Payroll Services

Emergency Checks

What is an Emergency Check?

An emergency check is a physical check issued by Payroll Services for salary and wages that were due to be paid on a prior scheduled payday but were not processed due to late assignments, incomplete records and/or late voucher processing or approval. Emergency checks are not regular payroll checks; however, actual payroll information is used to calculate the best estimate of net pay.

Emergency checks cannot be direct deposited and should only be requested when the employee is not able to wait for payment on the next regularly-scheduled payday. Emergency checks are issued daily, Monday-Friday, when the university is open for business, and are available for pick up in Payroll Services, MAI 134, after presenting a government or school-issued photo ID.

A regular payroll check for these earnings will generally be processed on the next scheduled payday, and the emergency payment received will be reflected on the earnings statement as an emergency pay deduction. If the amount of the emergency payment differs from the amount received through the regular payroll process, the difference will either be reflected as additional net pay or will be carried forward as a deduction on the next payroll check.

Requesting an Emergency Check

To request an emergency check, an authorized signer on the paying account should send an email to the Payment Team by 11 a.m. for same-day processing. Please see below for specific information. Also, please note that social security numbers should never be included in the correspondence.

• Monthly Employees
  The email should include the employee’s name, UT EID and the pay period for which the check is being requested. The assignment must be final approved before an emergency check can be issued.
• Hourly Employees
  The email should include the employee's name, UT EID and the OV1 document ID. The OV1 document and the corresponding hourly assignment must be final approved before an emergency check can be issued.
• Other Emergency Checks
  Emergency checks may be issued for flat rate (OV2) and professional services (OV7) payments only when the employee is not currently assigned. These emergency checks will be issued at 80 percent of the gross amount due. The email should include the employee's name, UT EID and document ID. The document must be final approved before an emergency check can be requested. For OV7 requests, the department must also provide a copy of the OV7 document along with the AIS form and Employee/Independent Contractor Classification Checklist (EICCC) via email (PDF) or fax (512-471-1299).

Deadlines and Response Times
Request received…	Response from Payroll by…	Emergency check available…
By 11 a.m.	1 p.m. same day	2-4:30 p.m. the same day
After 11 a.m.	1 p.m. next day	2-4:30 p.m. the next day

Emergency Checks Issued at 80 Percent

Emergency checks will be issued at 80 percent of the gross amount due for:

• Payments to employees who do not have continuing assignments (e.g., due to separation or leave of absence)
• Flat rate (OV2) and professional services (OV7) payments (only available to non-assigned employees)
• Prior fiscal year payments

Emergency Checks Not Issued*

Emergency checks are not issued for the following types of payments:

• Professional services (OV7) if the employee is currently assigned
• Flat rate/lump sum (OV2) if the employee is currently assigned
• Shift differential and on-call (OV2)
• Overtime (OV5)
• Vacation (OV6)
• Communication Device Allowances (CDAs)
• Pay increases/one-time merits/awards
• Payments under $50

*Vouchered payments (OV2, OV5, OV6, OV7), CDAs, one-time merits, awards, and pay increases and payments under $50 for hourly-assigned employees will process on the next semi-monthly payday. Pay increases for monthly-assigned employees will process for the next check release date according to the monthly payroll dates found on the Payroll Services website or *DEFINE command OVP.