the usage of benefits each month. In addition, it provides the employee with a current monthly benefit balance. Since the Payroll Office is required to keep benefit records current, payroll checks will be retained in the Payroll Office until overdue reports are returned.

Guidelines

As explained in the overview, the purpose of the Report of Benefit Usage is to provide the employee, department, and Payroll Office with an updated balance of sick and/or vacation benefits. The report of benefit usage is issued the first of every month. The top half is used to record daily usage of vacation and/or sick time and is returned to the Payroll Office. The bottom portion displays the following: previous balance, accrual per ending pay period, usage per ending pay period, and current balance.

There are two types of Reports of Benefit Usage, depending on whether or not the employee is entitled to receive vacation benefits. The difference between the two is that one only reflects sick hours used while the other type reflects both sick and vacation hours used.

At the beginning of every month, staff will turn in their Report of Benefit Usage card for the previous month. Example: On April 1st, staff will turn in their March cards. The deadline for the reports is the 5th of every month. In the example, the March cards would be due in the Payroll Office on April 5th.

The current month's reports are sent to the departments on the 1st of every month. There is also a listing that accompanies the reports which details the employee's sick time and vacation balances. This listing should be checked by the department since it also indicates any overdue (late) reports of benefit usage. The individual reports are then distributed to all employees to complete and return to the departmental office for an administrator's signature.

Note: Only the top portion of the report should be returned. The bottom half is for the employee's record.

Once the employee receives the Report of Benefit Usage from the department, he/she records the hours (recorded to the nearest 1/10 of an hour) used for sick time and vacation in the appropriate box(es), then writes the total number of these hours in the total column. The employee then signs and returns the card to the departmental office for an administrator's signature.

The employee is not required to record usage of vacation and sick time when it is not their scheduled work day. For instance, faculty members work in accordance with the academic calendar and should not record any sick time during spring break since it is not a scheduled work week. However, exempt Civil Service employees and Administrative\Professional employees who do not follow the academic calendar are required to record hours.

Types of Leave

Bereavement Leave

Bereavement leave should be noted on the Report of Benefit Usage with an 'F'. No hours should be recorded on the report for the day(s) Bereavement Leave is taken.

Military Leave

Military leave should be recorded on the report with a 'ML'. No hours should be recorded on the report for the day(s) Military Leave is taken.

Jury and Subpoenaed-Witness Leaves

These types of leaves should be noted on the report with a 'J'. No hours should be recorded on the report for the day(s) Jury or Subpoenaed-Witness Leave is taken. If the employee is dismissed with four (4) or more hours left in the work day, the employee should return to work.

Please refer to the appropriate employee handbook for guidelines pertaining to eligibility and length of leave.

Failure to Return Report by Deadline

The Report of Benefit Usage must be returned to the Payroll Office by the 5th day of every month. Example: Today is April 1. All departments receive April's Report of Benefit Usage. All departments must return March's report to the Payroll Office by 4:30 PM on April 5th. In the event the 5th day of the month falls on a holiday, Saturday or Sunday, the report is due the following business day.

The consequences for failure to return the report by the due date are as follows:

  1. Benefit balances are not updated prior to the issuing of a new Report of Benefit Usage card. This may mislead the employee into believing he/she has more or less benefits (sick and vacation hours) than is actually correct. If the number of hours reported is greater than the actual balance, the employee would be docked for the difference.
  2. The employee may have his/her check held in the Payroll Office if there are two or more outstanding benefit reports. If this occurs, the employee must be notified but the check will not be released until the benefit reports are received by Payroll.

Overdue (Late) Report of Benefit Usage

The employee receives notification of an overdue report in two ways:

  1. The department receives a listing of all employees who receive Reports of Benefit Usage. This listing shows benefit balances (vacation and/or sick) for each employee. If any reports are overdue, they would be indicated on the listing. In this instance, the department should notify the employee that there is an outstanding report. The department should also contact the Payroll Office if there are any discrepancies with the department's records.
  2. The individual receives notification of the overdue report on the bottom half of his/her Report of Benefit Usage (see the following example). If this type of notification appears, submit the requested overdue report or contact the Payroll Office for a duplicate copy of the original form. A signed departmental memo stating the number of hours used for the month would also suffice.

Example:

000-00-0000 PUBLIC JOHN Q 00424

AS OF TODAY, AUGUST 24, 2002, THE PAYROLL OFFICE HAS NOT RECEIVED YOUR REPORT OF USAGE FOR JULY. YOUR PAYROLL CHECK WILL NOT BE RELEASED UNTIL THE REPORTS FOR BOTH JULY AND AUGUST ARE PROPERLY SUBMITTED TO THE PAYROLL OFFICE.

YOUR "REPORT OF BENEFIT USAGE" FOR AUGUST IS DUE ON SEPTEMBER 5TH.