Definitions

1042-S FORM

Form for Foreign Person’s U.S. Source Income Subject To Withholding issued to non-resident aliens for income received during a calendar year. 1042’s are mailed by the mid-March deadline.

ACADEMIC YEAR

This refers to the academic period from the start of the fall term through spring commencement.  It covers both Fall and Spring terms. 

ACCOUNT CODE

The third element of a Banner FOAPAL accounting string used to identify specific financial transactions.  Account codes define the type of activity taking place such as payroll expenses.

BANNER

The Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) relational database used by the University for its Human Resource, Payroll, Finance and Student functions, records and processing.  Its parent company is Ellucian.

CALENDAR YEAR

January 1 through December 31 for IRS and payroll purposes.

CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEE

Salaried employees whose positions are subject to the Virginia Personnel Act.

DEFAULT EARNINGS

This is a term that refers primarily to salaried employees and also for stipend payments where pay “default’s” into payroll processing.

DEFERRED PAY

An IRS accountable plan whereby employees with less than 12-month appointments, typically instructional faculty, are required to spread their pay over 12 months.  Example: for 9-month employees 25% of their paycheck is set aside then paid back to the employee over the summer months, June-August

DIRECT DEPOSIT

An employee’s net pay is deposited via ACH to their checking or savings account(s). A requirement for all university employees except Federal Work Study. Work study may enroll in direct deposit which is the preferred method. 

EMPLOYMENT CLASSIFICATION (E-CLASS / ECLS)

Employment classification designated in Banner by a specific code. Defines employment as student, graduate student, wage, exempt or non-exempt classified, administrative and professional and teaching and research faculty. The e-class also designates pay type (hourly or salaried) and defines the eligible earnings for each classification.

EARN CODE

A three-letter code that describes the pay type, such as REG for regular earnings, OT1 for overtime. Each earn code defaults to a corresponding labor account code.

EARNING STATEMENT

For employees with direct deposit, their pay statements are available in employee self-service on-line. Statements are accessed by signing into OneCampus.

ELIGIBLE EARNINGS

Earnings that are appropriate based on the employee classification. 

EXEMPT EMPLOYEE

Employees with this status are not eligible for overtime and are exempt from the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

FEDERAL WORK STUDY/WORK SCHOLARSHIP

The Federal Work-Study program provides part-time employment for undergraduate and graduate students with financial need while they are enrolled in school. These students can not earn more than their Federal Aid award.  The Work Scholarship program is University run and funded as a counterpart to Federal Work Study. These programs are administered by the Financial Aid Office.

FICA EXEMPT

Students enrolled at least half time, 6 credit hours, are exempt from FICA (Social Security and Medicare taxes) as are certain non-resident aliens.   Unless otherwise excluded by the IRS, everyone else is subject to FICA. FICA has an employee and employer component.

FISCAL YEAR

Financial period from July 1st through June 30th.

GRADUATE ASSISTANT (GA)

Graduate assistantships are used to recruit and retain full-time, quality students in graduate programs. The primary goal of assistantships is to provide a stipend to help graduate students reach their educational objectives by working within the University community.

INTERSESSION

A teaching appointment during the summer or winter session

LABOR DISTRIBUTION

Defines where an employee’s payroll expenses (earnings and deductions) are to be charged: specific fund, organization, account code and program with a corresponding percentage that must total 100%.

LEAVE REPORT

Exempt classified, administrative and professional faculty as well as 11 and 12-month teaching and research faulty employees submit only non-productive (leave) time on Leave Reports via Web Time Entry per the Leave Reports submission schedule. Leave Reports must be approved by the employee’s supervisor in accordance with the applicable schedule.

NONEXEMPT EMPLOYEE

Employees who fall within this category must be paid at least the federal minimum wage for each hour worked and given overtime pay of not less than one-and-a-half times their hourly rate for any hours worked beyond 40 each week. Non-exempt employees submit hours worked and leave taken electronically using Banner Web Time Entry.  Employees who fall within this category are eligible for overtime and subject to the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

NONRESIDENT ALIEN

A person who is not a U.S. citizen or resident alien.

PAY PERIOD

The inclusive calendar dates for which pay is issued.  Pay periods are from the 10th through the 24th of the month and 25th through the 9th of the month for salaried employees. Hourly employees have bi-weekly pay periods that fluctuate.

PAYDAY

The day on which pay is issued to employees.  Payday is generally on the 1st and 16th of the month for salaried employees unless the 1st and 16th occur on the weekend. Hourly employees are paid every other Friday.

STUDENT EMPLOYEE

An individual whose primary effort is directed toward receiving a formal education from Radford University and whose work effort is part-time and secondary in nature. 

TIMESHEET

Hourly wage employees and student hourly wage employees (including Work Study/Work Scholarship employees) complete a web time entry timesheet each pay period for their hours worked in order to be paid. Also includes paper timesheets submitted manually when web time entry deadlines are missed.  Timesheets must be approved by the employee’s supervisor in accordance with the applicable schedule.

W-2 FORM

IRS wage and tax statement form that summarizes an employee’s annual taxable wages and related compensation, income taxes, and certain payroll deductions in a calendar year.  W-2’s are required to be mailed by January 31 of each year.

W-4 FORM

IRS form filed by an employee with the Payroll department to claim withholding allowances for Federal income tax purposes. Many states also have an IRS form W-4 equivalent for state income tax withholding.

WEB TIME ENTRY

Hourly wage employees submit hours worked via Banner Web Time Entry (WTE) and supervisors must approve those hours according to the wage pay schedule. 

Last Updated: 6/23/2022