1. WFS Outage – Jan. 11 for Updates
2. WFS Changes – Vouchers Pending Approval, Vendors on Hold Notification
3. Flower allowance increase to $100
4. Accounts Payable Holiday Deadlines – Martin Luther King
Reminders of Previous Communication
5. WFS Blog – All incorporated into Finance Website
6. Minimum Wage Increase
7. Student Time Retro Submission
1. WFS Outage
WFS will be down starting at 7 am this Saturday, January 11, 2014, for about 10-12 hours to allow for an upgrade to the Oracle environment.
2. WFS Changes
Vouchers Pending Approval
Per user requests, beginning mid-January approvers will receive an automatic email notifying them of any vouchers that have been waiting more than two weeks for their approval. More information will be provided prior to implementation of this feature.
Vendors on Hold
In December 2013 a WFS generated email was sent notifying vendor requestors of vendors on hold. Beginning this Thursday, January 9, 2014, this email will be generated every two weeks (note that this is a change from the December newsletter where it was previously thought it would be the first and third Thursday of the month). This notification email is based on your request for notifications that payment may potentially be held up due to pending IRS required documentation.
3. Flower Allowance
The University Travel and Other Expense Policy provides that “In the event of death of a faculty or staff member’s immediate family member, the University allows an amount of $75 for flowers/gift baskets/memorials to be sent to the employee. Anything above $75 should be covered in advance by faculty/staff contributions.” As of January 1, 2014 this amount has been increased to $100.
4. Accounts Payable Holiday Deadlines
On Monday, January 20th, the University will observe the Martin Luther King Holiday. All Accounts Payable Vouchers which must be paid on Friday, January 24th, must be received in the Accounts Payable inbox no later than Friday, January 17th at 4:00pm. Payment requests received beyond this deadline will be processed for payment on January 31st.
Keep in mind that Wesleyan’s payment terms determine when a payment is made.
Please contact Tamara Harley at extension 2843 or Crystal Flores at extension #2842 with any questions.
5. WFS Blog
The original intent of the WFS Blog (located at wfs.blogs.wesleyan.edu and via Portfolio) was to keep financial system users informed of the progress of the WFS implementation. Implementation was completed in 2009 and, since then, the blog has simply been a repository for various training documents. All of these documents have been moved to the new Finance website at www.wesleyan.edu/finance (most are under the Training & Documenation link) and any changes to WFS are now communicated via this newsletter. Therefore, as of January 2014 the WFS blog will come down. Please change any bookmarks or links you might have.
6. Minimum Wage Increase
As a reminder from previous newsletters, the state minimum wage has increased from $8.25 per hour to $8.70 per hour on January 1, 2014 and will increase to $9.00 per hour on January 1, 2015. If you have any student workers or others currently at the minimum wage, please plan accordingly as additional budget is not available to fund this change.
7. Student Retro Time Submission
Departments are responsible for submitting time for students on a timely basis because Connecticut state statutes require that all wages earned during a weekly pay period shall be paid within 8 days. The submission of time is due by Monday at noon for hours worked the prior week with the exception of special holiday payroll schedules. Hours submitted retroactively should be on an exception basis only and must be entered on the Retro Student Time panels. Retro earnings will not be eligible for federal work study. Because students are allocated a work study award per semester and award earnings are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, allowing work study on retro earnings would make it difficult for employers to track eligibility. Please impress upon the student workers that it is their responsibility to submit their hours promptly so that the time reporters can report them accurately to payroll. Failure by the students to comply may result in termination of their employment.
SUBMISSIONS FOR FINANCE MONTHLY What topics would you like to see included in this monthly communication? Do you have a system tip you’d like to share? Finance Monthly will be e-mailed on a monthly basis. Items for inclusion are due five business days before the end of each month and can be submitted to finance@wesleyan.edu