Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Deduction Prepay in HRS

Overview

The Deduction Prepay process is used for employees who are planning an extended leave from their regular position and need insurance premiums to be paid while they are gone. In some cases, the employee is in an Academic (C-Basis) position and will be taking a Short Work Break from that position during the summer. In other cases, the employee may be taking a Leave of Absence or Short Work Break for other reasons, such as medical, professional or seasonal. Prior to the leave, money needs to be collected in advance for payment of future premiums. While the employee is on leave, the prepaid money needs to be disbursed and insurance deductions taken.  Below are frequently asked questions about the process.
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What are Summer Prepay Deductions?

1. March prepay deductions taken on the biweekly payrolls are the August deductions for the coverage month of September.
2. April prepay deductions take on the biweekly payrolls are the July deductions for the coverage month of August.
3. May prepay deductions taken on the biweekly payrolls are the June deductions for the coverage month of July.

Who must have Summer Prepay Deductions?

1. Policy requires employees on Academic Year “C” basis or select Annual Year “A” basis contracts who:
  • Are expected to return in the fall
OR
  • Are working a summer service/summer session appointment with no expectation to return in the fall (coverage through end of employment)

Who will be automatically setup for Summer Prepay Deductions?

1. Employees who work an Academic Year also known as “C Basis" employees.

When will the Academic Year "C" basis employees be setup for March, April, and May?

1. Institutions will be notified in advance each year when employees will be setup automatically for prepay.


Which employees will need to be manually setup?

1. Annual Year “A” basis contracts, University Staff employees, and any employees who take a leave of absence.


Which deductions take on summer prepay?

  1. State Group Health, State Group Life (including Imputed Income), Preventive Dental, Supplemental Dental, Delta Vision, Individual and Family Life, Accidental Death and Dismemberment, UW Employees Inc., Accident Insurance, and Income Continuation Insurance.

    a) Income Continuation Insurance

    i. March 2022: Prepay for ICI is not deducted from March payrolls due to possible annual premium changes during this month
    ii. April 2022: Prepay for ICI will have twice the amount deducted from April payrolls
    iii. May 2022: Prepay for ICI will have an extra deduction from May payrolls

  2. Not taken: Flexible Spending (FSA), Health Savings (HSA), Tax Sheltered Annuity (TSA), and Wisconsin Deferred Compensation (WDC).

*Health Opt-Out will not have prepay deductions and will continue to be distributed throughout the summer.

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How do I handle a Fall Academic Basis hire, who will also be teaching a course during the summer?

  1. Hire the employee into two Empl Records:

    a)  The Fall Academic Basis position should be Empl Record 0 and set as the Benefit Primary Job.  The effective date of this position should be the same as that of the summer position.  Manually put this position on a Short Work Break once they are hired into the position.  The employee will be returned from Short Work Break during the August processing.

    b)  Empl Record 1 should be the summer position.  Make sure you have the appropriate Expected Job End Date.

  2. The employee will either need to have prepays taken from their summer service/summer session earnings or need to be enrolled into Benefits Billing to collect premiums for the summer coverage.  Please create a WiscIT to have prepays taken from summer earnings or contact your Benefit Administrator to assist with Benefits Billing setup or refer to Entering Benefits Billing Enrollments in HRS .

How do I process an Annual Basis employee who is regularly off for a specific period of time, and needs to have additional deductions to cover insurances during the break?

  1. A Deduction Prepay Administrator or Benefits Administrator will need to manually setup the employee for Deduction Prepay.  Deduction Prepay Process (Part I: Deduct Money for Insurance in Anticipation of a Leave) in HRS will provide assistance in setting Deduction Prepay.
  2. An HR Specialist will manually set the employee on a Short Work Break and Return from Short Work Break.

I have an employee who is transferring from their Academic Basis job to an Annual Basis Job effective July 1.  What should I do?

  1. HR should return employee from Short Work Break on July 1, then transfer the employee into the Annual Basis job on July 1st (using effective sequence 1).
  2. If this transfer was known ahead of time, Deduction Prepays should only have been taken from the May pay periods.
  3. If this transfer was unknown and 2 months worth of Deduction Prepays were taken, June's Deduction Prepays would have disbursed.  The remaining balances should disburse over the Annual Basis pay periods during July and August.
  4. Always keep in mind that the Tax Class must match (Before-Tax and After-Tax) in order for prepays to disperse correctly.

I have an employee transferring departments and/or transferring institutions.

  1. The UW is considered one employer for Deduction Prepays and no action should be necessary if the employee will continue to be on short work break during the summer months.

My employee has changed to an After-Tax Benefit Program but has Before-Tax Deduction Prepay balances.  What should I do?

  1. Deduction Prepay balances will not be able to disburse appropriately, and a ticket should be opened with UW Shared Services referencing Deduction Prepay.  UWSS Service Operations will manually adjust the Deduction Prepay balances for the employee.

My employee doesn't appear to have been setup for Deduction Prepay.  What should I do?

  1. First, always be sure to check your employee's Job Data to ensure they are correctly set up:

    a)  Check the employee's Position Data to ensure Empl Class, Continuity, FTE, and pay basis are correctly set.

    b)  Check the employee's Benefits Primary Empl Rcd to ensure it is set correctly.  If it isn't, this should be updated and the employee's eligibility should be reviewed.  For example, the Benefit Primary Empl Rcd is not setup on a Academic Basis Empl Rcd.

  2. Check to see if the employee is enrolled into insurances.

    a)  If eligible for prepays, manually enter them.  Deduction Prepay Process (Part I: Deduct Money for Insurance in Anticipation of a Leave) in HRS will provide assistance in setting Deduction Prepay.

    b)  The employee should be picked up during the next pay period's load process.  The Prepay Factor can be increased to collect missed additional deductions as needed.  Deduction Prepay Process (Part I: Deduct Money for Insurance in Anticipation of a Leave) in HRS will provide assistance in updating Deduction Prepay.

    c)  Employee's who are only enrolled in Income Continuation Insurance (ICI) will not be setup for the March payrolls.  The employee will be setup for 2 additional premium payments from the April payrolls.

  3. If the employee cannot be correctly updated, a ticket should be opened with UWSS.

One of my employees has multiple Academic Basis jobs.  The employee does not appear when I search the Deduction Prepay Review Page or when I view the Prepay Load Status Query.

  1. The benefit primary flag may be set to another Empl_Rcd.  Reach out to the other institution or department for the other job to coordinate any required updates to Job Data.
  2. The benefit primary flag may be setup on an Annual Basis position.  Reach out to the other institution or department for the other job to coordinate any required updates to Job Data.
  3. The employee is not enrolled in insurances requiring Deduction Prepay.  No action is needed.

I unchecked the 'OK to Process' checkbox for the March and April payrolls, but the employee has informed us that they will be returning in the fall and needs those additional deductions taken.  What can I do?

1.  This employee has several options available: 

a)  One option is take all of the necessary extra deductions during the May pay periods by updating the "Prepay Factor" value.  The prepay factor should be updated to 1.5 instead of 0.5 for both the 5A payroll and 5B payrolls.  Deduction Prepay Process (Part I: Deduct Money for Insurance in Anticipation of a Leave) in HRS will provide assistance in changing a Deduction Prepay.

b)  A second option is to take all necessary extra deductions from summer earnings, provided the employee has summer service/summer session earnings to cover deductions. A ticket will need to be created with UWSS for this option.

c)  A third option, if the employee cannot handle taking the additional deductions from the last paycheck(s) or does not have summer earnings, is to set the employee up in Benefits Billing for the required premiums.  Premiums paid will be on an after-tax basis.  Please refer to Entering Benefits Billing Enrollments in HRS for instructions.

d)  A fourth option is a combination approach.  Collect what the employee can bear and then set up the employee into Benefits Billing for the reminder.  Please refer to Entering Benefits Billing Enrollments in HRS for instructions.


The Deduction Prepay did not load to the paycheck.  Why?

  1. The UWSS Service Operations will be reviewing all Deduction Prepays that did not load to the paychecks.  The common reasons for not loading are:

a)  Employee is enrolled into an insurance plan with zero cost to the employee.  For example:

I.  Income Continuation Category FA/AS/LI 180 Day (ICUL4) or University Staff Category 6 (ICCL6).

II.  Health Insurance Opt-Out Incentive.

III.  State Group Life Basic for employees over age 70.

b)  Employee is no longer enrolled in the insurance plan.

c)  The employee's benefit primary flag changed to another Empl Rcd.

d)  The Prepay Factor was changed to zero.

e)  The employee was set up for Savings or FSA / HSA, which are not handled through Deduction Prepay.

f)  The "OK to Process" checkbox was unchecked.


The Deduction Prepay Review Page indicates it loaded to paychecks.  Why am I not seeing the Deduction Prepay on the paycheck?

  1. Please verify the Deduction Prepay is setup on the paycheck by clicking "View All" in the Deduction section of the Review Paycheck.
  2. You can also verify deduction for your department or campus by running the Running the Deduction Prepay Paycheck Query in HRS.
  3. Please open a ticket to the UW Shared Services if you do not see Deduction Prepays on the paycheck.

An employee had Deduction Prepays taken based on Single coverage.  Employee changed to family coverage during April or May.

  1. Please create a ticket and the UWSS Service Operations will ensure enough Deduction Prepay money is taken to cover insurances through the summer.  This will avoid the employee having to be setup in Benefits Billing.

Employee pays the less than half-time Health rates.

  1. Employee more than likely will have insufficient funds to cover both Deduction Prepay and regular insurance deductions.  Please uncheck the "OK to Process" for the payrolls in March, April, and May.
  2. Employee should be setup in Benefits Billing for June, July, and August.  Please refer to Entering Benefits Billing Enrollments in HRS .

What if the employee does not have money to cover summer insurance deductions?

  1. The employee will be setup in Benefits Billing and sent a bill.

    OR

  2. The employee will have prepay deductions taken from summer service/summer session earnings provided the employee has summer earnings.

What if the employee does not pay their Benefits Bill?

  1. Coverage will be terminated. Employee cannot re-enroll into benefits unless there is a Qualifying Event, Open Enrollment opportunity, or applies by completing an application and submitting Evidence of Insurability to the appropriate vendor.

Additional Resources

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KeywordsMay Multiples Prepay Deduction Prepay Leave of Absence LOA Short Work Break SWB set aside money setting aside money prepay bucket Deduction Prepay Review Page Deduction Prepay Balance UW_BN_PREPAY_PAYCHECK Seasonal Benefits UW_BN_PREPAY_LOAD_STATUS FAQ BN, Benefits BN, Benefits   Doc ID17371
OwnerChristina S.GroupUW–Shared Services
Created2011-03-21 19:00:00Updated2024-03-01 15:13:24
SitesUW–Shared Services
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