OMES Payroll team move
On Aug. 29, the OMES Payroll team transitioned from the Lincoln Data Center to the Will Rogers Building. This includes HR/Payroll Shared Services, Payroll Support and Central Payroll team members. All in-person assistance, drop-offs and pick-ups will now occur at the Will Rogers Building. Please ensure agency couriers are aware of this change. The team’s new address for all correspondence is:
2401 N. Lincoln Blvd., Suite 302-3, Oklahoma City, OK 73105-4409
Staff phone and fax numbers as well as email addresses remain the same.
Deadlines for November payrolls
In planning your work for November, Veterans Day will be observed on Tuesday, Nov. 11. The Thanksgiving holiday is recognized on Thursday, Nov. 27, and Friday, Nov. 28.
November biweekly payrolls for state agencies will be paid on Friday, Nov. 14, and Wednesday, Nov. 26.
November monthly payrolls will be paid on the last working day of the month, Wednesday, Nov. 26.
With these dates in mind, agency staff should plan their work accordingly:
Supplemental: Workday supplemental payrolls are set to pay on Wednesday, Nov. 12. Agencies must have the payroll processed and paperwork forwarded to OMES by Tuesday, Nov. 4.
Biweekly: Biweekly payroll is set to pay on Friday, Nov. 14. Agencies must have the payroll processed and paperwork forwarded to OMES by noon on Thursday, Nov 6.
The next biweekly pay date will be Wednesday, Nov. 26. Agencies must have the payroll processed and paperwork forwarded to OMES by noon on Wednesday, Nov. 19.
Monthly/legislative monthly: Monthly payrolls will be set to pay on Wednesday, Nov. 26. Agencies must have these payrolls processed and paperwork forwarded to OMES by noon on Wednesday, Nov. 19.
Payroll deadlines reminder
State agencies are required to have payroll documents to OMES by noon five business days prior to the pay date. All required documents must be submitted by the deadline to ensure adequate time for audit and processing. The following documents are required to be submitted by state agencies:
- The final budget checking report showing no budget deficit.
- The signed payroll claim document.
The paperwork should be submitted to payrolltransprocess@omes.ok.gov with read receipts turned on. On-cycle payrolls are completed based on the published schedules. Off-cycle payrolls are currently processed on Monday and Wednesday upon receipt of paperwork from all agencies in the same pay group that are processed during the same period. If any paperwork is not received by noon, the payroll for agencies in that same pay group will be held until the paperwork for ALL agencies is submitted.
Institutions of higher education have different documentation requirements. The following is required from such institutions:
- The validated PFT Funding report showing no budget deficit.
- The signed payroll claim document.
Institutions are required to have payroll documents to OMES by 3 p.m. five business days prior to the pay date.
Searching for individuals by Social Security number
Workday@OK HR partners have access to search by Social Security number (SSN) for employees to verify if they are already in the system. Searching by name or any other criteria can cause an agency to identify the wrong person. To search by SSN, go to the search bar and enter “ID:” followed by the nine-digit SSN without dashes (ID:123456789).
Employee moving expense payments are taxable
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspends the tax-free exclusion of qualified moving expenses paid to or on behalf of an employee by an employer. The suspension period is for tax years beginning Jan. 1, 2018, through Dec. 31, 2025.
Authorized moving expenses paid directly or indirectly to or for an employee will be taxable as wages and must be processed through the payroll system. This includes payments made with the P-card and those processed through accounts payable.
If paying the employee directly (through accounts payable) or a third party for moving expenses, the agency must notify its payroll department of the amount paid. The amount must process through the payroll system as nonpaying, taxable earnings so the amount will be taxed and properly reported on the employee’s W-2. We recommend the amount be processed through payroll on the employee’s next paycheck. Delaying until the end of the year could cause a hardship for the employee by taking the taxes out during the holidays and could also cause issues with collecting employee taxes if the employee has terminated employment.
For any amounts paid directly to the employee through the Workday@OK system, taxes will be withheld from the gross amount and the employee will receive the net payment.
Payroll warrant reversals
When a payroll warrant is reversed in Workday@OK, any payable time associated with that warrant must be paid using the on-demand process. Workday@OK does not change those hours from ‘paid’ back to ‘approved’ to be included in another payroll. Best practice is to not process another payroll before the reversal is complete; this will mitigate any wage and tax balance discrepancies. If processing a new payroll before the reversal is complete, agencies must be mindful of any wage or tax limits and process the new payroll as a paper warrant in case the original EFT amount does not come back to the state. The Central Payroll team can confirm the funds have been returned, and the paper warrant can then be distributed to the employee.
Using state vehicles to commute
47 O.S. § 156.1, as amended, prohibits the personal use of state-owned motor vehicles but permits the use of the vehicles for commuting in very specific situations. 2007 OK AG Opinion 18 also addresses this issue.
When a state employee is allowed to commute in accordance with the statute or the attorney general opinion, the agency must notify the governor, the president pro tempore of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives. In addition, when an employee is using a vehicle from OMES CAM Fleet Management, the agency must complete OMES CAM Form 022, Authorization to Commute in State Vehicle.
The IRS considers commuting to be a noncash taxable benefit to the employee, even when the use of the vehicle is for the benefit of the employer. There are very few exceptions to the taxability of commuting. Exceptions are for certain vehicles that are not likely to be used for personal use because of their design. These vehicles are listed in IRS Publication 15-B.
- The method of calculating the taxable fringe benefit is dependent on the employee’s status.
- Commuting Rule: Most state employees may use the Commuting Rule. Under this rule, the value of a vehicle provided to an employee for commuting is computed by multiplying each one-way commute by $1.50. If more than one employee commutes in the vehicle, this value applies to each employee. This amount must be included in the employee’s wages or reimbursed by the employee.
- Cents-Per-Mile Rule: The Cents-Per-Mile rule may also be used by most state employees.
- Automobile Lease Value Rule: Elected officials or employees whose compensation is at least as great as a federal government employee at Executive Level V (for 2025; $183,100) are not allowed to compute taxable income under the Commuting Rule. These officials and employees must use the Automobile Lease Value Rule to compute taxable income.
- All valuation methods are described in detail in IRS Publication 15-B.
The employee may choose to have the value included as taxable income or pay the employer for personal use rather than having it treated as wages. When treating the value as wages, the imputed income is subject to FICA and income tax withholding. The taxable amount, if not paid by the employee, must be processed through payroll so that taxes are calculated, and amounts are reported on the employees’ W-2.
The taxable amount will need to be processed through Workday@OK as a One-Time Payment, a pay input or entered on the timesheet, depending on the agency’s processing policy. The amount will be included as taxable income and will be taxed on the paycheck.
We recommend including the vehicle usage in the employee’s payroll each pay period to prevent a large sum being included in the employee’s last pay of the calendar year, resulting in a higher-than-normal amount of taxes withheld. Additionally, up-to-date reporting of vehicle usage will benefit the agency should the employee terminate during the year.
For more information, email the Central Payroll team.
Payroll warrants issued in error
If, for any reason, an agency receives a payroll warrant issued in error, the warrant should be returned as soon as possible to HCM Central Payroll for cancellation. Payroll warrants must be accompanied by an OMES Form PWC.
Warrants issued by the state treasurer which, for any cause, remain outstanding or unpaid for a period of 90 days shall be revoked and canceled under the provisions of 62 O.S. § 34.80. For warrants canceled by statute, the cash is transferred to the canceled warrant fund. Agencies will not be refunded the value of the statutorily canceled warrants.
Payroll stat-canceled warrants – eligible for reissue
Agencies should be reviewing the PS Financials Payroll 36-Month Statutory Cancellation Report on a regular basis.
If there is a payroll warrant listed and the employee is entitled to the funds, please complete OMES Form 20R and email it to OMES CAR Transaction Processing. This will allow a replacement warrant to be issued to provide the employee their due pay.
Payroll stat-canceled warrants – not eligible for reissue
Agencies should be reviewing the PS Financials Payroll 36-Month Statutory Cancellation Report on a regular basis.
If there is a payroll warrant listed and the employee is not entitled to the funds, the issuing agency must notify OMES (62 O.S. § 34.80). The notification should include the warrant number and warrant date, and it must be signed by an agency approving authority. Please email notification to OMES CAR Transaction Processing, stating that the warrant should not be reissued. In addition, the amounts must be removed from the employee’s earning record. Contact Jean Hayes at 405-522-6300 or payrollreporting@omes.ok.gov.
Agency address verification
Please verify that the correct agency address is being used in Workday@OK. The agency address can be found on the employee’s earnings statement. If the address is not correct for the agency, this should be updated. Please call the OMES Service Desk at 405-521-2444 to have the agency’s address updated in PeopleSoft Financials, which will flow over to Workday@OK.
PeopleSoft HCM decommissioning
OMES will be decommissioning the PeopleSoft HCM system over the next year. To complete the project, several steps that might affect agencies will be taken:
- Sept. 2, 2025 – Institutions of higher education have had their access removed, as announced in the August newsletter.
- Oct. 1, 2025 – All recurring and scheduled processes will be terminated.
- Jan. 2, 2026 – State agency personnel access will be removed.
OMES personnel will continue to have access to the system due to the statute of limitations remaining in effect. If anything is needed after agency access has been removed, submit a ServiceNow ticket. Within Workday@OK, Prism holds employee information in a manner similar to the Legacy Data Warehouse in PeopleSoft HCM. In the Workday@OK search bar, input “Prism” to see available reports.
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