December 15, 2016
Important reminders for the campus community
The Office of Vice Chancellor for Administration is reminding employees of these important policies:
Confidentiality of Social Security numbers – Departments are not to store or collect confidential information (such as Social Security numbers, drivers license numbers, credit card numbers, etc.) unless essential to the responsibility of the unit. Please review the personnel files within your unit and remove related confidential information. Under SIU Board of Trustees policy, all employees who have access to Social Security numbers (SSN) must be trained to protect the confidentiality of those numbers. If you have access to Social Security numbers and have not completed the web-based training or want to refresh yourself on your responsibilities, the training is available here. The training takes about seven minutes to complete.
Timely travel reimbursements – Employees who travel are reminded that requests for reimbursement should be completed no later than 60 calendar days following completion of travel. IRS Publication 535 states that reimbursements to employees for expenses incurred while performing services are not taxable if they are adequately accounted for within 60 days after the expenses were incurred. Reimbursements after 60 days will be considered taxable income to the traveler, and the reimbursement amount will be submitted to the Payroll office to be included on the employee’s Form W-2 as supplemental wages. More details are available here.
Auto accidents involving Travel Service vehicles – The driver of a university vehicle who is involved in an auto accident/incident, no matter how minor, is required to report the accident to Travel Service within 48 hours. Travel Service will coordinate with the driver the submission of the required accident reporting forms to Central Management Service. The State of Illinois provides auto liability for university vehicles while the vehicles are used for university purpose and requires this reporting.
Payroll certifications – Fiscal officers are responsible for reviewing and approving payroll certification reports that list employees within your reporting line. If the fiscal officer is listed on the respective payroll certification report, an additional supervisory approval is required. Signed payroll certifications should be maintained by the employing department for three years.