Time Card Management

Administrative Guide Policy 2.1.5: Compensation of Staff Employees outlines compensation and recordkeeping policies, including work weeks, alternate work weeks and hours, make-up time and rest and meal periods. Employee requirements for recording time and absences, policies related to overtime compensation and other special compensation situations are also included. Refer to Sequoia Time Card Pay Rules for a summary of how compensation policies are administered in Sequoia.

Non-exempt staff must keep an accurate record of their daily work hours, including actual start and stop times and meal periods. Leave hours taken must also be recorded within the Absence module. Because rest breaks are paid, start and stop times for rest breaks do not need to be recorded in their time card.

All SLAC employees must report effort by completing a time card to allocate time (non-exempt employees) or allocate percentages (exempt employees) to the accounts (PAs) that benefited from the effort. 

Managers must review and approve workflow approval requests for team member’s time card each pay period for accuracy and completeness. The deadline for approving time cards is generally two business days following the close of each pay period at 7am, although some business units may set an earlier deadline to facilitate the approval process. Absences should be reviewed and approved as they are requested.

• If a team member does not complete a time card by the deadline, the manager should complete it on the employee’s behalf, recording work hours to the best of their knowledge and then following up with the employee on any necessary corrections. 
• They can also delegate authority to responsible staff members to approve time cards and absences. 
• Managers can use the Team Time Cards view in Sequoia to view, return for adjustment, or approve multiple time cards and absences.
• Training and guidelines for managing non-exempt employees are also available from the local Human Resources Manager.

Time and Leave Administrators (TLAs) review time cards for their department for accuracy, completeness and adherence to policies. TLAs generally perform advanced time card functions such as setting employee schedules. Changes can continue to be made to a time card after approval, generating a new workflow request for approval once updates are submitted.    

See Topic Overview: Time and Absence Reporting and Approvals for reporting requirements by employee type. Learn more about the Sequoia system.

Non-exempt pay in Sequoia is calculated based on time entries and absences reported by the employee, assigned hourly rates, and configured calculation rules. Employees can validate calculated earnings on their time card before submission; final details appear on the payslip.

Pay calculation factors

• Hourly pay: pay is tied to the hourly rate for each job/assignment
• Time card entries: hours, dates, and time types
• Overtime and premiums: configured rules create separate premium earning lines (overtime, shift premiums, meal penalties)
• Pay period timing/approvals: late submission or corrections may cause retroactive or off-cycle payments

To provide additional support, HR Administrators can learn more about non-exempt pay in Sequoia.

Time card and absence entries submitted for approval prior to the deadline for each pay period will be included in the payroll for that pay period. Employees, managers, and time and leave administrators (TLAs) may make retroactive time or absence adjustments in Sequoia when the original entry was incorrect or incomplete.  

• Adjustment timing: Adjustments for pay periods within 45 days of the approval cutoff should be made directly in Sequoia; adjustments older than 45 days require coordination with the local TLA. Examples of situations that require adjustments include missed or inaccurate entries, updates to time types or recording an absence in replacement of work hours. 
• Dual-entry required: When both the time card and an absence entry are affected, both adjustments must be entered and approved to ensure accuracy of the pay adjustment, if any.
• Pay impact: Some adjustments will affect required pay. Payroll runs an automated retroactive pay process to calculate the gross pay impact of time card adjustments and determine whether they create an underpayment or an overpayment. Once an adjustment has been entered and fully approved, the system calculates the amount owed or to be recovered.  
  • If the result is an underpayment, Payroll automatically pays the employee on the next payroll run. Additions to pay are automatically added to the employee’s next regular paycheck. 
  • Reductions above a de minimis threshold generate an Overpayment Journey in Sequoia for employee approval for recovery of the overpayment.
• Off-cycle pay: If the adjustment is due to the employee missing all or a portion of their base pay, it is recommended that the manager or local HR initiate an Off-Cycle Check Journey to request an off-cycle payment for the missing pay.

Local HR can verify employee pay after each pay period and after the payroll run is complete. This can be done by running the Gross Pay Report.