Payroll Schedule Guidelines

Each pay period contains 21 or 22 normal workdays. Normal work days are Monday through Friday, including holidays during the work week. The work week is Sunday to Saturday. Beginning and ending dates of each pay period are defined by the California Department of Finance. Most employees work the standard State work schedule, Monday through Friday, 8 hours per day. 

“Alternate” work week schedule s are typically 8 hour day schedules on days that are outside the standard State work schedule.  An example of an alternate work week schedule is Sunday – Thursday, 8 hours per day.

 “Compressed” work schedules are standard hours worked over a compressed number of days in the respective work week period. Compressed patterns include 4/10, 9/80, and 3/12 work schedules and may require a one or two week work period.

Employee work schedules that deviate from the standard State work schedule (Monday – Friday 8 hours/day) must have approval in advance from their appropriate administrator. Documentation for these approved schedules must be on file in Payroll prior to the effective date of the alternate and/or compressed work week schedule. This is to ensure that employees earn the correct compensated time such as Additional Day Off, Holiday Credit, Excess Hours or other compensation due them based on their respective Collective Bargaining Agreement. Non-faculty, part time employees that do not deviate from the standard State work schedule (Monday – Friday, same number of hours worked on each day) are not required to submit a Notice of Work Schedule form.

A Standard State Schedule Matrix has been created to help part time employees and departments know what is the standard State work schedule based on the employee‟s time base. Non-faculty, part time employees on an alternate and/or compressed work schedule (do not work the same number of hours Monday - Friday) are required to submit a Notice of Work Schedule form.

Schedule changes should be made at the beginning of a State pay period. Exceptions to this are by Vice President approval only. Reasons for work schedule changes include special projects, organizational business needs, or reasonable accommodations. Employee's must be notified when a permanent work schedule is changing.

The notification period depends on the collective bargaining agreement of the employee. Department Administrators are responsible for complying with the notification requirements and will sign the Notice of Work Schedule form.

That this notification has occurred as specified in the employee‟s collective bargaining agreement. The signed Notice of Work Schedule form will be the written notification and will be stored in the employee's Payroll file.

If the notification period is being waived, the employee should initial the statement stating this on the form.  This form is necessary to change the employee to an alternate and/or compressed work schedule and to return the employee to the standard State work schedule.

 Refer to the appropriate Collective Bargaining Agreement for additional information about when and how notice should occur.

All leave accrual and usage is tracked in the Absence Management Self Service (AMSS) system for all staff, management and twelve month faculty.

This allows for employees to enter their own leave information and allows for online approvals by the lead/supervisor/appropriate administrator. This includes vacation, sick, personal holidays, and any other time that was previously tracked on the absence report. Absences should be charged according to the number of hours an employee is normally scheduled to work on a particular day. The Absence Report form may still be used when Payroll determines it is necessary.

Employee's are responsible for monitoring their own leave entry, accruals and usage. AMSS allows employees, their college/department and their lead/supervisor/appropriate administrator access to view/monitor leave details and balances.

For more information about leave/absence reporting review the Leave/Absence Reporting document.