The term "paycheck" describes employee pay whether the payment is received via direct deposit, paycard, or physical check. This page explains how to access your paycheck information online and offers explanations of the information reflected on your pay advice, also known as a check stub. The pay advice lists all of the deductions, taxes, benefits, and net pay distributions for that paycheck. Use the Table of Contents button to the right to jump to a section.
Access Pay Advices
Paycheck information is available in the Employee Center task tile in One.IU. Once logged into the Employee Center, select the Payroll and Tax tile.
A list of your past paychecks is displayed with the most recent paycheck listed at the top. Click on a row to review the pay advice. After selecting a row you will be prompted to acknowledge a securty notice. Click "No" to acknowledge the notice and the pay advice will open in a new window or tab.
Explanation of Paycheck Fields
General Information
The top section of the pay advice includes the following information:
- Every pay advice reflects Indiana University's name and address in the payroll system.
- Pay Group: the payroll schedule and voucher groupin for different employee types. The pay group determines the frequency of your payroll payment, among other things.
- Pay Begin Date: first day of the pay period for wages included in the payment.
- Pay End Date: last day of the pay period for wages included in the payment.
- Buisness Unit: your campus. For example, IUBLA is the abbreviation for the Bloomington campus IUINA is the abbreviation for the Indianapolis campus.
- Advice #: a unique, internal identification number assigned by the payroll system. Similar to a check number.
- Advice Date: date of paycheck issue.
Payee and Position Information
Following the fields above, you'll see the following information:
- Your name and address.
- Employee ID: your 10-digit university identification number.
- Department: your department.
- Location: the campus where your department is located.
- Job Title: your official title on file with IU Human Resources.
- Pay Rate: your hourly, monthly, or contracted rate of compensation.
Tax Data
The box located to the right of the payee and position information lists your federal and state withholding preferences including your:
- Marital status.
- Number of allowances (where applicable).
- Additional withholding percentage, and
- Additional withholding amount.
If you claim exemption from federal taxes or are exempt due to tax treaty benefits, this will be reflected next to the Tax Status label. Tax status changes submitted on or around payroll processing dates can result in discrepancies in the information displayed on your pay advice. Contact your department's payroll processor if you have questions regarding your tax wihholding.
Hours and Earnings
This box displays the entry lines and column content for hours worked during the pay period. Biweekly-paid and monthly-paid employees will see slightly different fields in this section.
- Description: states what type of employee you are, for example biweekly staff, hourly staff, regular monthly, etc.
- Rate: your hourly pay rate. This section will be blank for monthly-paid employees.
- Hours: hours you worked during the pay period. Ths section will be blank for monthly-paid employees.
- Earnings: the dollar amount you earned during the pay period.
- YTD Hours: total hours you have worked during the calendar year.
- YTD Earnings: your total earnings for the calendar year.
Taxes
Here you'll find detailed accounting of all taxes withheld, both for the current pay period and for the entire calendar year.
- Fed Withholding: federal tax withholding.
- Fed MED/EE: your portion of the Medicare tax.
- Fed OASDI/EE: your portion of the Social Security tax.
- IN Withholding: state tax withholding.
- IN [County Name] Withholding: local tax withholding.
Before-Tax Deductions
This box displays benefits and general deductions that reduce your taxable gross pay. Deductions are listed both for the current pay period and for the entire calendar year.
Some benefits and deductions you may see here include: medical and dental plan premiums, the Tax Saver Benefit health care and dependent care reimbursements, personal accident insurance, Health Savings Accounting contributions, Tax Deferred Annuity contributions, and parking. Click here to access a full list of before-tax deductions.
After-Tax Deductions
This section contains benefits and general deductions that do not reduce your taxable gross pay. Deductions are listed for both the current pay period and for the entire calendar year.
Some benefits and deductions you may see here include donations to United Way or the IU Foundation (including WFIU or WTIU), payments to the Bursar, and long-term disability insurance. Click here to access a full list of after-tax deductions.
Garnishments are considered after-tax deductions. In compliance with legal court-ordered documents, or at your request, payments for a variety of wage assignments are collected from your paycheck. The garnishment process is managed by centrally University Payroll, a department within the Office of the University Controller. Common garnishment payment types include:
- Child support: the court orders a specific payment amount.
- Writ of garnishment: the court orders 25% of disposable income. Disposable income is what remains after taxes are withheld. When IU recieves multiple writs, amounts are withheld in the order that writs were received.
- Wage assignment: you negotiate an amount with the vendor. You must request a Cause number at the Clerk's Office.
- Student loans: the court orders 15% of disposable income. Disposable income is what remains after taxes are withheld. When IU receives multiple writs, amounts are withheld in the order that writs were received.
- Tax levy: you will receive notification of a tax levy via U.S. Mail. The notification will contain information on how to contact the Internal Revenu Service (IRS) with questions. The notificaiton will also include Form 668-W, Notice of Levy of Wages, Salary, and Other Income. You must complete Form 668-W to claim exemptions. Tax tables are included in this notification on orange paper.
If you fail to return the Form 668-W to the IRS and to IU, IU is required to withhold the maximum amount allowed.
- Bankruptcy: the court orders a specific amount.
Employer Paid Benefits
Displays the amounts of IU-contributed benefits. These amounts are listed both for the current pay period and for the entire calendar year. This information has no impact on your pay; it is listed for reference only.
Some benefits you may see here include medical and dental premium plans, life insurance plans, retirement plans, and Health Savings Account contributions.
Totals Section
This box stretches across the width of the pay advice and displays a summary of your totals for both the current pay period and the entire calendar year.
- Total Gross: total paycheck amount this pay period.
- Fed Taxable Gross: the total remaining after the before-tax deductions are subtracted from the Total Gross.
- Total Taxes: the total amount listed in the Taxes section, described above.
- Total Deductions: The sum of the before-tax and after-tax deductions.
- Net Pay: the actual dollar amount the employee receives for the pay period.
Leave Accruals
This box displays leave accrued by biweekly staff. Monthly, academic, part-time, and contract staff will not see information in this box. Monthly staff may review their leave accruals via the ePTO task tile in One.IU.
- Vacation Available: total vacation hours available for use in current calendar year.
- Vacation Accrued: total number of vacation hours the employee has earned.
- Sick Hours: total sick leave hours available.
- Holiday Hours: total number of official holiday hours available for use in current calendar year.
- Comp Hours: total number of compensation hours available for use.
Net Pay Distribution
This box reflects how your paycheck was distributed: direct deposit, paycard, or physical check.
- Account Type: typically checking or savings.
- Account Number: a secure reference to the account(s) in which funds are deposited. Only the final two digits of the account number are displayed.
- Deposit Amount: the dollar amount deposited into each account.