Policies & Procedures

Welcome to our Policies and Procedures page. Here you will find common practices of the Payroll Department.
For further answers, please contact us at 215-400-4490.

Absence Code Adjustment

Adjustments to absence coding in prior pay periods must be processed by the Payroll Department. The request should contain the name and employee ID number of the employee for whom the adjustment is requested, as well as the appropriate dates and absence codes. It must be signed by the principal/administrator of the school or office. Code change requests are handled in the order in which we receive them and are usually processed within four to eight weeks of our receiving them.

Address Change

Employees are required to maintain a current address on file with the School District of Philadelphia’s Office of Human Resources. Address changes must be submitted to the Payroll Department via an “Employee Change of Residential Address” and accompanied by a copy of the employee’s School

District photo ID, or other governmentally issued photo ID.

Approving Payroll

The School District of Philadelphia requires that the authorized administrator at each work location apply an online approval to payroll entry each pay period. The administrator should review all online TPER entry to verify that it is complete, correct and matches the employee sign in records. School location administrators who are unable to post an online approval should review the entry then request their Academic Division office approve the TPERs. When the Academic Division office approval is unavailable, an approval request from the administrator may be faxed to the Payroll Department.

Distribution of Pay Checks

Employee pay checks will be mailed to the home address on file with Human Resources at least two days before the check date. Pay checks will not be directed to an address other than the one on file, and the employee may not come to the Payroll Department to pick up the check.

Direct Deposit

Employees may have direct deposit of net pay to the financial institution of their choice. The employee must be an owner of the account. Funds are forwarded to the financial institution with directions that they be made available Friday, though the institution may choose to make them available earlier. If the Friday date is a bank holiday, the funds will be available on the last weekday prior to the holiday. Employees beginning direct deposit or making a change to their existing direct deposit must submit an “Authorization Agreement for Direct Deposit” along with a voided check or other documentation verifying the bank routing and account numbers. The initial direct deposit submission and any subsequent change to either bank routing or account number requires two pay periods processing time. During the interim period the employee will receive regular checks mailed to their home address.

If the Payroll Department is not notified that an account is closed prior to forwarding funds, the employee will be issued a check after the funds are returned by the financial institution.

Direct deposit stubs are available on the School District website from any computer with internet access.

Emergency Checks

The School District will only issue an emergency check for an employee’s base pay. Overtime, extra curricular and extra services pay that was not entered for a particular payroll is to be entered for inclusion in the next regular paycheck.Checks for requests received in Payroll prior to 12 noon will be available to the employee after 2:30 PM. Requests received after noon will be available the following business day.

Entering Payroll

All employee absences, extra-curricular service and overtime must be entered on the appropriate TPER by 4:30 on the payroll close date. When there are special circumstances and the payroll cycle must begin earlier than normal, work locations will be notified via email.

Extra-Curricular Payment

The work location is responsible for payment for employee extra-curricular service. If the location is unable to enter employee work hours, details of the service may be entered on a memo and faxed to the Payroll office, which will enter them for inclusion on the next regularly scheduled pay check. An emergency check will not be issued for extra-curricular service.

Garnishments

The School District of Philadelphia honors family court, student loan, tax levy and all court ordered garnishments. Employee deductions are forwarded to the garnishing entity on a biweekly basis. Entities submitting a garnishment order must present the court order along with a W9 listing their federal ID number and documentation with the name and phone number of a contact person.

Garnishment deductions are effective on the date received. The employee will receive notification from the School District only if such notification is specified in the order. Employees may be charged an administrative fee if allowed by the order, in the amount specified by the order. Deductions withheld in error, due to the late submission of a release order, must be refunded to the employee by the garnishing entity.

Overtime payments

The work location is responsible for payment for employee overtime. If the location is unable to enter employee work hours, details of the service may be entered on a memo and faxed to the Payroll office, which will enter them for inclusion on the next regularly scheduled pay check. An emergency check will not be issued for overtime

Payment for an AESOP Per Diem Substitute

Payment for AESOP assigned per-diem substitutes must be authorized by the AESOP office. Payment requests for unpaid service must be submitted to the AESOP office and should include the employee name, employee ID number, date of service and job number. The payment request will be forwarded to the Payroll Department after AESOP authorization. Requests for three or more days will cause the generation of a manual check; fewer than three days will be paid in the next regular paycheck.

The school is responsible for submitting an S324 if the substitute is retained beyond the assigned work hours for extra curricular activities or staff development.

Requesting Payment for a School Based Per Diem Substitute

When a location neglects to enter payroll for a school based hourly or per diem employee, a payment request may be faxed to payroll. The payment request must be signed by the administrator and must include the employee name, employee ID number+, appointment ID if applicable, dates worked and number of hours on each date for hourly employees.

Requesting payment via an S324

Employee payments that may not be processed via another manner must be submitted on an S324 “Payroll Adjustment to Gross”. The S324 must be signed by all authorizing offices prior to submission to the Payroll office. Once received in Payroll, the S324 will be entered for inclusion in the next regularly scheduled pay check.

Retroactive pay

Employees whose salary is changed retroactively are paid the difference between what they should have been earning and what they were actually paid until the new salary took effect. Payments are calculated in Payroll based on the request from Human Resources, who determines employee salary and implements changes to status and salary.

Stop Payment

Paychecks are mailed by the Wednesday before the check date. The Payroll Department will accept stop payment requests on errant paychecks beginning the Friday after the check date. Requests may be made in person or via telephone. The replacement check will be available within three work days of the date the stop payment is placed. Employees are required to sign an affidavit affirming that they did not receive the check and agreeing to repay the School District if they later receive and cash the check. If an employee knowingly cashes a check on which they placed a stop payment, disciplinary action will be taken. Employees that opt to conduct this process via the mail must return the signed and notarized affidavit before a replacement check will be mailed.

Tax Withholding

Federal tax withholding will follow the W4 filed with the Payroll office. A new W4 must be filed before an employee’s tax status will be changed. State and city wage tax withholding is based on address on file with Human Resources. The employee is responsible for maintaining an accurate home address.

Termination Pay

The School District of Philadelphia compensates terminating employees who have unused balances in their leave banks. Employees are paid for 25% of the personal illness days in their balances, 100% personal leave days and 100% of vacation days. The daily rate at which personal illness and personal leave days are paid is determined by specific bargaining unit agreements. Employees terminating service under the age of 55 will be compensated via check. Employees who have reached, or will reach in the year of termination, 55 years of age will be compensated via contribution to a 403b/457b tax sheltered annuity plan. TSA No Paperwork

W2

W2s will be mailed out to employee homes no later than January 31. Requests for duplicates will not be accepted until February 14. Duplicate W2s for active employees are available on the School District website on computers inside of School District work locations.