After employee complaints, the IU payroll department is keeping the traditional pay calendar for 2018.
Faculty and staff will receive their December 2018 pay on Jan. 2, 2019, following the normal pay schedule. IU’s payroll retracted the change to faculty and staff’s payroll calendar Wednesday following further research into the issue.
In the initial change, faculty and staff would have received their December 2018 pay on the last day of the month rather than the first business day in January. IU has been giving faculty and staff their last paycheck of the year on the first business day in January since 1981.
While Stephen Miller, director of payroll, said in the Sept. 20 email that the change would limit confusion for new employees adjusting to IU’s payroll, many members of the faculty expressed concern for negative financial effects.
“We needed to roll back the change,” Miller said.
Miller said some of the complaints included concerns about income-based student loan payments, raises in employees’ tax bills and ineligibility for income-driven benefits.
Financial Management Services Administrator Joan Hagen said they looked closely into each area of complaint and decided to stick to the old schedule.
“When we get concerns, we take those seriously,” Hagen said.
In the Oct. 18 update, however, Chief Financial Officer John A. Sejdinaj apologized to the employees who were looking forward to the change. He said the new plan was meant to eliminate confusion for new staff who had to rework their finances to adapt to IU’s payroll calendar.
Change is not out of the question, though. Hagen said IU’s payroll is doing more research, this time considering all outcomes.
“We will be looking at possibilities for other changes in the pay calendar,” Hagen said, adding any changes would be well beyond 2018.
