Report on deposit issues for WVU Nov.24 payroll

On Friday, Nov. 24, many West Virginia University employees did not receive their expected direct payroll deposits. Instead, it was as late as Monday before deposits hit bank accounts.

The University investigated the reasons behind the delay, and once they were discovered, implemented measures to eliminate payroll delays in the future. This report outlines what happened and the steps taken to remedy the situation and prevent it in the future.

Background

Under an arrangement with the State Auditor and State Treasurer, the University is responsible for submitting to the state all information necessary for the wvOASIS system to process WVU’s payroll. The University is also responsible for confirming information has successfully been processed so that employees are paid as expected.

Payroll Preparation

The Nov. 24 payroll submission, which involved more than 15,000 accounts, was sent to the wvOASIS system on Nov. 16. The submission contains employee information; amounts to be paid; and a designation as to the employer, WVU or WVU-Parkersburg, for each employee.

The Glitch

The problem began as a result of one missing piece of information for the accounts of two employees. This lack of information caused the system to stop processing the payroll submission once the system hit one of the blank cells in the data file. This error also revealed that the University did not have enough reconciliation procedures following submission of payroll data to the state to confirm all employees would be paid.

Here’s what we found:

When individuals leave employment at the University and become employees of the WVU Research Corp., those individuals are no longer paid by the state. The information WVU submitted for the pay period reflected in the paychecks of Nov. 24 included employees who moved to the Research Corp. during the cycle. Since they were no longer WVU employees, the payroll submission left the employer designation blank in two spots.

Therefore, a single piece of information was absent for two accounts (out of more than 15,000) in the submission. All information for the remaining accounts was complete.

When the wvOASIS system reached the first blank line for the employer designation, it concluded the submission was incomplete and stopped processing altogether, leaving approximately 11,500 accounts unprocessed.

Even though the wvOASIS system was designed to identify a significant number of errors, and to send error messages to agencies as appropriate, this particular error was not one that had been anticipated.

 WVU received information from wvOASIS indicating it had processed WVU’s submission.

Importantly, there were two files returned to WVU from wvOASIS that did contain information that, had it been fully analyzed, would have shown that only a portion of the payroll was properly processed.

The University checked to make sure that the wvOASIS system had not sent any error messages. It had not. However, the additional step to compare what was sent to the state with what had been processed was not taken. Instead, the University relied on the confirmation that the wvOASIS system had processed the submission without any errors and believed that everything had been processed.

 Additional reconciliation measures should have been taken.

 Other Factors

As it turned out, there were two issues affecting payroll on Nov. 24. The Automated Clearing House vendor used by some banks was having its own problems causing delays in direct deposits for a number of employers, including WVU. WVU was informed on Friday morning that the problem would be resolved (and it was) by mid-morning on Friday. Thus, for a short time, it appeared the issue affecting WVU payroll had been identified and was being resolved.

However, it was soon realized there was a larger problem when members of the wvOASIS team found that most of our payroll submission had not been processed. At that time, several individuals from the state and WVU worked quickly to identify and resolve the issue, and the corrected payroll information was resubmitted through the wvOASIS system. Unfortunately, it became clear Friday afternoon that the delay for payroll deposit transactions would extend to Monday for many employees.

Good Partners

Once it became clear that the payroll issues would not be resolved that day, the University took action to notify employees. It also worked with many financial institutions to let them know of the issue and asked that they work with the University to limit any impact on employees. An 800 number and an email address were established on Friday and connected directly to the University’s payroll director throughout the weekend.

Each of the financial institutions responded positively, with one quickly providing the University with a small amount of cash to help employees with immediate needs. During the weekend, the University advanced approximately $2,500 to employees in need.

West Virginia’s State Auditor, State Treasurer, their staffs, and employees from wvOASIS were instrumental in solving the problem quickly and are owed thanks for their efforts.

By Monday afternoon, it was believed that all payroll issues had been resolved, and no further issues were discovered. Information was then shared on how employees could seek reimbursement from the University for late fees, penalties and overdraft charges caused by the payroll error.

Next Steps

In sum, there was an anomaly resulting in the payroll submission to the state containing two blank lines. The University did not have enough reconciliation processes to have identified the incomplete run of the payroll.

As a result, the following measures have been developed to ensure that any issues are identified and to put the University in the best position to resolve those issues prior to payday.

Specifically, the University has taken the following actions:

1.      Whenever there is any doubt as to employer, the payroll submission will default to listing WVU as the employer, eliminating the possibility of a blank employer submission.

2.      When WVU provides a payroll submission to the wvOASIS system, the University will confirm not only that the submission was processed, but that all documents and data submitted were processed (for example, if 12,300 accounts are submitted, we will confirm that 12,300 accounts are received and processed). This check will usually occur on the Monday before the scheduled pay date.

3.      After the wvOASIS system has processed the documents and submitted payroll information for payment to the State Treasurer, WVU will confirm the number of accounts paid and the total amount of payroll processed. (For example, if 12,300 accounts for $13,245,400.65 of payroll are submitted, it will be confirmed with wvOASIS that 12,300 accounts were submitted for a total payroll of $13,245,400.65). This will usually occur on the Wednesday before payroll.

 Therefore, the University will not only confirm that there are no error messages relating to a submission, it will take additional steps to confirm the entire submission has been processed, including the number and amounts. This reconciliation after submission to wvOASIS should eliminate situations like these occurring in the future.

 As it relates to the payroll for Dec. 8, the above measures were implemented and no errors were found. Everyone should see a pending paycheck direct deposit on Friday, assuming there are no issues with financial institutions.

In Conclusion

This was only the fourth time this process was run and like with any new system, unexpected issues can arise. Those issues have now been corrected.

It is hoped that this information is helpful and individuals feel reassured that the actions the University has taken will minimize the chance that a payroll delay could ever happen again.

Thank you for your patience and understanding during a very trying incident for all.