Payroll issue affects 350

CU’s December payroll run left more than 350 CU employees without complete paychecks, but the issue was largely attributed to a combination of system functionality and unfamiliarity on the part of some staff who submit time into the recently upgraded payroll system, according to CU human resources officials.

About 19,000 employees are paid in a typical payroll run. While the number of those affected was small – about 200 employees did not receive any pay, while the remainder did not receive overtime, shift differentials or other additional pay – and the majority of checks each were less than $1,000 (mostly to working retirees and temporary employees), Vice President for Employee Services and Information Kathy Nesbitt said it is a significant issue for payroll staff, who are fully engaged.

“We know that getting people paid is the most important thing we do. We have apologized to those affected and gotten everyone paid,” Nesbitt said. “We are working with employees to address any follow-up issues such as automatic payments or late charges.”

The majority of those affected were on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus, although employees on each campus and at system administration also were involved.

The upgrade to the payroll system that is part of the Elevate project was extensively tested before the actual payroll runs and worked as designed. Still, Nesbitt said the issue provides an opportunity to more fully examine not only how the payroll system – and its technical and human components – operates, but also how payroll staff respond to concerned employees. Staff received a high volume of concerned calls on the day before the New Year’s break.

“We are going to use this to improve our services, our response time and our system,” Nesbitt said. “It doesn’t matter that it affected only a small number of people. One is too many.”