To provide you with a better user experience and new system features, OMES is upgrading PeopleSoft Financials to version PUM 53. This update will be implemented on Monday, April 20.

Prior to the upgrade, OMES will host a live training session to demonstrate the new features in PUM 53. More details and a registration link will be shared in the upcoming weeks.

Upgrade timeline

• Monday, April 6: A systemwide code freeze will begin. OMES will temporarily pause any new system modifications or design changes, and we will hold any ServiceNow requests requiring development until the upgrade is complete.
• Friday, April 17: PeopleSoft will be offline for maintenance starting at 5 p.m. and will remain unavailable through the weekend until Monday, April 20.

If you have any questions regarding the upgrade, email servicedesk@omes.ok.gov. To review the full announcement, select the button below.

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OMES Central Accounting and Reporting (CAR) hosts an ongoing series of 30-minute virtual training sessions for state finance personnel. Select the links below to register for the upcoming sessions.

• April 16: Encumbrance Corrections
• May 11: GAAP Package Overview

Need a refresher? Select the links below to review past sessions.

• March 11: Payroll Funding Corrections
• Jan. 15: Warrant Replacements
• Nov. 6: Accounts Receivable Regular Deposits

The Office of the State Treasurer (OST) is currently conducting User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for the new Treasury and Cash Management system.

For updates and training information, select the button below to subscribe to the State Treasurer’s Agency Contacts – Banking distribution list.

Subscribe to OST updates

To improve transparency and expedite the OMES review and approval process, all requisitions and purchase orders submitted in PeopleSoft must include completed Header Comment and Approval Justification Comment fields.

The comments will provide OMES with the necessary context and information to accurately review requests, accelerating our turnaround time and preventing approval delays. For more information and guidance on PeopleSoft comments, select the button below.

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To simplify the use of authority orders (AOs), agencies are no longer required to include attachments for AO requisitions and purchase orders (POs) in PeopleSoft. Instead, agencies must include clear, detailed justification in the comments of the requisition or PO.

For more information and guidance on justification comments for AOs, select the button below.

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Agencies may receive lender or other creditor wage assignments for employees and should not enter these in Workday@OK. Wage assignments are employee voluntary deduction agreements with entities that are not part of the Voluntary Payroll Deduction program and serve as an employee’s way to ask the employer to pay their bills/debt, or for a creditor or third party to collect a debt outside the court system. A wage assignment is not a legal court order to be honored by an employer. 62 O.S. § 34.70 (Payroll Deductions) provides the voluntary payroll deductions authorized to be withheld from an employee’s payroll.

Additionally, we have seen an increase in wage assignments for state employees that do not have the correct employer named on the assignment or for which the employee doesn’t owe the amount. If agencies receive a wage assignment, please notify the employee and let them know that it will not be processed for payroll withholding.

Wage garnishments

On the other hand, wage garnishments are involuntary, go through the court system and have a judge’s signature. Wage garnishments must be honored, answered and entered in a timely manner to process the withholding through payroll.

Note: Child or spousal support orders may also be referred to as “income assignments” but are valid, legal orders that must be entered and processed for withholding. 

Agencies are reminded to update the Workday@OK information for employees at the end of their employment by inputting their personal email address as their username. The employee will then receive an email with a password to use for the nonactive employee sign-in. If the user does not receive the email with credentials, they can contact the OMES Service Desk for a password reset. Please provide terminated/retired employees with the MFA for Terminated Employees user guide.

Workday@OK access is extremely important, as it allows users to log in and retrieve their final pay stubs, W-2 forms and 1095-C forms. Former employees who selected electronic only for their tax documents and do not have access to Workday@OK after updating their personal email address as their username should be referred to the agency’s security partner or the OMES Service Desk. As an alternative, the last agency the individual worked at has access to and can print and provide a paper copy of the documents.

All employees must have an unemployment insurance (UI) record. Most employees will be Exempt = NO. Only a few employees qualify to be exempt (Yes) such as elected officials and judges. The UI election will record unemployment wages only; it will not affect the agency’s set up to be a covered (1%) or reimbursing (0%) agency.  If your agency has any new hires or rehires, please be sure the UI election is added.  In the Work State field, enter the state where the employee is physically working. 

RPT00098 – Tax Filing Data should be run by agency payroll personnel prior to each payroll to identify employees without a UI tax election. In this report, the federal tax election information is listed first, followed by the state tax election. The last five fields on the report list the current UI election. The Employee Jurisdiction field should have a state entered (in most cases, this will be Oklahoma). If no state is listed, there is no UI election entered. This report will also show the employee’s UI Exempt status (No/Yes). 

Note: If you mark the box on the UI record, this will make the employee exempt. Only mark the box if you have verified this is the correct setup for the employee. If any employee is missing data, you must go back to the Tax Elections and add the appropriate information. 

Employees and agencies have access to update employees’ Social Security numbers (National ID) in Workday@OK. Once an update is made, the task comes to OMES Central Payroll to verify the change. We use the Social Security Administration’s Social Security Number Verification Service (SSNVS) to verify the name and SSN match. If the name and SSN match to the SSNVS, we will approve the change. If the name and SSN do not match, we will deny the change.

If an agency finds an employee is listed with the same SSN under two or more different EmplIDs, please submit a service ticket. Employees with multiple EmplIDs must be reviewed and, if needed, have information combined in one correct record.

Agencies with employees working outside Oklahoma should be aware that other states may have implemented a Paid Family Medical Leave plan or other state plan as required by their laws. Such a plan may involve the withholding of amounts in the form of an employee withholding, an employer withholding or a combination of both. If such amounts are included in the payroll results, do not adjust or refund the withholdings. We are required to withhold, remit and report in accordance with state laws. Agencies need to understand the withholding and reporting requirements for each state where employees are working.

Note: The IRS has determined any employee amount due that is not withheld from an employee but is paid by the employer is considered taxable income to the employee and must be included on their W-2. As an employer, the State of Oklahoma shall not pay an employee's share of required state tax or other withholdings on their behalf. All employee amounts must be withheld from their payroll.

State agencies must complete Form DER, Deceased Employee Reporting, when an employee has passed away and payments are made after the date of death. Complete all forms and send them to OMES Central Payroll as soon as possible after all payments have been processed. Submission of all relevant forms will ensure year-end reporting is correct.

Amounts paid in the year of death are reported on the W-2 for Social Security and Medicare only. The amount that would have been reported as federal and state wages is required to be reported on a 1099-MISC to the individual(s) who received the payment(s). Payments made in the year after the date of death are not subject to Social Security and Medicare and are not reported on the W-2. The amount that would have been reported as federal and state wages is reportable on a 1099-MISC to the individual(s) who received the payment(s).

The Workday@OK Deceased Payroll Processing guide will assist you in processing payments after the date of death.

Note:

• Remember to put the term reason as due to death: Terminate Employee > Involuntary > Death.
• Due to the timing of the deposit and date of death, banks may return direct deposits for deceased customers. The return of an item will delay payment to the beneficiary.
• To assist recipients in tax planning, notify them that they will be issued a 1099-MISC form at year-end and that the amounts will be reported to the IRS and state.

Best practice is that a replacement payroll warrant should not be processed until the incorrect warrant has been reversed in Workday@OK. Processing another payroll before the requested reversal is complete may cause balance issues for Social Security, Medicare and unemployment wages and taxes.

If an agency chooses to run a payroll before the reversal is complete, the agency is responsible for verifying the Social Security, Medicare and unemployment wages and taxes are correct on the replacement payroll warrant. The wages and taxes should be manually calculated as if the reversal had been completed and verified to the system-calculated amounts to mitigate any wage and tax balance discrepancies that may occur after the reversal is completed. If amounts are found to be different, please submit a Payroll Support request for assistance.

When submitting the payroll claim document, include the period begin and end dates on the paperwork for the payment being issued. During review and audit, this helps ensure that timely agency payrolls have been submitted. Additionally, an accurate time period allows us to verify we received the agency’s payroll and reach out if we have not received an expected payroll. 

Transparency (OpenBooks) files are due by the fifth business day of the following month. Files must be sent promptly to comply with monthly FTE reporting as well as statutory requirements for posting the data to the website.

Specific field data reminders:

• Hours – must be the employee’s accurate hours. The hours reported here will also be used for FTE reporting, along with the pay frequency entered in the file.
• Warrant Number – must contain the required leading 2. This is the actual warrant number processed through the state’s financial system and paid through the treasurer’s office.
• Pay Date – must be the actual warrant issue date processed through the state’s financial system and paid through the treasurer’s office.

All 1099 corrections for calendar year 2025 and previous years must be submitted as soon as possible so that OMES can report the corrections to the IRS. This includes payments reported on 1099NEC, 1099MISC, 1099INT, 1099DIV, 1099B, 1099F and 1099G. This also includes any 1099 that was not originally produced and now must be issued to the supplier. If you have any 1099s that are returned by the supplier requiring changes, please submit those changes to OMES.

Correction submissions

For missing addresses, address changes, FEIN/SSN changes or amount changes to the 1099 document only:

• Email an updated W-9 or appropriate documentation explaining the nature of the transaction changes to Alicia Reel.

For any changes to the permanent supplier file:

• Submit an updated W-9 to the specific Central Purchasing - Support catalog item in ServiceNow.

If you have any questions, please contact Alicia Reel at 405-522-1099 or alicia.reel@omes.ok.gov.

NOTE: This does not apply to Higher Ed Institutions, which will process their own 1099 reporting.

Calculating Paychecks provides a comprehensive overview of the rules, regulations, and calculation methods essential to accurate payments. Better understand minimum wage requirements, overtime computations, federal and state tax withholding, benefits-related adjustments, and the proper handling of wage deductions and garnishments. Each course is presented in four segments which cannot be purchased separately.

September course - four sessions (noon to 1:30 p.m.)

• Sept. 3
• Sept. 4
• Sept. 10
• Sept. 11

All classes are interactive virtual style. To learn more and register, visit the PayrollOrg website.

Make Using Analytics Applicable to You

• Friday, March 13, from noon to 1:15 p.m.
• Learn more. 

Pitfalls and Opportunities related to Payroll Processing for 401(k)/403(b) Plans

• Friday, April 17, from noon to 1:15 p.m.
• Learn more.

Employer Services webinars will take place on:

• March 18
• April 15
• June 17
• Aug. 18
• Oct. 21

Agencies with employees enrolled in the Teachers' Retirement System are encouraged to attend the webinars to learn about portal changes and upcoming changes to reporting requirements. To register, please visit their website.

Live online seminars presented by Fred Pryor Seminars. Learn more.

Multiple webinars and on-demand videos are available. Please visit the E-Verify website for this month’s training opportunities.