No. It is illegal for the University to make you work without pay.

You are always paid for work that you have performed. Your September 16th paycheck covers the work period from August 21st through September 15th. You will receive your September paycheck 5 days earlier than normal. Thus, it will be 5/30ths (1/6th) less than the August paycheck.

The October 16th paycheck will cover from September 16th through October 15th.

The November 16th paycheck will cover from October 16th through November 15th.

And on it goes. Subsequent paychecks will cover all the days you worked in the prior pay period. There are no days when you are working that you aren't getting paid.

Ultimately, you will receive the equivalent of 5 days less pay this year -- December 16th through and December 21st -- which would have been paid under the current pay schedule and included on your University W-2.

Your year-end University W2 forms for 2003 will reflect pay received between December 21, 2002 and December 15, 2003.

Barring any changes, your 2004 year-end University W-2 will reflect pay received between December 16, 2003 and December 15, 2004.

You are paid for every day you work. For example, if you want to leave the University on September 21st of this year, you will receive a paycheck on September 15th, and then another check for the pay period of September 16th through the 21st.

If you decide to retire or resign on October 16th, you will receive a paycheck for September 16th through October 15th, plus a check for the one day you work in the next pay period.

If you retire or resign on April 15, 2004, you will receive a paycheck on April 16th that will reflect the days you worked from March 16th through April 15th.

Currently, those who choose to retire at the end of the academic year can extend their contract for 10 days…from the 21st to the 31st of August. This will be revised to allow an extension of the contract for 15 days from the 16th to the 31st of August.

This possibility was proposed and seriously considered. However, there are legal and political ramifications.

First, it would involve paying employees for work that has never occurred. The Illinois State Finance Act prohibits such payment with public funds. Personnel services must be rendered before payment.

Second, some staff are paid on grant dollars, and those various contracts, including the federal ones, have stipulations that likewise prevent payments for services that are not rendered.

This possibility was also proposed and seriously considered. However, a vacation day is considered a paid "work day where you don't show up." The same issue arises again: you can't pay a person twice for the same day - once for working it, and once for taking it as a vacation day.

Parking is its own campus entity that sets rates on a yearly schedule from July 1 through June 30. Because the rate does not correspond with our contract year, it is not pro-rated. The monthly parking deduction is taken out of our paycheck for convenience and pays for a full calendar month of parking, not a payroll month. So the $28.50 coming out of the September paycheck pays for parking from Sept. 1-Sept 30, not from August 21 to Sept 15.

Benefits are bid, set and contracted by the Department of Central Management Services (CMS) in Springfield. The contract for benefits runs concurrent with the state fiscal year, July 1 through June 30. Benefits are set for all state agencies and universities, not just the University of Illinois.

Benefits are billed to staff in 12 monthly installments. Just as in the case of parking, these are deducted or billed on the payroll cycle for convenience, not because the coverage period coincides.

We are changing the day we send in our fees, not the amount of the fees or the days of coverage.

Pension contributions are based on a percentage of the gross pay amount and according to state and federal policies will be pro-rated.

Likewise, contributions to an employee's 403B/457 plan will be pro-rated assuming the instructions are for a percent deduction. If the individual's deduction is for a fixed dollar monthly deduction, it will not be prorated.

Changes to an individual's 403B/457 account can be made through NESSIE at any time. For the month of September, a change would need to be made in NESSIE by September 4th to be effective in the September 16th paycheck. It's possible to reduce the percentage or amount deducted in September and then return to the original percentage for subsequent paychecks.

The Board of Trustees has the authority to alter our contract provisions. On August 20, 2003, your current contract ends and you will have received your salary in 12 equal installments. Your 2003-2004 contract will not include language requiring 12 equal installments.

Staff will receive their full rate of vacation and sick leave during the August 21st through September 15th pay period. For most full-time staff, this would amount to 2 days vacation and 1 day sick leave. Academic staff will continue to earn 25 days of sick leave (the first 12 of which are cumulative) and 24 days of vacation, even though contract year is 5 days short of 12 months.

The University has been operating on a 30-day convention for calculating prorated salary allocations for many years. Conventions are sets of rules managements adopt to implement a program. Any business that pays workers a salary must have a procedure to determine pay for those that are hired or leave between pay periods.

For example, if you were to start working for the University September 2, there needs to be a procedure to determine how much you get paid between September 2 and September 15. The same would apply if you left the University on October 2.

Additionally, a convention is needed if someone switches between units on campus or between sources of funds. A procedure is needed to determine how funds should be allocated.

Remember, this is a convention for figuring pay only. Most businesses follow a similar format. It is our understanding that the new Banner Payroll System will use a different convention starting in January 2004, but continuing employees won't notice any change to their paychecks.

Salary amounts are earmarked specifically and cannot be moved to other budget line items.

Also, the University receives its funds for salary throughout the year from the State of Illinois Treasury. Salary monies are NOT given to the University at the start of the fiscal year; the University does not draw interest on this money.

There are several reasons for the pay date change, though the reasons may not seem reasonable to some. The main reason is that it follows more closely the academic year. Also, creating a uniform pay date between the three campuses will save the University money on administrating payroll and benefits.