The Pennsylvania State University - Administrative Information Services, a unit of Information Technology Services

Termination (TRMN) Details

Click on the question to display the answer.

I’m processing a termination for a staff employee who is retiring. Why is the form asking me to put in an Emeritus Title?

Policy HR-25 defines the emeritus rank, which is normally granted to Professors and Associate Professors in Standing Appointments who meet certain age and/or length of service criteria. The Emeritus fields appear, however, on the Workflow Termination form for all retirements because the President can grant an exception for other academic ranks or other employee classes. If the employee has not been approved for Emeritus status, then simply skip those fields.

Why can’t I enter the full Emeritus Rank Title in the Workflow Termination form for a retired faculty member?

Although the Workflow Termination form is a Web-based process, the data feeds into the existing IBIS database, where the current storage capacity for the Emeritus Title is just 28 characters. Hence, the limitation on what you can enter on the Workflow Termination form remains, at this time, identical to what could be entered on the IBIS Termination form.

How do I select the date to use as the Termination Date in the Workflow Termination Form?

The Termination Date should be the last day on which the employee is/was a Penn State employee.

Questions about which date to use as the Termination Date should be referred to your unit Human Resources Representative. With some retirements, consultation with the Employee Benefits Office is also useful.

I processed a retirement for a staff employee, but it was just rejected by the Office of Human Resources for having the incorrect termination type. Why was this rejected?

In this situation, the Office of Human Resources determined that the employee did not meet the qualifications to formally retire with benefits. Selecting RETIRE as the Termination Type and Reason changes the employee’s status in the database to RET, which means the employee is qualified to receive benefits in retirement. Therefore, the termination type in this case would be Voluntary, and the code in the database would simply be TER, or terminated, and the employee would not receive benefits. The employee may regard his leaving Penn State as a retirement, but, technically, it is a resignation.

It is advisable, whenever an employee announces that he/she intends to retire, for the submitter to review with his/her Human Resources Representative and with the Benefits Division, if necessary, in advance of processing the Termination form, to ensure that the correct choice has been made.

When do I check the box “Modify Rates” on the Workflow Termination Form?

Only a few situations will require this feature. If a terminating faculty member or Fixed Term II faculty or exempt staff member received a change in salary during the current appointment period, then the final rate of pay will not be accurate for the entire appointment/contract period. In these situations, it is advisable to do a spreadsheet to map the rate of pay over the course of the appointment period/contract and to calculate a rate of pay that accommodates the change.

Additionally, employees with a reduced FTE percentage on a phased retirement, or those with odd Salary Plans, may need to modify the rates in order to manually insert a correct weekly/monthly rate. 

Questions about calculating rates of pay should be directed to the unit HR Representative or the Financial Officer. 

When would I use the Retroactive Pay and Overpayment sections in the Workflow Termination Form?

An Overpayment may occur when a staff or technical service employee has utilized No Pay Days in the final pay period or the immediate prior pay period. Retroactive Pay occurs if an underpayment is detected in a previous pay period. These are relatively rare occurrences. 

Questions about the Retroactive Pay and Overpayment sections should be directed to the unit HR Representative or the Financial Officer.

Where do I enter Shift Differential, Overtime, or Holiday pay for a staff or technical service employee on the Workflow Termination Form?

If these or other special payments are involved, then the user must process a SLPY form in IBIS for staff members or a BIPY form in IBIS for technical service employees to arrange for the additional pay. SLPY or BIPY forms can be processed at the same time as the Workflow Termination form, and the payment will be included in the employee’s final pay. 

What do I put into the Death Benefit field on the Workflow Termination form?

The Death Benefit field will appear only if Deceased is chosen as the Termination Type. Policy HR-53 defines the Deceased employee’s final salary payment. Note, however, that an individual who dies while on a leave without pay may not be eligible for the death benefit. The work unit Human Resources Representative should confer with the Benefits Division prior to completing the termination form.

An employee would like their vacation payoff in the next pay period rather than this pay period (Termination Date), but I don't see the buttons for this option. What am I doing wrong?

The option to choose to have the vacation payoff Paid Next Period rather than Paid This Period is only given to terminating employees with Termination Type - Retired.

How do I let Payroll know that a retiring employee wants his payoff for vacation a month later?

The Workflow Termination form has buttons that can be clicked in the Payoff for Earned Time Off section that say “Pay This Period” or “Pay Next Period.” Clicking “Pay Next Period” will inform Payroll to hold vacation and sick leave payout until the next pay period.

Our work unit requires that we provide information to our Financial Officer about the budgets and funds to be used for the final pay of someone working on a research grant. Where can we enter this information?

The Termination Information/Explanation section contains an input field labeled Budget Information. Enter the information there.

Where do I get information on calculating Final Pay for paycheck adjustments?

Please see the examples in the Termination User Guide for calculating final pay.

Who do I talk with if I have questions about the calculation of Final Pay for paycheck adjustments?

Questions about the calculation of final pay should be reviewed with the unit Human Resources Representative or Financial Officer prior to submitting the form. 

How do I calculate final pay for a faculty member?

The basic formula is: (Weekly Rate of Pay times the Number of Weeks Completed on the Contract) minus (Pay Already Received prior to the Final Pay Period) plus (Daily Rate of Pay times Odd Days) equals Final Pay.

The Weekly Rate is automatically determined by dividing the contract salary by the length of the contract. The Pay Already Received is equal to the regular monthly amount paid out prior to the final month. The Daily Rate is determined by dividing the Weekly Rate by 7 Days.

If the employee is on a 36 week contract, paid over 12 months, then a termination date early in the contract period could result in a negative number. If the termination date occurs at the end of the contract period, but before the 12 months is complete, then the final pay will be larger than a regular monthly pay check.

However, if a salary adjustment was received by the employee in the midst of the contract period, then the Weekly Rate will not be accurate. It is strongly recommended that the user use a spreadsheet to map pay earned and pay received for the entire contract in order to calculate a Weekly Rate that takes into account the old and new rates. The user should then Disable Formulas and plug in the new rate in order to obtain an accurate final pay.

Note that Supplemental Pay is not included in determination of the employee’s final pay in a Workflow Termination form. Note that there are a handful of exceptions to the basic formula described above. Questions about the calculation of final pay for faculty members should be reviewed with the unit Human Resources Representative or Financial Officer prior to submitting the form. 

How do I calculate final pay for a staff member?

Final Pay for staff members is calculated by using the Workday Percentage Factor in GURU (Hourly Rate times Workday Percentage Factor equals Final Pay). The system provides the regular monthly rate of pay, the user determines how many days (8-hour days) the employee worked in the final pay period and enters that value into the calculator in GURU and then copies the resulting factor into the formula on the Workflow Termination Form. The system calculates the final pay amount.

The only circumstance when this formula may not work accurately would involve an individual with an unusual work schedule, such as one who works four ten-hour days each week or someone whose work hours included weekend time. In some of these cases, the Workday Percentage Factor can still be used, although the user needs to be careful to map the number of hours actually worked in the final pay period. Please talk to your Human Resources Representative or Financial Officer if you have any difficulty with this.

Note that the Workflow Termination form has a field to deduct No Pay Days and another to accommodate Retroactive Payments, although these situations are extremely rare. If the employee is owed overtime or other special pay, the user must process a SLPY form in IBIS.

How do I calculate final pay for a staff member on an HR88 appointment?

There are two kinds of HR88 appointments: appointments that work at a reduced level of effort over 12 months and appointments that work less than 12 months per year. Each case uses a separate final pay calculation method. If the position is an HR88 one, then the user will be asked “Is work schedule less than 12 months/year?”

  1. Employee works 12 months per year, with a reduced number of hours

    If the answer is “No,” then the final pay section will look like that for staff members with regular 40 hour work schedules. The HR88 employee’s work during the final pay period will need to be converted to 8 hour days (add up the total number of hours worked and divide by 8), and then can be entered into the GURU Workday Percentage Factor calculator. The resulting factor can be cut and pasted into the Workflow Termination form and then multiplied by the employee’s regular hourly rate to calculate the appropriate final pay. 
  2. ii.  Employee works less than 12 months per year

    If the answer is “Yes,” then the final pay section will look more like calculation used for academic positions. It is highly recommended that the user use a spreadsheet to map the employee’s schedule for the period of the appointment (most often July through June), showing the percentage of time worked in each month and the dollar value of that work, and then also what the employee actually received as pay in that month (the total for the year, divided by 12).

For these types of situations, an employee who terminates early in the year may actually owe money back to the university. An employee who terminates near the end of the year may receive more than a regular month’s pay.

Questions about the final pay calculation for HR88 appointments should be directed to the unit Human Resources Representative or Financial Officer. 

How do I calculate final pay for a technical service employee?

Final Pay for a technical service employee involves the employee’s current hourly rate times the number of hours worked in the final pay period (Hourly Rate times Final Hours equals Final Pay).

Work Units that feed Payroll information directly should complete the information on the Workflow Termination form in the same manner currently done on the IBIS Termination form.

Note that the Workflow Termination Form can accommodate No Pay Days and Retroactive Payments, but if the individual is owed for overtime or other special pay, then the user must process a BIPY form in IBIS.

Questions about the calculation of final pay for a technical service employee should be reviewed with the unit Human Resources Representative or Financial Officer prior to submitting the form. 

How do I calculate final pay for a fixed-term II academic employee?

A fixed term II academic employee’s final pay is calculated in the same way as the salary for a full-time academic employee. The formula for the final pay involves the Weekly Rate times the Number of Weeks Completed on the Contract minus Pay the Employee Has Already Received plus the Hourly Rate times any Odd Days.

The weekly rate (total salary for the appointment period, divided by the number of weeks of the appointment) and the daily rate (the weekly rate divided by 7 days) are automatically calculated by the system. The user enters the number of weeks completed and the number of any left-over days.

The only circumstance when this formula will not work is where the employee has received a salary change in the midst of the contract period. It is strongly recommended that the user use a spreadsheet to map pay earned and pay received for the entire contract in order to calculate a Weekly Rate that takes into account the old and new rates. The user should then Disable Formulas and plug in the new rate in order to obtain an accurate final pay.

Note that Fixed Term II employees may be paid on a different, shorter schedule than Standing, Multi-Year or Fixed Term I employees. As a result, mapping the appointment period, showing the number of weeks worked versus pay received, is often helpful.

Questions about the calculation of final pay for fixed term II academic employees should be reviewed with the unit Human Resources Representative or Financial Officer prior to submitting the form. 

How do I calculate final pay for a fixed-term II staff exempt employee?

The system will automatically enter the employee’s monthly rate of pay. The user determines how many days the employee worked in the final pay period and obtains a Workday Percentage Factor from the GURU calculator, enters the factor into the form, and the system calculates the final pay.

Questions about the calculation of final pay for fixed term II staff exempt employees should be reviewed with the unit Human Resources Representative or Financial Officer prior to submitting the form.

I’m trying to process a Termination for a fixed term academic employee, but the final pay information isn’t coming out right. What should I do?

The formula used to calculate final pay for an academic employee is: (Weekly Rate of Pay times the number of Weeks Completed on Contract) minus (Amount Already Received in Pay) plus (Daily Rate times odd days) equals Final Pay.

However, if the employee had a salary change in the midst of the appointment period, then the final weekly rate of pay will not be accurate because that rate applies only from the point it was awarded – not to the entire contract period. 

We strongly recommend that before doing the calculation, the user check to see whether there were any salary changes during the appointment period. Then, a spreadsheet can track the actual total contract pay amount, which can be divided by the total contract period to come up with an accurate weekly rate, and the actual amount already paid to determine the balance owed. 

The user can check the Disable Formulas box and enter the adjusted data to come up with the accurate final pay.

Note that for any academic final pay calculation (not just Fixed Term), if the employee received a change in salary during the contract period, then the final pay calculation may need to be adjusted to accommodate the salary change.

Content Questions: Workflow Consultant | Support Questions: Workflow Support
Page Last Updated or Reviewed: Friday, April 22, 2011