PAYROLL DEPARTMENT

Mission Statement

Overview

Atlanta Public Schools uses the Lawson Financial software to manage the payroll functions and the UKG system to manage the time and attendance functions.   Before an employee can be paid, the employee must be entered in the Lawson system by the Human Resources Department.  Once an employee is entered, an employee number will be generated by the system and passed to UKG via an interface.  The employee must also be enrolled in the UKG system via a biometric finger scan.  If the employee is not enrolled in both Lawson and UKG the employee is unable to clock in and the timekeeper is unable to enter time and attendance in the system. This will impact the employee being paid timely.  It is the responsibility of the Payroll Department to:

• provide professional, high-quality, timely and reliable customer service to the employees of the school district and vendors relating to liabilities
• promote the use of electronic methods for transactions and payments to employees
• maintain compliance with changing government policies and laws pertaining to employment and taxation

Pay Days

The Atlanta Public Schools pays its employees bi-monthly.  The pay period from the 1st through the 15th of the month is paid on the 30th or 31st of the month.  The pay period from the 16th through the end of the month is paid on the 15th of the following month.  If the pay date falls on the weekend, the pay date will be on the preceding Friday.  The department publishes these days at the beginning of the school year.

Paperless Pay

The Atlanta Public Schools pays its employees by electronic funds transfer.  It is the responsibility of the employee to notify the Payroll Department if there are changes to the account on file and to provide the information for a new account.  Employees can make changes via employee self-service (ESS), which will be populated in the Lawson Payroll system or an employee can submit changes to the Payroll Department five (5) business days before the end of the pay period to be effective in that pay period.  If the employee does not have a checking or savings account, the district’s primary bank will open an account for the employee.  If the employee does not qualify for an account under this program, the bank has the pay card option for which the employee can complete an application.  The Payroll Department can provide information regarding these programs.

Time and Attendance

The Atlanta Public Schools time and attendance system is UKG.  Each employee will utilize the biometric system to enter time of arrival and or departure where applicable per policy and procedures.  The system will require each principal/ budget center manager to designate a timekeeper for the school or department.  Time and attendance can be entered any time during the pay period except for the “black out” periods per the schedule published by the Payroll Department.  All time and attendance must be approved and signed off in UKG by 9:00 am on the 1st or 16th (next business day).

• Timekeeper must review and monitor timecards daily to ensure no abuse or incorrect punches.
• Timekeeper must “approve” timecards prior to mandatory signoff.
• Principal/Budget Center Manager must review timecards prior to mandatory signoff to ensure accuracy and timely paychecks.
• Principal/Budget Center Manger must “sign off” timecards prior to mandatory signoff.

Exception based pay system 

Lawson is the payroll system that will calculate the pay for each employee each pay cycle.  The exception time (leave and overtime) will come from UKG to Lawson for employees with an “AF” status.  All other employees’ punches and time will come over from UKG.

Payroll Initiated Deductions from Pay

The employee will be notified in writing of any planned deduction from his/her pay.  The reason for the deduction, the amount, the effective pay period, and the number of periods will be provided.  The Payroll Program Director or Executive Director will authorize the deduction by signing the Authorization for Payroll Deduction.

If My Pay Is Not Correct

If your pay is not correct, please contact your principal/budget center manager to determine if your time was entered correctly.  If your time was entered correctly, the budget center manager will contact the representative in Payroll to determine if there was an error in your pay.  If there was an error, the payroll representative will inform the principal/budget center manager when you can expect the correction to be made.

One-Time Payments

Approved one-time payment requests must be received by the Payroll Department by the close of business on the last day of the pay period unless otherwise stated.  An excel spreadsheet must also be submitted to payroll in order to upload the data in the system.

Payroll Contact Info