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Payroll

Payroll Services serves the College's diverse customer base by providing accurate and timely compensation to all staff, faculty, and student employees in an efficient manner. We are committed to maintaining the most current understanding of federal, state, and college regulations regarding payroll in order to provide accurate information.

We are located in the Central Services building in the Human Resources Suite on the first floor and are available Monday–Friday from 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Questions can also be sent to our email

Payroll resources


IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Declining Direct Deposit

Learn about the implications, risks, and necessary actions when declining direct deposit for your payments.

Direct deposit is a safe, proven, and confidential method of receiving a payment. Money is electronically transferred from an organization into an employee’s checking or savings account. Montgomery College employees are highly encouraged to elect direct deposit for Payroll Payments (regular biweekly pay) and/or Expense Payments (reimbursements for approved expenses).

If you have chosen to decline to elect direct deposit via Payment Elections in Workday or cancel an existing direct deposit election, then you will receive a live check for all payments due to you, and you must certify that you understand the following risks and will abide by the applicable corrective actions:

Delayed Delivery

All live checks are mailed on Thursdays (biweekly payroll) and Fridays (expense reimbursements) via the U.S. Postal Service. Montgomery College has no control over how long it takes USPS to deliver mail or whether that delivery will be accurate. Make sure your mailing address is correct in Workday.

Stale/Voided Checks

A check becomes stale and therefore void if it is not deposited within 90 days of the issue date. Deposit checks in a timely manner. Voided checks must be reissued on a regular on- or off-cycle pay date.

Periodic Audits Requiring In-Person Pick-Up

To mitigate risk and reduce fraud, employees who receive live checks will be required to pick up checks in person at a designated location and present government-issued identification to confirm their identity and receive their paycheck.

Lost/Stolen Check: Not Cashed

If you do not receive your check within 10 business days and if your check has been confirmed as not yet cashed or deposited, you can request a replacement check. Replacement checks will not be processed before the 10-business day window has concluded.

Lost/Stolen Check: Cashed but not Received

If you do not receive your check within 10 business days and if your check has been confirmed as cashed or deposited by someone other than you, you will need to complete an affidavit for the College’s bank, confirming that you did not receive, cash, or deposit the check. Replacement checks will not be processed until a full investigation is completed and the funds are deemed fraudulently cashed by the bank. Montgomery College cannot reissue payment until the bank authorizes us to do so.

Fraudulent Activity on Checks and Direct Deposit

Discover the necessary steps and timelines for reporting and resolving fraudulent activity related to your payments.

If you do not receive your check within 10 business days, and if your check has been confirmed as cashed or deposited by someone other than you, then you must report the fraud to HRSTM who will coordinate with Office of Business Services (OBS) and the College’s financial institution for restitution. You will need to complete an affidavit for the College’s bank, confirming that you did not receive, cash, or deposit the check. Replacement checks will not be processed until a full investigation is completed by our financial institution and the funds are deemed fraudulently cashed by the bank. Montgomery College cannot reissue payment until the bank authorizes us to do so. This process can take up to 45 business days.

If your paycheck was deposited into your bank account before you were informed about fraudulent activity on your account, then you must report the fraud to your financial institution for restitution. Many times, they are able to move the funds from the compromised account to a new account, but if this is not possible, the employee must work with their bank to send the funds back to the College so we can reissue them to a new account. We cannot reissue payment until we receive the original deposit back. This process can vary from bank to bank, but typically is settled in no more than 3 business days.

As a reminder, having direct deposit is a safe, proven, and confidential method of receiving a payment. Money is electronically transferred from an organization into an employee’s checking or savings account. Montgomery College employees are highly encouraged to elect direct deposit for Payroll Payments (regular biweekly pay) and/or Expense Payments (reimbursements for approved expenses) and it takes much less time to resolve issues involving bad accounts or fraud than with live checks.

View the Payment Elections job aid (English, (PDF, Get Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader.-Link opens in new window.) Spanish (PDF, Get Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader.-Link opens in new window.) ) for assistance.

Garnishments, Support Orders, and IRS Lock Letters

Learn about the process and requirements for setting up and canceling statutory deductions.

When Montgomery College receives written documentation from any government agency regarding instructions to set up statutory deductions for garnishments or support orders, or from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regarding mandatory Federal withholding instructions known as lock letters, where employers are instructed to “lock” the maximum Federal withholding deductions until further notice, we cannot cancel the deduction(s) until we receive documentation from the issuing agency instructing us to cancel them.

Please contact the HR Help Desk at HRSTM@montgomerycollege.edu or 240-567-5353 if you have any questions. 


Frequently Asked Questions

General Payroll Information 
Montgomery College follows a biweekly payroll schedule which means our pay periods are two (2) weeks long and we are paid every two (2) weeks, or every other Friday. The pay period begins on Saturday and ends two (2) weeks later on Friday. Once the pay period closes, payroll is processed and we are paid for the closed pay period on the following Friday.
Our biweekly pay date will be adjusted for any holidays and College closures to the preceding business day.
Allowances are no longer used for the redesigned Form W-4 to increase transparency, simplicity, and accuracy. In the past, the value of a withholding allowance was tied to the amount of the personal exemption. Due to changes in law, currently you cannot claim personal exemptions or dependency exemptions.
Gross income is the amount of money earned before expenses,  deductions, and taxes have been applied. Net income is the amount of money employees take home in their paychecks after expenses, deductions, and taxes have been applied.
This question is related to the difference between gross and net pay. The difference in amounts is attributed to the amount of taxes being deducted and various other payroll deductions that apply. Your take-home pay is directly related to your benefits and retirement plan elections and your tax withholding elections. You can also use the IRS withholding estimator to see how your withholding elections affect your take-home pay.
Shift differential is an additional hourly rate that is added to an employee’s base hourly rate if they work during a specified shift. At Montgomery College, employees who work any portion of time between 10 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. are eligible to receive shift differential of $1.35 per hour worked.
The main reasons why the amounts on a final pay stub of the year and a Form W-2 may be different are:
  • The employee’s earnings included non-taxable income items like a vehicle allowance.
  • The employee participated in a company-sponsored retirement plan like a 403(b) and/or 457(b).
  • The employee participated in a company health insurance plan that is a pre-tax deduction.
The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor (DOL) enforces the Fair Labor and Standards Act (FLSA), which establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, and recordkeeping (i.e., time tracking) standards.
  • Non-exempt employees are eligible for overtime pay, hourly wages, and must complete a biweekly timesheet. As the name implies, they are not exempt from the requirements of this law and employers must comply. This means that once a non-exempt employee works over 40 hours per week, their employer must pay them at a rate of 1.5 times the employee’s hourly rate. Hourly employees are typically paid only for hours worked and are required to track all hours worked, often to a set increment of an hour, and use of accrued leave in a timesheet.
  • An exempt employee is not required to be paid overtime pay, is excluded from hourly minimum wage requirements, and are not required to complete a biweekly timesheet. As the name implies, these employees are also exempt from the requirements of hourly time tracking under FLSA. One of the main differences between exempt employees and non-exempt employees is that exempt employees receive fixed compensation or a salary for the work they perform, not for the specific number of hours worked, while non-exempt employees earn an hourly wage and are paid for hours worked.
There is a difference between what we are paid for and how we are paid. Even though the Payroll team processes payroll, what you are paid is managed through other functional teams in HRSTM. The Records, Compensation, Benefits, Absence, and HR Financial operations teams all either input data directly or audit employee-entered data which then flows through to payroll for processing and payment to employees. In addition, part-time faculty and WDCE instructor pay is entered.

If there is an error in pay, it is most likely that it stems from an issue in what the earnings and/or benefits deductions should be and therefore the payroll team is not always best suited to diagnose or correct the problem. In addition, hourly employee pay is driven by Time Entry and Time Off and therefore if hours are incorrect, Time Entry is the first place that employees check for errors that may have caused incorrect pay.

Please contact us by sending an email to the Payroll Services Team your concerns, and we would be happy to assist or connect you to the appropriate team for support.
Overtime
It depends. Only non-exempt (hourly) employees are eligible to earn overtime at the premium overtime rate of time and a half if they work more than 40 hours in a workweek. In addition, only certain time off types contribute to the 40-hour total, including holiday, civic/court attendance, and operational status change (OSC) time off hours and/or administrative leave hours. Only those hours actually worked, holiday hours, civic/court attendance hours, bereavement hours, and OSC hours authorized solely due to the emergency closing of the College shall be included in computing the 40-hour threshold for overtime premium pay purposes. For example, if an hourly employee is on annual time off for four (4) days and works 10 hours on the fifth day, they will be paid for all 10 hours but would not be eligible for overtime at the premium rate.
  • Overtime Straight is paid overtime that is equal to an employee’s hourly rate. OTS may occur if an employee has more than 40 hours in one week, but some of those hours are from time off.
  • Overtime Premium is paid overtime that is time and a half (x1.5) of an employee’s hourly rate. Hours will appear in the weekly summary as Overtime Premium when an employee has worked or worked and used a combination of eligible time off for more than 40 hours in one workweek.
  • Overtime Over Regular is typically only applicable to part-time employees and refers to hours worked over the regularly scheduled hours. Overtime over regular hours are paid at the normal hourly rate.
  • Overtime Hours will only appear for employees who are in a Short-Term Casual Temporary position. This is overtime type is equivalent to Overtime Over Regular and Overtime Premium, if applicable.
Deductions
There are two basic categories of paycheck withholdings: taxes and deductions.
  • For taxes, employees will potentially see Federal taxes, Social Security and Medicare taxes, and State and Local taxes.
  • For deductions, employees have pre-tax deductions for eligible health plan premiums and retirement contributions and post-tax deductions for other benefits plans, like life insurance and voluntary plans, and union dues. Some employees may also be required to pay additional taxes on tuition benefits that exceed the annual IRS limit.

 

Biweekly Payslips
Employees can access Payslips in Workday through the Pay app online and in the Workday mobile app. Employees can easily print Payslips to PDF to fulfil requests for this information. For detailed instructions on how to read your Payslip based on your employee type, please reference the Your Pay in Workday Guide (PDF, Get Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader.-Link opens in new window.) .
Payslips are available two (2) days before the scheduled pay date, which is typically by close of business on Wednesdays.
Employees hired before January 2022 can access Banner paystubs through MyMC under Employee Resources in Pay Information (Historical Data pre-2022). 

 

Annual Tax Statements (W-2 and 1095-C)
Annual tax statements for employee pay, known as Form W-2, are processed and mailed no later than January 31 each year for the previous tax year.
Employees can elect to receive an electronic copy only of their W-2, or to receive a paper and electronic copy of their W2 through the Workday Worklet Pay app.
Annual tax statements for health insurance, known as Form 1095-C, are processed and mailed no later than January 31 each year for the previous tax year.
Employees can elect to receive an electronic copy only of their 1095-C, or to receive a paper and electronic copy of their 1095C through the Workday Worklet Benefits app.
Through MyMC, employees hired before January 2022 can find annual tax forms under Annual Tax Statements (Historical Data pre-2022) in the Employee Resources section.

Employees in need of additional assistance for a W-2 form from a previous tax year, should contact the Payroll Team.

Employees in need of additional assistance for a 1095-C form from a previous tax year, should contact the Benefits Team.
Getting Paid (Live Checks vs. Direct Deposit)
Employees can access Payment Elections in Workday through the Worklet Pay app online. There are step-by-step instructions available in the Manage Payment Elections Job Aid (PDF, Get Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader.-Link opens in new window.) on how to sign up for direct deposit. (Esto también está disponible en español (PDF, Get Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader.-Link opens in new window.) .)
Employees can have up to three (3) accounts for payroll deposits and one (1) account for expense deposits.
Once accounts are added, employees can have Payment Elections for payroll payments into up to three (3) accounts and for expense payments into one (1) account. Payroll payments would include regular biweekly pay and any off-cycle payroll corrections. Expense payments would include any reimbursements requested through expense reports.
Direct deposit is an automatic clearing house (ACH) transaction that is a safe, proven, and confidential method of receiving a payment. With direct deposit, an employee can receive his or her paycheck via electronic transfer directly into a checking and/or savings account.

Additional benefits of using direct deposit include:

  • Timely depositing of checks, sometimes visible the day before the pay date
  • Reduced time required for checks to clear
  • Reduced chance of delayed delivery of checks and losing or having them stolen
  • No need to spend time visiting a bank or ATM to deposit checks
  • Payments can be divided automatically among multiple designated employee accounts 
There is no cost to employees for direct deposit. In fact, many banks offer free checking services to individuals who will be paid via direct deposit.
Payment Election requests are validated on a weekly basis. If Payment Elections are submitted by the Friday the weeks that timesheets are due, approved changes will take effect on the next pay date.
Live checks are printed prior to the pay date and mailed on the applicable pay date. Montgomery College has no control over the United States Postal Service and therefore cannot guarantee when employees will receive live checks by mail. Employees are strongly encouraged to enroll in direct deposit.
Montgomery College has no control over the United States Postal Service and therefore cannot guarantee when employees will receive live checks by mail. Employees receiving live paper checks must wait ten (10) delivery days before requesting a replacement check. Contact the Payroll Services Team for assistance with requesting a replacement check. 
Employees must complete their tax withholding elections in Workday through the Worklet Pay app. Under Actions, go to Withholding Elections. The page will default to the Federal tab, but employees should make sure they have an election for the Federal, State, and Local tabs, if applicable.
To avoid making a deposit into an inactive or erroneous account, your Payment Elections will be automatically deleted if you leave the College and are rehired at a later date. All rehired employees will be required to set up new Payment Elections to ensure they are correct.
Tax Withholdings
Employees must complete their tax withholding elections in Workday through the Worklet Pay app. Under Actions, go to Withholding Elections. The page will default to the Federal tab, but employees should make sure they have an election for the Federal, State, and Local tabs, if applicable. 
HRSTM cannot instruct employees how to complete their tax forms. Employees should consult a tax professional if they need specific advice regarding the correct tax withholding elections.
Your tax withholding elections will remain unchanged if you leave the College and are rehired at a later date. We encourage all rehired employees to review their tax withholding elections to ensure they are correct.
All student employees and workers are exempt from paying Social Security and Medicare when employed by a school, college, or university. View the IRS: Student Exception to FICA Tax website for more information.