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Proposed Pay Cycle Standardization

The University of California has embarked on a plan to deploy a single payroll and HRIS system across all 10 campuses and five medical centers. The UCPath Initiative is among the highest priorities for UC as part of the “Working Smarter” Initiative, allowing UC to pay all employees from a single university-wide payroll system that meets the core needs of each location while capturing the efficiencies, improved data, and cost savings associated with a unified system.

The project implementation will be executed in several “waves.” UCLA along with UCOP, UC Merced, and UC Santa Cruz have been selected as early adopter/first wave implementers of the new system with a targeted “go-live” date of July 2013. One of the guiding principles of the UCPath Initiative is to achieve sustainable long-term cost savings by standardizing and simplifying common business processes system-wide. One key business process that has been identified is standardized pay cycles.

The following pay cycles are proposed:

Pay Cycle Employees Paid 
MonthlyAcademic Appointees, Exempt Staff (Campus), By-Agreement, Post-Doctoral Scholars
BiweeklyNon-exempt Staff (Campus), Health System staff, Per Diem Employees, Temporary Employees

Many UCLA employees are already on the above schedules and will continue to be paid on their current pay cycle. For example, academic appointees and exempt staff will remain on monthly pay schedules. Additionally, most employees in the UCLA Health System are already paid on a biweekly schedule and will remain on that schedule. However, campus-based non-exempt employees who are currently paid on a monthly schedule will be transitioned to a biweekly pay schedule. The biweekly pay cycle is specifically designed to track hours worked and overtime for non-exempt employees based on actual hours worked. Overtime payments will be timely, and vacation and sick leave balances will be current.

The timing of the biweekly conversion is important in regard to advance preparation for implementation of the new Payroll/Personnel replacement system. The goal is to convert monthly paid non-exempt employees to the biweekly pay cycle effective July 1, 2012. For non-exempt employees, the last monthly payday will be June 29, 2012, and the first biweekly payday will be July 18, 2012.

The proposed pay cycle change will affect non-exempt policy-covered (non-represented) employees only. For exclusively represented employees, unions are being notified of the proposed changes, which are subject to requirements of the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA).

There will be upcoming information sessions so that employees included in this proposed change can plan ahead and review their personal budget needs. Details on the new schedule, deductions, accruals, and automatic withdrawals from paychecks will be covered in these sessions. In addition, an online payroll calculator that determines biweekly earnings will be available soon. The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) in Related Information contain helpful information for employees. Instructions will also be provided to EDB preparers.

If you have any questions, contact Manager Irma Arellano, Payroll Services at iarellan@finance.ucla.edu.