Internal and external audits have historically found high error rates related to time and leave activities. Recently, the following types of time reporting discrepancies have been found during both routine audits and investigations of suspected employee misconduct:
- Employees not reporting time taken off (to be recorded as annual leave, comp time or other leave) and supervisors signing approval for the false entries, impacting either amount paid out or accuracy of leave balances.
- Supervisors signing time records before the end of the time period and sending the approved time record back to the employee (this allows for false entries without further supervisor approval).
External auditors have determined these types of issues to be more than errors and have classified them as fraud on the part of the employee and poor management and monitoring on the part of the supervisor.
Although it is anticipated Workday will provide for efficiencies over time and leave reporting, there remains a human element in assuring the accuracy of the data. It is very important for all employees to understand their responsibility in making sure, on a regular basis:
- time worked is recorded correctly
- time off is properly captured
- prior month balances are carried forward properly
- calculations of ending balance are done correctly
- leave without pay and impact on calculation of leave accruals are properly accounted for
- the proper leave accrual rate is applied
The employee preparing and/or reviewing the records and the supervisor signing the records should ensure correctness of this information regularly and certify the time and leave reports timely.
Time and Leave Report trainings are provided on a regular basis through HRS Training & Development. Currently, policies related to time and leave reporting and employee responsibility may be found at BPPM 60.60, Time Report for Overtime-Eligible Employees, and BPPM 60.62, Leave Report for Overtime-Exempt Classified Employees.
For assistance in your time and leave reporting procedures, contact HRS (hrs@wsu.edu) or the Office of Internal Audit at ia.central@wsu.edu.
