At A Glance
- NEW 2024 W-2 Forms are Now Available
- NEW Paypath Lockdowns in February
- NEW Deduction Holiday - January 29, 2025
- REMINDER Enhanced Duo Mobile MFA Procedures for UCPath
- REMINDER The More You Know: Voluntary Deductions on Special or Off-Cycle Checks
- NEW BW 2 PayPath Lockdown: February 18 - 21
- NEW MO PayPath Lockdown: February 20 - 25
- NEW BW 1 PayPath Lockdown: March 4 - 7
UCPath General Ledger & Funding News
- NEW SCT Processes on Hold for the Remainder of February 2025
- REMINDER Direct Retro Tool to be Retired June 2025
- REMINDER UCPath SCT / Direct Retro Processing Schedule 2024-2025
- REMINDER GAEL Charges Incorrectly Posted to Department Redirect Accounts
- NEW Job Aid for Recording Expanded Sick Leave Now Available
- NEW Claiming Exemption from Withholding
- NEW WFA Staff Policy & Procedures (CHR)
- Thursday, February 20, 8:30 pm - 4:30 pm | Enroll today
- NEW Tracker Administrator Office Hours for February
- REMINDER Job Aid for New GSR Trainee/Fellow Job Codes Available
- REMINDER TRS Updates
- UC Time Reporting System (UCTRS) Design Upgrade
- 2025 TRS Schedules
- NEW UCPath Enhancements & Training Updates: January 10 - February 7
- NEW Federal and/or State Withholding Exemption Expires
- NEW UCPath Expanding Phone Support to 24/7 Autopilot Operations
- NEW Enhancements to UCPath Phone Virtual Assistant
- NEW Your UCPath 1042-S Form Availability
- NEW Metrics Dashboard Update
- NEW CRU Holiday Closure(s) for February
- REMINDER 2025 CRU Pay Processing Calendar
- NEW CRU Newsletter Returns in March 2025
Announcements
2024 W-2 Forms are Now Available
Employees received an alert from the UCPath Center advising 2024 W-2 statements are now available to access online. Employees who did not opt-in for an electronic version may still access their W-2 in UCPath, and a printed W-2 will be mailed out.
- To access your W-2, visit UCPath and click on Employee Actions > Income and Taxes > View Online W-2/W-2C.
- Please use Chrome or Firefox when downloading your form.
Deduction Holiday - January 29, 2025
For bi-weekly paid employees, there are several times a year when flat dollar deductions are not deducted from your paychecks. Read more in our knowledge base article.
PayPath Lockdown
BW2: February 18, 5:00 p.m. – February 21, 6:00 a.m.
MO: February 20, 5:00 p.m. – February 25, 6:00 a.m.
BW 1: March 4, 5:00 p.m. – March 7, 6:00 a.m.
To avoid delays in payroll processing, the UCPath Center will limit system functionality on specific pages during the times listed above.
Refer to the UCPath Production Processing Schedule for start and stop times of the Pay Confirm.
Resources
Enhanced Duo Mobile MFA Procedures for UCPath
In UC’s ongoing commitment to safeguarding and protecting your personal data, the UC Office of the President (UCOP) is introducing enhanced security verification for accessing UCPath beginning on December 20, 2024.
To enhance security and meet this evolving standard, UCLA Information Security is introducing Verified Duo Push through the Duo Mobile application.
Support and Resources
Please visit the UCPath Verified Duo Push page on the OCISO website for additional resources regarding the enhanced UCPath login process.
The More You Know: Voluntary Deductions on Special or Off-Cycle Checks
Did you know?
Flat dollar amounts, including voluntary deductions, are not deducted from pay submitted on an off-cycle check. Off-cycle checks may occur for terminating employees to distribute final pay, including terminal vacation pay.
What’s the best practice?
Employees receiving off-cycle or special checks, for any reason, should be aware that flat dollar amounts will not be deducted from pay.
Terminating employees receiving final pay, including terminal vacation pay, as an off-cycle check should be aware that flat dollar amounts (i.e. voluntary deductions) will not be deducted from their pay. Terminating employees can work with their HR and Payroll office in advance to confirm how and when final pay will be processed should they need to make adjustments to voluntary (403b and 457) investment accounts.
The Voluntary Retirement Savings Program Enrollment/Change Effective Dates calendar lists enrollment/change deadlines for 403B and 457 voluntary deductions.
- UCPath Portal > Quicklinks > Benefits Resources > Savings Plans Enrollment/Change Effective Dates (403b/After Tax DC and 457b)
What can I do if there’s an issue?
If you encounter an issue with flat dollar amount deductions, please contact CRU as soon as possible.
Calendar
Key dates and deadlines (subject to change):
| DATE | TOPIC |
|---|---|
| February 17 | Presidents Day, CRU Office Closed |
| February 18, 10:00 a.m. | Mass Pay Files deadline (BW2 pay period ending 2/15) |
| February 18, 5:00 p.m. – February 21, 6:00 a.m. | UCPath Lockdown for PayPath transactions (BW2 pay period ending 2/15) |
| February 19, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. | UCLA Tracker Administrator Office Hours |
| February 20, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. | WFA Staff Policy & Procedures (CHR) |
| February 20, 10:00 a.m. | Mass Pay Files deadline (MO pay period ending 2/28) |
| February 20, 4:00 p.m. | UCPath processing Pay Confirm (BW2 pay period ending 2/15) |
| February 20, 5:00 p.m. – February 25, 6:00 a.m. | UCPath Lockdown for PayPath transactions (MO pay period ending 2/28) |
| February 24, 4:00 p.m. | UCPath processing Pay Confirm (MO pay period ending 2/28) |
| February 26, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. | UCLA Tracker Administrator Office Hours |
| March 4, 10:00 a.m. | Mass Pay Files deadline (BW1 pay period ending 3/1) |
| March 4, 5:00 p.m. – March 7, 6:00 a.m. | UCPath Lockdown for PayPath transactions (BW1 pay period ending 3/1) |
| March 6, 4:00 p.m. | UCPath processing Pay Confirm (BW1 pay period ending 3/1) |
UCPath identified an issue where Vacation Leave Assessment (VLA) reversal was not generated for Salary Cost Transfer (SCT) on paychecks created between July 14, 2024 and November 25, 2024.
Normally, an SCT reverses salary and VLA from the original account and reposts them to the new account. However, while the salary was properly transferred, the VLA reversal did not post, leading to an overstatement of VLA expenses.
Next Steps
- The root cause has been identified, and UCPath will implement a long-term fix to prevent this issue in future transactions. Additionally, UCPath is working on correcting affected historical entries. No departmental action is required at this time.
- As a precautionary measure, SCT Processing (2/11, 2/12, and 2/13) will be on hold for the remainder of February 2025.
For more information, please review our February 12 communication to UCPath GL Users.
UCPath introduced the new Salary Cost Transfer (SCT) tool in October 2023. UCPath has begun phasing out the Direct Retro tool, which is currently limited to transactions that occurred before October 2021, and if a prior Direct Retro transaction was submitted.
Direct Retro processing will now occur every two months, rather than monthly. An updated calendar will be published on our website in the near future.
The tool is scheduled to be retired by June 2025. We encourage transactors to submit applicable transactions in a timely manner so they can be processed before the Direct Retro tool is phased out.
Visit our project page to learn more about the Salary Cost Transfer tool.
The UCPath Center recently updated the SCT / Direct Retro Processing Schedule. This schedule outlines when transactions must be approved in order to be picked up and posted to the Labor Ledger. It also identifies when you can expect to see the approved transactions in the Labor Ledger and, subsequently, in the General Ledger.
July 2024 through March 2025 dates are now available on Box.
Key Changes:
- Extra SCT Run date (3/24)
- Replaced the 3/12 SCT run date to DR run date
A recent error resulted in General and Employment Liability (GAEL) charges being incorrectly posted to department redirect accounts for payroll runs 241130M0X and 241123B1X.
UCPath implemented a code fix to address this issue moving forward. No departmental action is required at this time.
UC’s Expansion of Paid Sick Leave took effect on January 1, 2025. In collaboration with UCPath, the Central Resource Unit (CRU), has created a job aid that outlines how to manually track and process protected sick leave for eligible employees using Mass Pay File (I-181).
Please note the job aid above is for UCLA staff; the Academic Affairs and Personnel office will provide guidance for Academic groups in the near future.
If applicable, refresh your status to claim exemption from withholding
The IRS requires employees to complete a new W-4 form each year if they are claiming exemption from tax withholding. Many employees are unaware of this requirement until their net pay is reduced by additional tax withholding in the new year. Please help your employees avoid this scenario by following the steps below:
What can you do?
- Run a CDW report to identify employees who claimed exemption from tax withholding in 2024. In CDW, search for Employees Claiming Tax Exemptions and then run it for your department.
- Remind your employees to log in to UCPath Online and make their selection by February 15.
February 19 | Enroll today
February 26 | Enroll today
Tracker Administrator office hours are held every Wednesdays from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. to provide users support with E-Verify, Form I-9, Tracker and more!
Registration is required. A Zoom invitation will be sent to the email address provided on the registration form. Please register using your UCLA email address.
Thursday, February 20, 8:30 am - 4:30 pm | Enroll today
As initiators and approvers it is important that the data you enter on employees' UCPath records is accurate and in conformance with UC Policies, Procedures, and applicable State Laws. This course will include information regarding Staff Programs and Employee Groups.
As a reminder, a UCPath Job Aid is available to provide guidance for entering Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) Trainee/Fellow job codes in UCPath. New GSR Trainee/Fellow job codes were added in April 2024.
Check out UCTRS’ improved look and feel! UCTRS recently modernized its design and improved user accessibility by implementing compatibility with mobile devices. Job Aids related to TRS have been updated to reflect these enhancements.
2025 TRS Schedules
On December 12, we added the following 2025 schedules to the TRS Resources page:
- DTA Payroll Processing Schedule
- Employee & Supervisor Schedule
- 4MH Deadlines Schedule
Read our website article to learn more about recent enhancements to UCPath and UCPath Online.
On February 7, the UCPath Centercontacted 2,700+ UCLA employees who claimed exemption from federal and/or California state tax withholding for all or part of 2024.
IRS requires employees to complete a new W-4 form each year if they are claiming exemption from tax withholding. If employees wish to claim exemption from withholding in 2025, they must make this choice on UCPath online before Feb. 15, 2025, 5pm.
On February 11, UCPath distributed the following notice to eligible nonresident aliens regarding Tax Treaty Income and/or Postdoc Fellowship income.
Read more
UCPath updated its automated phone system, ensuring more efficient and accessible automated service 24/7. These enhancements improve responsiveness, streamline interactions and provide more options to meet employees’ needs any time.
Read more
Users of the UCPath Metrics Dashboard may encounter minor issues during a current update process expected to last approximately two to three weeks.
During a data migration process, users may not always find all metrics available. For immediate assistance, please email ucpath-metrics@ucop.edu.
President's Day
On Monday, February 17, 2025, your UCLA Payroll Partner office will close to observe the University Holiday.
All cases submitted to CRU will be reviewed when we resume operations on Tuesday, February 18, 2025.
Review our event page for upcoming closures and other important events!
We recently published the 2025 CRU Pay Processing Calendar. Please refer to this calendar for deadlines to submit time and attendance and mass files to CRU. Files will be processed by CRU to meet the UCPC deadlines.
The next CRU Newsletter will be published in March 2025. In the meantime, we will:
- Continue sending stand-alone communications to keep you informed of developments and major breaking news.
- Post all minor announcements to the news section of our website.
