CAR Newsletter March 2024

Volume 34, Number 9 | Fiscal Year 2024 | March 7, 2024

• Federal Charges on Employer Contribution to OPERS

• Former Employees Access to Workday@OK
• Finding Reports in Workday@OK
• Missing Unemployment Insurance (UI) Tax Elections
• Employee Name and Social Security Number Entries in Workday@OK
• Social Security Number Changes
• Employees Remote or Teleworking
• Employees Remote or Teleworking - Primary Location Outside of Oklahoma
• Deceased Employee Payroll Processing and Reporting
• Outstanding Wages Beneficiary Designation Option
• On-Demand Payroll Processed Before a Reversal is Completed

• OMES Mainframe IP Address Change Notification

HIGHER EDUCATION

• OMES Mainframe IP Address Change Notification

AGENCY NEWS

• Retirements at OST

TRAINING

• AGA OKC Chapter Trainings
• Payroll Law
• Form 94P – Understanding and Completing an Accurate Form
• Form I-9 and E-Verify Webinars
• ICYMI - Statewide Finance Policy Training Videos Now Available

Agencies are responsible to contribute 16.5% of the employee’s salary for eligible employees. For those employees on the Pathfinder retirement plan, only 6-7% of that employer contribution is remitted to the Pathfinder plan for that employee. The other 9.5-10.5% funds the OPERS defined benefit plan as required by 74 O.S. § 920. 

In 2018, the federal government determined that the amount used to fund the defined benefit plan is an overcharge to federal programs. For the retirement expense on employees who are on Pathfinder, agencies should only charge the federal program for the Pathfinder contribution amount. The balance of the agency’s contribution that is remitted to OPERS should not be charged to federal programs. The expenditure code for the non-allowable portion is 513300.

Some agencies may have specific contracts in their grant programs that specifically state that the entire amount paid is allowable. Those agencies may charge the full amount of their retirement cost per the verbiage in their contract. 

Agency HR staff are reminded to update Workday@OK with an employee’s personal email address upon end of employment. The employee will then receive a username and password to use with the Non-Active 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 user guide MFA for Terminated Workers.

This is extremely important so that they can log in and retrieve final pay slips, W-2s and 1095-C forms. Former employees who selected electronic only for their tax documents and do not have access to Workday@OK should be referred to the OMES Service Desk for access. As an alternative, the last agency the individual worked at has access and can print and mail a paper copy of the documents.

There are report worklets in Workday@OK that list custom reports related to a specific module. Search the specific module and report (e.g., payroll reports, HCM reports). In addition to the worklets, users can see all reports they have access to by going from the Menu to Reports, then View Available Reports and Tasks. You can then scroll through the list or filter to find reports by entering a specific value (word). 

All employees must have a UI record. Most employees will be Exempt = NO. Only a few employees, such as elected officials and judges, qualify to be exempt (Yes). 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. The state to enter will be the state the employee is physically working in (Work State).

RPT00098 – Tax Filing Data should be run by agency payroll personnel prior to each payroll to identify employees without a UI tax election. On 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 field Employee Jurisdiction should have a state entered (most 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 set up for the employee. If any employee is missing data, you must go back to the Tax Elections and add the appropriate information. 

When entering a new employee’s name and Social Security number or updating a current employee’s name, please verify the name and SSN being entered is exactly as it appears on the employee’s Social Security card. This is critical in reporting not only the W-2 wages at year-end but the Affordable Care Act required health offer/coverage information. If the name and SSN do not match the Social Security Administration records, the employee’s wages may not be credited to their Social Security account. Additionally, if the name and SSN do not match, the employee may not be reported correctly for ACA purposes which could result in an IRS letter to the employee for possible lack of health coverage or an IRS letter to the agency for not offering coverage.

Beginning Sept. 8, 2007, the Social Security Administration updated the Social Security card. The number holder’s name will always be printed on two lines, with the last name printed directly below the first and middle names. If you receive a prior version from an employee and are unsure, please ask the employee to verify the first, middle and last names.

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 matches 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 contact the OMES Service Desk. Employees with multiple EmplIDs must be reviewed and, if needed, have information combined into the one correct record.

Agencies with employees working outside of Oklahoma, please be aware that other states may have implemented a Paid Family Medical Leave plan or other state plans as required by their laws. The amounts may be an employee withholding, an employer withholding, or a combination of both. If amounts are being included on the payroll results, please do not adjust or refund the withholdings. We are required to withhold, remit and report in accordance with state laws.

Agencies continue to increase the number of state employees who work remotely and need to be cognizant of withholding and reporting requirements for these employees. Employees that work remotely outside of Oklahoma require the state, as the employer, to withhold and submit income taxes to that state and report unemployment and other wages/taxes, as applicable. If an agency has employees working outside of Oklahoma, the work location will need to be updated to the state where the employee is physically working. The employee tax elections will need to be timely updated to reflect the new tax jurisdiction for income tax and unemployment withholding/reporting purposes.

Please help communicate these requirements to agency HR, recruiting and onboarding personnel, as many tasks are performed or initiated by them. Although OMES Central Payroll processes the actual  payments and reports to the other states, agency personnel must be familiar with the requirements for any state in which employees are hired. Please contact OMES Central Payroll at payrollreporting@omes.ok.gov with any questions concerning employees working out of state.

Note: This does not apply to institutions of higher education.

Agencies must complete Form DER, Deceased Employee Reporting, when an employee has passed away and payments are made after the date of death. The form is on the OMES website under HCM Payroll Forms. Complete all forms and send to OMES Central Payroll at payrollreporting@omes.ok.gov as soon as possible after all payments have been processed. Submission of this form will ensure year-end reporting is correct.

Note: This does not apply to institutions of higher education.

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 Process guide is available on the website and will assist in processing payments after the date of death.

Note: Remember to put the term reason 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 cause a delay to the beneficiary receiving the payment.

Note: Please let recipients know that they will be issued a 1099-MISC at year-end and that the amounts will be reported to the IRS and OTC. This will assist them in tax planning.

Statute 40 O.S. § 165.3a allows employers to provide employees the option of designating a beneficiary for wages and benefits payable upon an employee’s death. There is no requirement for an employer to allow employees to select beneficiaries, but agencies may want to consider adopting such a policy. Providing the option to employees relieves stress and anxiety on family members after the employee's death. It also provides clear guidance on who is to receive final wage payments.

This statute does not include any longevity payment that may be due as of the date of death of an employee. 74 O.S. § 840-2.18, subsection H.2 authorizes any longevity payment to be paid to the decedent’s surviving spouse, or to the decedent's estate, if there is no surviving spouse.

For more information or sample forms and instructions, please email payrollreporting@omes.ok.gov.

Note: This does not apply to institutions higher education.

The recommended best practice is that a replacement payroll warrant should not be processed until the incorrect warrant has been reversed. Processing another payroll before the desired 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 contact the OMES Service Desk and a team member will assist you.

OMES will soon be changing the mainframe’s IP address (199.190.128.12). The date of change is set for late April 2024. Agencies should have the change made by April 20, 2024. If your agency sends files to either the State Treasurer or to PeopleSoft Financials, you are sending files to the OMES mainframe.

Your agency should have been contacted by an OMES staff member to determine if the connection process will be handled by OMES Information Services. If it is determined your organization will handle the connection process, OMES will be available to provide guidance and support for the transition.

Please reach out to your technical support team to ensure the change is made so your processes do not fail. If you have not yet been contacted, please reach out to the OMES IT team.    

OMES will soon be changing the mainframe’s IP address (199.190.128.12). The date of change is set for late April 2024. Institutions should have the change made by April 20, 2024. If your organization sends files to either the State Treasurer or to PeopleSoft Financials, you are sending files to the OMES mainframe. The IP address change will cause disruption to your processes if action is not taken. If you make your changes ahead of time, you will not have to do anything on the IP change date.

Switching your agency’s process(es) from the IP address to the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of “blackmesa.omes.ok.gov” will avoid the disruption. The FQDN blackmesa.omes.ok.gov points to the OMES mainframe regardless of what its IP address is. Today it points to the OMES mainframe’s current IP address and on the IP change date, OMES will update it to point to the new IP address.

Additionally, if your processes use a local host file to map to the OMES mainframe, then that entry needs to be deleted and instead, your processes should rely on the public DNS lookup to blackmesa.omes.ok.gov.

We strongly encourage you to update your processes as soon as you can, ahead of the IP change. Your institution should have been contacted by an OMES IT team member to provide guidance and support for the transition. If you have not yet been contacted, please reach out to the OMES IS team.  

The Oklahoma State Treasurer would like to thank Pam Mitschelen and Kellie Leathers for their faithful service to the State of Oklahoma. In honor of their service and their retirement there will be a come and go celebration Monday, March 18 from 10 a.m. to noon in Room 100 at the State Capitol.

For training and CPE opportunities, as well as local luncheons and networking events, email the Oklahoma City chapter of the AGA at communications@agaokc.com to sign up for our email notifications.

Live Online Seminars

Presented by Fred Pryor Seminars

For more information, please visit their website.

Live on Teams or in-person at the agency.

Presented by Jean Hayes.

For more information, please contact Jean Hayes at 405-522-6300 or payrollreporting@omes.ok.gov.

Multiple webinar choices and dates:

Form I-9 – An overview: Form I-9 requirements, what can be accepted, how to enter the information.

Form I-9: An overview of the Form I-9 requirements, including step-by-step instructions on how to complete each section, acceptable documents, retention and storage.

E-Verify overview: An overview of the E-Verify program including how the program works, key features, how to enroll, employer responsibilities, program highlights and a demonstration of the program.

E-Verify in 30: A quick overview of the E-Verify program including what it is, how to enroll and key features.

E-Verify for existing users: A detailed overview of the E-Verify program specifically for existing users. Topics include Form I-9, user roles, creating a case, case alerts, how to handle a TNC and common user mistakes.

For more information on the webinars, please visit the USCIS website.

The Statewide Finance Policy Training videos are now available on Workday@OK Learning.

The videos are searchable under the title [OMES-CAR] Statewide Finance Policy Training. There are a total of 13 lessons listed under this course.