Topics Map > Human Resource System (HRS) > Benefits Administration

Deduction Prepay Process (Part I: Deduct Money for Insurance in Anticipation of a Leave) in HRS

Overview

The Deduction Prepay process is used for employees who are planning an unpaid leave of absence and need insurance premiums to be paid while they are gone. Employees must have an active HR Status throughout the payroll being processed. The employee is in an Academic (C-Basis) position and will be taking a Short Work Break from their benefit primary position during the summer. In other cases, the employee may be taking a Leave of Absence or Short Work Break for other reasons, such as medical, professional or seasonal. Prior to the leave, money needs to be collected in advance for payment of future premiums. While the employee is on leave, the prepaid money will be disbursed to cover insurance deductions during the leave.

This document will describe the procedures for the first part of the process: Setting Aside Money.

Process Considerations:

  • At the end of February, the UW Shared Services will run an automated process to setup all Academic Staff (C-Basis) employees who are enrolled in insurance plans for Deduction Prepays based on the Benefit Primary Employee Record for March, April and May payrolls.  The Running the Deduction Prepay Load Status Query in HRS  should be run to review and determine if the 'OK to Process' box should remain checked and the Deduction Prepays taken.  You will use the instructions on Updating Deduction Prepay if you need to uncheck the 'OK to Process', change the 'Prepay Factor', or add a 'Plan Type'.  You will uncheck the 'OK to Process' checkbox if the employee meets the following conditions:
    • The employee will not be returning in the fall.
    • The employee will not be working any position during the months of June, July and August.
  • Employees who are not automatically loaded will need to be manually setup on the Deduction Prepay Review Page under the following circumstances:
    • Employees who were not automatically setup for the summer break.
    • Employees preparing for an unpaid Leave of Absence (e.g., Medical or Professional).
    • Employees going on a Short Work Break - Seasonal Break other than the Academic (C-Basis) summer break.
  • Prepaid deductions are added to each employee's paycheck by an automated process that runs three nights prior to the Payroll's confirmation process.  As the Prepay deductions move from the initial entry page (Ded Prepay Review Page) to the paycheck, they are combined based on their tax class into three Deduction Codes:
  • PREATX - Combination of all After-Tax deductions
  • PREBTX - Combination of all Before-Tax deductions 
  • PRETAX - Combination of all Taxable deductions
  • Money is then accumulated into three cash "buckets" on each and every pay period until the employee begins his/her Short Work Break or unpaid Leave of Absence.  On the first payroll that an employee is no longer having a Deduction Prepay taken, the Deduction Prepay Process is triggered to begin paying the Deduction Prepay money back out.  Any premiums an active employee owes for past payrolls must be setup in Benefits Billing or by collecting on payroll earnings as applicable.
  • NOTE: If an employee terminates, all insurances terminate at the end of the month. Any remaining prepay balance will be refunded upon reconciliation.  
You may click on the links below to navigate directly to a section:

Manual Set-Up of Deduction Prepays

The following instructions will assist in setting aside money ("fill the bucket") to cover future deductions.

  1. Navigate to: Benefits → Manage Automated Enrollment → Events → Deductions Prepay → Ded Prepay Review Page
  2. This page allows you to either review an already existing Deduction Prepay record for an employee, or add Deduction Prepay for an employee.
  3. Click the Add a New Value tab at the top. Enter the following employee values based on the Benefit Primary Employee Record (see Rebuilding Benefits Primary Job Flags in HRS  for more information on Benefits Primary Job Flags.)
  • Business Unit
  • Department
  • PrePay Source = "Leave of Absence".  Please do not use the "May Multiple" value since it will cause the automatic Deduction Prepay process to abend.
  • Empl ID
  • Pay Run ID = Payroll that Deduction Prepay will be taken from.
Set Up Prepay Replace

4.  Review the above values for accuracy and click the Add button.

5.  The Deduction Prepay Review Page will display for the employee.  Enter the following employee values:

  • Empl Rcd = The value will default to zero.  However, you may need to change the value if the job marked as the Benefit Primary is an Employee  Record other than zero.
  • Plan Type = Deduction Prepay can only be set up for Health, Life and Disability plans that the employee is currently enrolled with employee costs.  For a list and description on Plan Types, refer to Plan Types, Benefit Plans, and Payroll Deductions Job Aid in HRS.  You can review what plans an employee is currently enrolled in by using the following references:  Viewing the Current Benefits Summary in HRS , and Review Benefit Enrollments in HRS .
  • Prepay Factor = The number of additional deductions to be taken for this employee.  Please change the Prepay Factor to something other than the default value of zero, otherwise nothing will be deducted. 
    • NOTE: A common rule would be to limit the use of Deduction Prepays to 3 months of premiums for plans that include an employer share. 
  • OK to Process = This tells the system to load the deduction to the employee's payroll check during the payroll processing. 

Warning Sign  WARNING!  Checking or Unchecking one of the OK to Process check boxes will check or uncheck ALL deductions.  If you do not want a specific deduction to take, change the Prepay Factor to zero for that Plan Type.  Please create a ticket to UW Shared Services if you are aware of premiums changing due to annual plan updates or loss of employer share. 

Deduction Prepay records MUST be set up to take on every payroll leading up to the Leave of Absence or Short Work Break to prevent the system from disbursing the prepay money too early. It must also be noted that the Tax Class for deductions must also be monitored.

6. In order to set up multiple payrolls at once, you can continue to add additional Plan Types and Pay Run IDs by clicking the Add a Row replacement icon to Add additional new rows.   

7.  When all Deduction Prepays have been added, click the Save button at the bottom of the screen.

Enter Info for Prepays

8.  To view the information entirely for this employee, return to the Deduction Prepay Review screen. 

  • You can also choose to run the Running the Deduction Prepay Load Status Query in HRS  to verify all employees are setup appropriately for a particular payroll.  For information on updating an employees with Deduction Prepay Records, refer the instructions listed in the Updating Deduction Prepay below. 
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Updating Deduction Prepays

The procedure to set aside money ("fill the bucket") for future deductions will vary depending on which approach you need to use.

  1. Navigate to Benefits → Manage Automated Enrollment → Events → Deduction Prepay → Ded Prepay Review Page
  2. Enter a value into one or all of the search criteria and click on the Search button.

Search for Prepay Replace

3.  The Deduction Prepay Review Page will display for the employee if they have only been setup for one particular payroll.  However, you may need to select a particular payroll from the search results displayed below before you see the Deduction Prepay Review Page.

4.  Review the employee and make adjustments to the following as needed:

  • Empl Rcd = The value will default to zero.  However, you may need to change the value if the Benefit Primary is a Empl Rcd other than zero.
  • Plan Type = Deduction Prepays can only be set up for Health, Life and/or Disability plans that the employee is both currently enrolled in, and for which the employee normally has payroll deductions.  For a list and description on Plan Types, refer to Plan Types, Benefit Plans, and Payroll Deductions Job Aid in HRS.  You can review what plans an employee is currently enrolled in by using the following reference:  Viewing the Current Benefits Summary in HRS.
  • Prepay Factor = The number of additional deductions to be taken for this employee.  Please change the Prepay Factor to something other than the default value of zero, otherwise nothing will be deducted. 
    • NOTE: A common rule would be to limit the use of Deduction Prepays to 3 months of premiums for plans that include an employer share.  Create a ticket to UW Shared Services - Service Operations if you are aware of premiums changing due to annual plan updates or the loss of employer share.
  • OK to Process = This tells the system to load this deduction during the payroll processing.  Checking or Unchecking one of the OK to Process checkboxes will check or uncheck all.
5.  In order to set up multiple payrolls at once, you can continue to add additional Plan Types and Pay Run IDs by clicking the Replace - add a row pic icon to Add a new row.  This makes the process more streamlined if you have the information on hand for the number of extra deductions need to be taken over a number of different pay periods. 

NOTE: Deduction Prepay records must be set up to take on every payroll leading up to the Leave of Absence or Short Work Break to prevent the system from disbursing the prepay money too early. It must also be noted that the Tax Class for deductions must also be monitored.  If the Deduction Prepay records are not set up correctly, prepay balances could disburse earlier than necessary. 

6.  Click the Save button at the bottom of the screen.

Review Current Prepays Replace

7.  To view the information entirely for this employee, return to the Deduction Prepay Review screen. 

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Keywords:
May Multiples Prepay Deduction Prepay Leave of Absence LOA Short Work Break SWB set aside money setting aside money prepay bucket Deduction Prepay Review Page Deduction Prepay Balance UW_BN_PREPAY_PAYCHECK Seasonal Benefits UW_BN_PREPAY_LOAD_STATUS BN, Benefits BN, Benefits 
Doc ID:
37856
Owned by:
Christina S. in UW–Shared Services
Created:
2014-02-24
Updated:
2024-12-13
Sites:
UW–Shared Services