Payroll Basics
As an employee of the State, some processes are handled differently than in the outside and/or corporate world. The following information has been assembled to provide you with a better understanding of the basic processes related to your pay.
University employees are paid on a monthly basis on one of the two paydays listed below. Paychecks are distributed from Mountain Hall, Suite A.
Please refer to the Payroll Calendar for exact pay dates.
Monthly payday (staff & faculty)
- Faculty, staff, and management payday is the last day of the pay period.
- Checks are released from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm.
- Employees who have a physical paycheck will receive a monthly email confirming the pickup time and location. The email is only sent to employees who are not enrolled in direct deposit and have a physical paper check available for pickup.
- Paychecks, that are not picked up on payday, will be mailed via USPS to the Mailing address in CMS Employee Resources.
- Employees who participate in direct deposit may view or print their earnings statements through the Cal Employee Connect (CEC) portal. Visit our CEC page for enrollment information.
Mid-month payday (hourly)
- Mid-month payday is the 10th of the month.
- Checks are released from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm.
- Pay for student employees and hourly intermittent staff.
- Employees who have a physical paycheck will receive a monthly email confirming the pickup time and location. The email is only sent to employees who are not enrolled in direct deposit and have a physical paper check available for pickup.
- Paychecks, that are not picked up on payday, will be mailed via USPS to the Mailing address in CMS Employee Resources.
- Employees who participate in direct deposit may view or print their earnings statements through the Cal Employee Connect portal. Visit our page for enrollment information.
- All employees are eligible for direct deposit.
- For Primary Payday, direct deposited funds will be available to you on the first banking day after the end of the pay period. For Mid-month Payday, direct deposited funds will be available no later than the 10th of the following month.
- All direct deposit information is entered through self service. Simply log in to CalEmployee Connect, navigate to Employee Services > Direct Deposit, and then follow the online instructions.
If you are not enrolled in CalEmployee Connect, please review our CalEmployee Connect page. Please contact payroll@csumb.edu if you need your employee statement number and/or total deductions.
- Your current withholding status is displayed on your check stub that may be downloaded from Cal Employee Connect.
- You may change your federal and/or state tax withholding at any time by completing an Employee Action Request Form from the Payroll Forms page.
Salaries of State employees are paid on the basis of 12, nearly equal, pay periods each year. The pay period contains either 21 or 22 normal workdays (168 or 176 hours) and does not always align with the calendar month. Normal workdays are Monday through Friday including holidays during the week.
If there are more than 22 or fewer than 21 workdays in a month, the pay period may end one day before or after the end of the calendar month. On rare occasions the pay period may end two days before the end of the calendar month.
Please refer to the Payroll Calendar for exact pay period dates.
- Leave benefits are maintained in Absence Management. Log in to CMS Employee Resources to view your balances or enter usage.
- Leave eligibility and accrual rates are determined by the Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA)
- Vacation and sick leave is accrued after one month of qualifying service (11 days for salaried employees and 160 hours for hourly employees)
- Accruals cannot be used in the same month in which they are earned.
- Employees accrue one Personal Holiday (PH) each calendar year that is available for use on the first date of employment and each subsequent January 1st.
- Employees in exempt classifications are not required to report absences of less than one regularly scheduled workday.
- Refer to Human Resources for additional information regarding Leaves and Time Off.
- A schedule other than Monday - Friday with the same number of hours each day, is considered an irregular work schedule.
- All employees who are employed less than full time (40 hours per week) or who work a schedule other than Monday-Friday, 8 hours per day, must complete the Work Schedule Form, located on the Human Resources forms page.
- A non-exempt employee on an irregular work schedule generates the same monthly salary even if he or she works more or less than the prescribed 21 or 22 days (168 or 176 hours respectively) within a given State pay period. This may result in excess or deficit hours.
- Excess/Deficit hours account for the difference between the scheduled hours and the paid hours and are reconciled annually.
- W-2 forms are mailed directly from the State Controller, in mid-January, to the address you provide in the "MAILING" address field in CMS Employee Resources.
- Prior year W-2s may be downloaded from the Cal Employee Connect portal. Visit our CEC page for enrollment information.