Retro pay

Sparkrock 365 provides the capability to process a retroactive (retro) payment to make up the difference between what the employee was paid and what was expected to be paid.

This can occur when salary is increased in the middle of a pay cycle, or if the employee assignment had an incorrect FTE or an incorrect pay rate.

Retro pay functionality exists for HR Requests with the following process types:

  • Additional Assignment

  • Details Change

  • New Hire

  • Rehire

  • Transfer

Negative retro payments can occur in cases where an employee was overpaid in previous pay periods.

Note

Incorrect allowance amounts and incorrect employment dates are not supported.

If any of the following conditions exist, retro pay cannot be processed on ledger entries:

  • Pay Grid Code, Pay Grade Code, or Pay Step are blank. When one of these fields is blank, Sparkrock 365 cannot determine the pay rate.

  • The Multiplier is zero. The Multiplier may be zero in cases where the employee is not being paid. Sparkrock 365 cannot calculate a retro pay when the employee was not paid, for example, a leave without pay.

  • An Allowance Code exists. Retro pay of allowance payments are not supported.

  • The Amount is zero. If an employee did not receive earnings, retro pay cannot be calculated.

  • An HR Request No. exists. Retro of One-Time Payments is not supported.

  • An Absence Incident No. exists. Sparkrock 365 does not consider a retro payment to a sub because the sub may get paid differently depending on whether the sub has worked a certain number of consecutive days.

  • If the ledger entry was generated from the Statutory Holiday Pay feature.

  • If the ledger entry is a payout record.

Negative retro pay setup

To enable negative retro pay validations, you must perform the following setup.

To set up negative retro pay

  1. Choose Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature., enter payroll codes, and then choose the related link.

    The Payroll Codes page opens.

  2. Ensure that the Payroll Code for which you want to set up negative retro pay is selected, and then on the action bar, choose Manage > Edit.

    The Payroll Code Setup Card page opens.

  3. On the Payroll Code FastTab, turn on Reverse Sign Allowed.

View employee assignments that require a retro payment

The Retro Pay Worksheet displays which employee assignments require a retro payment. If the lines in the Retro Pay Worksheet are processed, Sparkrock 365 creates a One-Time Payment HR Request. For a pay grid change, a Details Change HR Request is also created. For an incorrect FTE or salary amount, Sparkrock 365 only creates a One-Time Payment HR Request.

Lines can be manually added to the worksheet and any suggested amounts can be changed as required.

To view employee assignments that require a retro payment

  1. Choose Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature., enter retro pay worksheet, and then choose the related link.

    The Retro Pay Worksheet page opens.

  2. To populate the Retro Pay worksheet with data, on the action bar, choose Process > Load Lines.

    The Load Retro Pay Lines page opens. On the Load Retro Pay Lines page you can specify what type of retro pay is to be processed.

  3. In Cause of Retro Pay, specify one of the following allowable options:

    • Grid Change: Specify this option when one or more retro payments to be processed are the result of an assignment pay grid change.

      When you specify this option, Pay Grid Code, Retro Date, and Effective Date require a value.

    • Assignment Change: Specify this option when one or more retro payments to be processed are the result of assignment information changing outside of a pay grid change.

      When you specify this option, Pay Grid Code and Retro Date become read-only.

      This option includes functionality for the HR Request process type of Details Change and Transfer.

    • New Assignment: Specify this option when paperwork is submitted to HR after a delay and the employee has missed at least one pay period with that new assignment. Also, specify this option when paperwork is submitted to HR after a delay and the new employee or rehired employee has missed at least one pay period.

      This option includes functionality for the HR Request process types of Additional Assignment, New Hire, and Rehire.

  4. In Pay Grid, specify the pay grid for which a retro pay change has occurred.

  5. In Retro Date, specify the date the revised pay rates took effect.

  6. In Effective Date, specify the date for both the Calculation Start Date of the new HR employee assignment that is to be created upon processing of the details change HR requests as well as the Effective Date of the one-time payment HR requests. The date must coincide with a pay cycle period Starting Date.

  7. In School Year Start, to separate any retro pay amounts between the previous and current school years, specify the school year start date. If blank, Sparkrock 365 applies the entire retro pay amount to the current year.

  8. In Details HR Reason Code, specify the HR reason code to be used for the details change HR request that is to be created for the new pay rate.

  9. In One-Time HR Reason Code, specify the HR reason code to be used for the one-time payment HR request that is to be created to pay the employee the retro pay amount.

  10. In Retro HR Pay Code, specify the HR Pay Code to be used when creating the one-time payment HR requests.

  11. To clear out the retro pay batch before new data is loaded, turn on Clear Batch.

  12. Specify values for other fields as required.

Update status of Retro Pay Worksheet lines

On the Retro Pay Worksheet, you can update the Status of one or more selected lines to Reviewed. You can also update the Status of one or more selected lines from Reviewed to Open. To make changes to a Retro Pay Worksheet record, the Status must be Open.

To update the status of Retro Pay Worksheet lines to Reviewed

  1. Choose Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature., enter retro pay worksheet, and then choose the related link.

    The Retro Pay Worksheet page opens.

  2. Load lines.

  3. Select the records for which you want to update the Status to Reviewed.

    If you want to update the Status for all records, do not select any records.

  4. On the action bar, choose Process > Mark as Reviewed.

To update the status of Retro Pay Worksheet lines from Reviewed to Open

  1. Choose Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature., enter retro pay worksheet, and then choose the related link.

    The Retro Pay Worksheet page opens.

  2. Load lines.

  3. Select the records for which you want to update the Status from Reviewed to Open.

    If you want to update the Status for all records, do not select any records.

  4. On the action bar, choose Process > Reopen.

Process lines on the Retro Pay Worksheet

On the Retro Pay Worksheet, you can process all lines or process selected lines.

To process all Retro Pay Worksheet lines

  1. Choose Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature., enter retro pay worksheet, and then choose the related link.

    The Retro Pay Worksheet page opens.

  2. Load lines.

  3. On the action bar, choose Process > Process All Lines.

    The Process HR Request Worksheet page opens.

  4. To specify that HR requests are to be created, turn on Create HR Requests.

  5. To specify that HR requests are to be created for only reviewed lines, turn on Create Only for Reviewed.

  6. To specify that HR requests are to be processed after they are created, turn on Process All Steps.

  7. To specify that the Status of HR requests is to be changed to Completed after they are processed, turn on Move to Completed Status.

  8. Choose OK.

To process selected retro pay worksheet lines

  1. Choose Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature., enter retro pay worksheet, and then choose the related link.

    The Retro Pay Worksheet page opens.

  2. Load lines.

  3. Select the lines that you want to process.

  4. On the action bar, choose Process > Process Selected Lines.

    The Process HR Request Worksheet page opens.

  5. To specify that HR Requests are to be created, turn on Create HR Requests.

  6. To specify that HR Requests are to be created for only reviewed lines, turn on Create Only for Reviewed.

  7. To specify that HR Requests are to be processed after they are created, turn on Process All Steps.

  8. To specify that the Status of HR requests is to be changed to Completed after they are processed, turn on Move to Completed Status.

  9. Choose OK.

Split retro pay amounts

You can split retro pay amounts into a new amount or you can split retro pay amounts over multiple pay periods. The split retro pay amounts over multiple pay periods functionality is useful for scenarios where a negative retro pay amount is greater than the pay for one pay period.

To split retro pay amounts into a new amount

  1. Choose Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature., enter retro pay worksheet, and then choose the related link.

    The Retro Pay Worksheet page opens.

  2. Load lines.

  3. Select the lines that you want to split.

  4. On the action bar, choose Process > Split Line.

    The Split Retro Pay Worksheet Lin page opens.

  5. In Split Type, choose New Amount.

  6. In Split Effective Date, specify the effective date for the new one-time payment.

  7. In Amount to Split, specify the amount to split from the current one-time payment to another one-time payment with a new effective date.

  8. Choose OK.

To split retro pay amounts over multiple pay periods

  1. Choose Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature., enter retro pay worksheet, and then choose the related link.

    The Retro Pay Worksheet page opens.

  2. Load lines.

  3. Select the lines that you want to split.

  4. On the action bar, choose Process > Split Line.

    The Split Retro Pay Worksheet Lin page opens.

  5. In Split Type, choose By Pay Cycle Periods.

  6. In No. of Pay Cycle Periods, specify the number of pay cycle periods that the current amount is to be split.

  7. Choose OK.

Process retro pay for a pay grid change

Sparkrock 365 provides the capability to process retro pay in the event of a pay grid change.

To process retro pay for a pay grid change

  1. Choose Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature., enter pay grids, and then choose the related link.

    The Pay Grids page opens.

  2. Select the pay grid that you want to copy, and then on the action bar, choose Copy.

    The Copy Pay Grid page opens.

  3. Specify values as required, and then on the action bar, choose OK.

    A new HR Pay Grid is created based on the values that were specified.

  4. Choose Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature., enter retro pay worksheet, and then choose the related link.

    The Retro Pay Worksheet page opens.

  5. Load lines.

    For a grid change, two lines are created for each employee. One line is to pay the employee the calculated retro pay amount. The other line is to create a Details Change HR Request for the new salary amount based on the changes to the pay grid.

  6. Review the data in the worksheet. If the entries are correct, to create the related HR Requests, perform one of the following steps:

    • To process selected lines, select the records that you want to process, and then on the action bar, choose Process > Process Selected Lines.

    • To process all lines, on the action bar, choose Process > Process All Lines.

    The Process HR Request Worksheet page opens.

    Perform the following steps:

    1. To specify that HR Requests are to be created, turn on Create HR Requests.
    2. To specify that HR Requests are to be created for only reviewed lines, turn on Create Only for Reviewed.
    3. To specify that HR Requests are to be processed after that are created, turn on Process All Steps.
    4. To specify that the Status of HR Requests is to be changed to Completed after they are processed, turn on Move to Completed Status.
    5. Choose OK.
      After lines are processed, a dialog box appears and displays the number of HR Requests that were created. For a grid change scenario, each employee has a Details Change HR Request and a One-Time Payment HR Request created.
    6. To close the dialog box, choose OK.
      Processed lines are removed from the Retro Pay Worksheet.

  7. Choose Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature., enter hr requests, and then choose the related link.

    The HR Requests page opens.

  8. Process the HR Requests that were created as per your normal process.

    One-Time Payment HR Requests must have a Status of Completed to be eligible for processing in the Compensation Journal.

  9. Process payroll as per your normal process.

Process retro pay for a FTE change

Sparkrock 365 provides the capability to process retro pay for a FTE change.

Consider the following example that illustrates a situation where retro pay must be processed for a FTE change:

An employee was hired on October 15, 2020 with an Active FTE of 1.0. It was realized later that the employee should have been hired with an Active FTE of 0.8. When the incorrect FTE was realized, a Details Change HR Request was created with an Effective Date of November 15, 2020. The Details Change HR Request was processed to reduce the Active FTE from 1.0 to 0.8. On the HR Request-Details Change page, on the Payroll FastTab, Retro to be Calculated was turned on. The employee hire date of October 15, 2020 was entered in Retro Date. The processing of the Details Change HR Request caused a retro pay adjustment to be created for the processed payrolls between October 15, 2020 and November 15, 2020.

To process retro pay for an FTE change

  1. Choose Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature., enter retro pay worksheet, and then choose the related link.

    The Retro Pay Worksheet page opens.

  2. Load lines.

    When you load lines, the Effective Date, represents the start of the pay period where the retro payment is to occur.

  3. Review the data in the worksheet. If the entries are correct, to create the related HR Requests, perform one of the following steps:

    • To process selected lines, select the records that you want to process, and then on the action bar, choose Process > Process Selected Lines.

    • To process all lines, on the action bar, choose Process > Process All Lines.

    The Process HR Request Worksheet page opens. Perform the following steps:

    1. To specify that HR Requests are to be created, turn on Create HR Requests.
    2. To specify that HR Requests are to be created for only reviewed lines, turn on Create Only for Reviewed.
    3. To specify that HR Requests are to be processed after that are created, turn on Process All Steps.
    4. To specify that the Status of HR Requests is to be changed to Completed after they are processed, turn on Move to Completed Status.
    5. Choose OK.
      After lines are processed, a dialog box appears and displays the number of HR Requests that were created.
    6. To close the dialog box, choose OK.
      Processed lines are removed from the Retro Pay Worksheet.

  4. Choose Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature., enter hr requests, and then choose the related link.

    The HR Requests page opens.

  5. Process the HR Requests that were created as per your normal process.

    One-Time Payment HR Requests must have a Status of Completed to be eligible for processing in the compensation journal.

  6. Choose Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature., enter compensation journal, and then choose the related link.

    If required, select a Compensation Journal template, and then choose OK.

    The Compensation Journal page opens.

  7. Load lines for the payroll where the employee is to receive their retro payment.

  8. Process payroll as per your normal process.

Process retro pay for an incorrect salary amount

Sparkrock 365 provides the capability to process retro pay for an incorrect salary amount.

Consider the following example that illustrates a situation where retro pay must be processed for an incorrect salary amount:

An employee was hired on October 1, 2020 with a salary amount that was later determined to be too low. Several payrolls were already processed with the incorrect amount. A Details Change HR Request was created with an Effective Date of November 16, 2020. This date represents the next payroll to be processed at the correct salary amount. The Details Change HR Request was processed to increase the salary amount. On the HR Request-Details Change page, on the Payroll FastTab, Retro to be Calculated was turned on. The employee hire date of October 1, 2020 was entered in Retro Date. The creation of the Details Change HR Request causes a retro pay adjustment to be created for the payrolls between October 1, 2020 and November 16, 2020.

To process retro pay for an incorrect salary amount

  1. Choose Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature., enter retro pay worksheet, and then choose the related link.

    The Retro Pay Worksheet page opens.

  2. Load lines.

    When you load lines, the Effective Date, represents the start of the pay period where the retro payment is to occur.

  3. Review the data in the worksheet. If the entries are correct, to create the related HR Requests, perform one of the following steps:

    • To process selected lines, select the records that you want to process, and then on the action bar, choose Process > Process Selected Lines.

    • To process all lines, on the action bar, choose Process > Process All Lines.

    The Process HR Request Worksheet page opens. Perform the following steps:

    1. To specify that HR Requests are to be created, turn on Create HR Requests.
    2. To specify that HR Requests are to be created for only reviewed lines, turn on Create Only for Reviewed.
    3. To specify that HR Requests are to be processed after that are created, turn on Process All Steps.
    4. To specify that the Status of HR Requests is to be changed to Completed after they are processed, turn on Move to Completed Status.
    5. Choose OK.
      After lines are processed, a dialog box appears and displays the number of HR Requests that were created.
    6. To close the dialog box, choose OK.
      Processed lines are removed from the Retro Pay Worksheet.

  4. Choose Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature., enter hr requests, and then choose the related link.

    The HR Requests page opens.

  5. Process the HR Requests that were created as per your normal process.

    One-Time Payment HR Requests must have a Status of Completed to be eligible for processing in the compensation journal.

  6. Choose Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature., enter compensation journal, and then choose the related link.

    If required, select a Compensation Journal template, and then choose OK.

    The Compensation Journal page opens.

  7. Load lines for the payroll where the employee is to receive their retro payment.

  8. Process payroll as per your normal process.

Record of Employment (ROE) for retro pay

The Record of Employment (ROE) creation process accounts for cases where an employee has retro pay entries. In cases where employees receive retro pay, the ROE creation uses the actual days that were worked.

The following scenarios demonstrate how ROE detail lines appear.

Scenario 1:

  • Employee was hired on 10/31/2021.

  • 3 pays were processed.

  • Employee was terminated on 12/12/2021.

In this scenario, the ROE details lines appear as displayed in the following table.

Start Date End Date Amount
11/28/2021 12/11/2021 $1,837.18
11/14/2021 11/27/2021 $1,837.18
10/31/2021 11/13/2021 $1,837.18
$145.00

Scenario 2:

  • Employee was hired on 11/14/2021.

  • Retro date is 10/31/2021.

  • 2 pays were processed. The first pay includes retro pay for the pay that was missed.

  • Employee was terminated on 12/12/2021.

In this scenario, the ROE details lines appear as displayed in the following table.

Start Date End Date Amount
11/28/2021 12/11/2021 $1,837.18
11/14/2021 11/27/2021 $3,049.34
$95.00

Retro pay detail entries

After lines are processed on the Retro Pay Worksheet page, retro pay detail entries are available for you to view from the following pages:

  • HR Request-One Time Payment

  • Compensation Journal

  • Compensation Ledger Entries

To view retro pay detail entries from the HR Request-One Time Payment page, on the action bar, choose Retro Pay Detail Entries.

To view retro pay detail entries from the Compensation Journal page, select the applicable retro pay line, and then on the action bar, choose Related > Retro Pay Detail Entries.

To view retro pay detail entries from the Compensation Ledger Entries page, select the applicable retro pay line, and then on the action bar, choose Related > Retro Pay Detail Entries.

Default dates based on Retro Date

For HR requests where the Cause of Retro is equal to New Assignment, several date fields are automatically updated when a retro date is specified. For example, on the Details page of an HR request where the Process Type is equal to New Hire, Rehire, or Additional Assignment, when a value is specified in the Retro Date field, the following date fields on the HR request are updated automatically with the retro date:

  • Assignment Start Date

  • Benefit Eligibility Date or Effective Date on the Employee Benefits FastTab

  • Vacation Credit Date

  • Seniority Date

    The Seniority Date is only updated in cases where it is automatically populated.

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