50.03 - How to Prepare Electronic Personnel Action Forms (EPAFs)

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Last updated: August 31, 2023

A. General. All personnel actions such as appointments, terminations or other changes in employment status, including labor distribution, are processed by means of the Electronic Personnel Action Form (EPAF). Departments should appoint employees by creating EPAFs as soon as employment employee has submitted all necessary documents to Human Resources (HR) and HR has set up the employee in Banner or a status is approved. If this is not done a full three weeks before the first pay date following an appointment or change in status, the employee's initial direct deposit may not be received until the second pay date.

B. Process. EPAFs are electronic documents which travel through approval queues and are applied directly to the Banner database.

B-1. Deadlines. The final deadline for EPAFs is Tuesdays at 5:00 p.m., three weeks prior to the payday. For example, the deadline is 5:00 p.m., 3/1/22 for pay received on 3/18/22. However, please complete as soon as employment is accepted, or status change is approved. Please refer to the payroll deadline calendar on the Human Resource website.

B-2. Academic Year Appointment Pay Periods. Faculty on a 0.5 FTE or more regular academic year appointment shall have their salary paid over the academic year (19.5 pay periods). All academic year faculty who have been grandfathered into deferred pay over the full year need to make that election each year to continue on deferred pay.

i) Exception. Faculty and staff on less than 0.5 FTE academic year appointment or on temporary nine-month or mid-year appointments for only one or two semesters shall be paid only over the length of their appointments when there is no expectation of reappointment.

B-3. Appointment on Holidays. Unless actual work is performed, appointments shall not commence on a holiday. To receive holiday pay without a work requirement, the individual must be appointed and work the work day prior to the holiday or, if terminating, work the day subsequent to the holiday.

B-4. Retroactive EPAFs. For EPAFs that affect previous pay periods, a special check fee may apply. If you are trying to retroactively pay a board-appointed benefits-eligible position, you will need to request a special check from the Payroll Office which will incur a fee. Please consult with Payroll on the current special check fee. If the position is not benefit eligible, you can make the adjustment in the employee’s next paycheck, costing the department nothing. If the employee cannot wait an additional pay period, departments can request a special check from the Payroll Office for a fee. Special checks are usually processed every Monday with the exception of holidays.

B-5. Labor Redistribution of a Retroactive EPAF. For payroll cost transfers affecting past payrolls, the labor redistribution process must be followed. Please visit Payroll Website for instructions.

C. Procedure. For instructions on entering an Electronic Personnel Action Form (EPAF), please refer to the Human Resources Information System (HRIS) Module Manual, distributed during the HRIS module training, or at Human Resources Banner Training.

D. Information. For further information or questions regarding EPAFs, call Employment Services (208) 885-3677.