Recently, the CDC placed new requirements on international travel for those coming into the United States, including U.S. citizens. TheHR FAQ page has been updated with new information related to the use of COVID-19 PTO for personal travel and quarantine.

The important update for timekeepers is to be aware that COVID-19 PTO cannot be used for quarantine time before or after a personal trip. It’s recommended that this time be built into a staff member’s request for PTO/Vacation. If this is not done, and additional time is needed outside of the originally requested time off, the staff member may use unscheduled time off (PTU).

You can read the full question and answer below.

Q9: Can the COVID-19 PTO be used for quarantine time when I return from a personal trip?

A9: No, COVID-19 PTO is not available if you participate in personal travel and must quarantine prior to or upon return.

If you are traveling internationally, you must follow CDC requirements when coming back into the United States. As of January 26, 2021, the CDC requires all air passengers coming to the United States, including U.S. citizens, to have a negative COVID-19 test result or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 before they board a flight to the United States.

Also, you should get tested 3-5 days after travel AND stay home and self-quarantine for 7 days after travel. Even if you test negative, it is recommended that you stay home and quarantine for the full 7 days. If you do not get tested, it’s safest to stay home and self-quarantine for 10 full days after travel. Workforce members should contact Occupational Health Services (OHS) following their return from international travel and provide their COVID-19 test results. OHS does not provide testing for personal travel.

It is recommended that you build this quarantine time into your time off schedule using PTO, Vacation or excused no pay. If you are able, and in a position to work remotely, you can do so during this quarantine time. Please follow the telecommuting policy and keep in contact with your manager/supervisor on your productivity ability. Otherwise, if the quarantine period is needed, the required time away from work will be considered unscheduled time off.

See the CDC’s Frequently Asked Questions for more information.

The COVID-19 Time Reporting Page has been updated with up to date information related to time reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic, including time off bank flow charts that help determine what paid time banks employees are eligible for, based on their situation. The web page is a great resource to help you stay informed, and we recommend bookmarking the page in your web browser.

If you have any questions, or suggestions on how we can improve this information to better serve you, email Kim Wehrmeister at kmeistr@med.umich.edu.

There have been reports across the state and within U-M of employees receiving fraudulent 1099 earning statements from the State of Michigan due to false claims for unemployment.  If a Michigan Medicine employee receives a statement, they should visit Unemployment Insurance Benefits Resources and contact UHR-Unemployment.Compensation@umich.edu These steps should result in the fraud unit at UIA investigating the issue and a corrected 1099 being issued.

Reminder to run exceptions query and review payable time before payroll cut-off

One of the steps in our Steps to a Successful Payroll process is for all departments to run the “Exceptions” query to see if there are any errors to be fixed before the payroll runs. This very important step, and if done in a timely manner as recommended will prevent incorrect paychecks for employees.

Exception Query by Static group:

MTL_EXCEPTION_GROUP

Another very important step in our Steps to a Successful Payroll process is to compare Reported Time to Payable Time before payroll cut-off to ensure payable time is as expected and is accurately reflecting what should pay. This step should NOT be skipped as there are changes you will see in payable time that would NOT show on any other audit queries.

Payable Time and Reported Time Queries:

Reported Time quantity queries:

MTL_RPTD_TIME_QTY_EMPL

MTL_RPTD_TIME_QTY_GROUP

Reported Time queries by date:

MTL_RPTD_TIME_EMPL

MTL_RPTD_TIME_GROUP

MTL_RPTD_TIME_DEPT

Payable Time quantity queries:

MTL_PAYABLE_TIME_QTY_EMPL

MTL_PAYABLE_TIME_QTY_GROUP

Payable Time queries by date:

MTL_PAYABLE_TIME_EMPL

MTL_PAYABLE_TIME_GROUP

MTL_PAYABLE_TIME_DEPT

Here are a few hot topics we’ve received questions on lately that can be found in previous editions of the Time Keeper Update.

January 21, 2021 Communication

• Accessing electronic W-2 on Employee Self-service page via Wolverine Access
• One-on-One training available for timekeepers and approvers
• Reminders about sending in Correction Forms to the payroll office

December 23, 2020 Communication

• Bridging to extended sick for non-bargained employees on the PTO plan
• Help us keep our timekeeper contact list up to date

November 19, 2020 Communication

• Overtime Pay for Non-exempt employees
• How accruals work for PTO and Vacation Plans (includes reminders about NOT reporting PTO accrual when employee has a low balance and they will likely not work the whole month)

Past Timekeeper Communications are always available for your reference.

If you have further questions, please reach out to your pay analyst directly. If you do not know who your pay analyst is, please check here. We are experiencing a high volume of calls and emails during this time, so we appreciate your patience as we work through this rapidly changing environment to provide you with the most up to date information.