News

A new tool is now available through myRESEARCHhome to guide Duke’s research community to policy, process, and helpful resources throughout a research project lifecycle. This new tool, myRESEARCHpath, brings together information from over 35 research support offices across the institution so researchers can easily access the information they need to navigate tasks from idea generation to project closeout.

In support of the designated holiday for Martin Luther King Jr., we have changed the Time and Attendance and Electronic Time Card closing schedules for the biweekly pay period ending January 17, 2021 (Pay Period 02-21). The revised schedules are included below. As a result, we will need your assistance with meeting these critical deadlines.

Time and Attendance users may access their time card at their convenience (24 hours a day, seven days per week).

Electronic time card users may access their time card at their convenience (24 hours per day, seven days per week).

The standard mileage rate will decrease to 56¢ per mile for business miles driven beginning January 1, 2021, down from 57.5¢ in 2020...

In support of the designated holidays for Christmas and New Year’s, we have changed the Time and Attendance and Electronic Time Card closing schedules for the biweekly pay period ending December 20, 2020 (Pay Period 27-20). The revised schedules are included below. As a result, we will need your assistance with meeting these critical deadlines.

Time and Attendance users may access their time card at their convenience (24 hours a day, seven days per week).

Electronic time card users may access their time card at their convenience (24 hours per day, seven days per week).

In support of the designated holidays for Thanksgiving, we have changed the Time and Attendance and Electronic Time Card closing schedules for the biweekly pay period ending November 22, 2020 (Pay Period 25-20). The revised schedules are included below. As a result, we will need your assistance with meeting these critical deadlines.

Time and Attendance users may access their time card at their convenience (24 hours a day, seven days per week).

Electronic time card users may access their time card at their convenience (24 hours per day, seven days per week).

In our efforts to ensure the optimal levels of efficiency, we continue to evaluate business processes. As you are aware, a large number of our Duke colleagues are working remotely during this time. This impacts our ability to distribute the W-2 forms to departmental representatives. Please assist us by encouraging colleagues to enroll in Electronic W-2 Forms. This is especially important to ensure security with confidential information. In addition, the US Postal Services are experiencing an unusually high volume of mail which leads to unintended delays with deliveries.

Daylight Saving Time ends Sunday, November 1, 2020. Employees who work between the hours of 1:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. November 1, 2020, will be adjusted AUTOMATICALLY by the Daylight Saving Time process in API. Additional time will be automatically added to the end of the continuous shift. An exception message will be generated and will display on the Time Card Screen for each employee working these hours. Please see the example below.

Attached are the 2021 PostDoc Scholar Health Insurance Stipend Guidelines. The guidelines provide instructions for processing health insurance stipend payments and the new stipend dollar amounts for 2021. These new stipend amounts will need to be paid to PostDoc Scholars in December of 2020 since insurance premiums are paid one month in advance.

We are excited to share an update regarding a new Leave of Absence iForm. The new iForm is available for your use in the Duke@Work tool. A few highlights related to the form are included below.

To: TRaC Representatives

From: Office of Information Technology

Subject: Approvals for Information Technology Spending

As outlined in the May 6, 2020, Manager Memo from Executive Vice President Tallman Trask III, Duke University now requires approval for all information technology-related purchases, including software, hardware, web development or web hosting, consulting and cloud-based services.

MSCT iForm not to be posted 7/10, 12p - 7/13, 8a...

Our year end close for fiscal year 2020 is rapidly approaching. Please take a few minutes to review the cutoff dates below for invoice and AP check request processing. Our Accounts Payable team will stop posting invoices for FY 2020 expenses as of 3pm on Thursday, July 9. This will allow a quiet time for departments to review expenses prior to the period 12 close on Friday, July 10. Any invoices that need to be accrued after the July 9th cutoff date must be coordinated as follows:

In support of the designated holiday for Memorial Day, we have changed the Time and Attendance and Electronic Time Card closing schedules for the biweekly pay period ending May 24, 2020 (Pay Period 12-20). The revised schedules are included below. As a result, we will need your assistance with meeting these critical deadlines.

Time and Attendance users may access their time card at their convenience (24 hours a day, seven days per week).

Electronic time card users may access their time card at their convenience (24 hours per day, seven days per week).

Employee Travel and Reimbursement (ET&R) has included updates for the 2020 fiscal year end process. Please use the information below as a reference for the fiscal year end schedule related to out of pocket reimbursements, corporate card charges, and experimental subject payment forms.

Out of Pocket Expenses

• Both electronic and paper reimbursement forms must be received in ET&R by the end of the day on Monday, June 29, 2020 in order to be posted in the current fiscal year.

Experimental Subject Payment Forms

The Corporate Accounts Payable team is continuing to process invoices and check requests as submitted. In support of our Duke partners who are working remotely, we wanted to share a few reminders to leverage the available electronic processes.

Invoices - All invoices should be submitted electronically using the following options:

The following procedures will be in place for all Duke University building shipments except for those labs deemed essential (For Labs conducting essential research each School will gather the necessary contact information to post at the loading docks so that the normal deliveries can continue), or for specific offices identified by individual School

· Transportation vendor will deliver all shipment to Golden Warehouse and will be held until later retrieval.

· Packages will NOT be returned to vendor/sender.

As we continue to work through business process changes to support the new policies and our partners who are working remotely, we have included some miscellaneous updates below. All other business processes remain unchanged.

Corporate Card Charges

In our efforts to support our University and Health System partners who are working remotely, we are introducing several interim processes related to paper payroll forms. If you or your colleagues are working onsite to support critical operations, you may continue to use the secured 705 Broad Street drop boxes available at the various University and Health System locations. The designated Corporate Payroll team member will be making the regularly scheduled pick-ups to the published locations.

Daylight Saving Time begins Sunday, March 08, 2020 at 2:00am. Employees working the 3rd shift on Saturday, March 07, 2020 will be paid for actual hours worked. Please review the following information to ensure appropriate payment and answer employee questions.

Duke University and Duke University Health System have designated a severe weather timeframe that affects the biweekly pay period ending March 01, 2020 for the period noted below:

Friday, February 21, 2020, 7:00am until 10:00am

In support of the designated holiday for Martin Luther King Jr., we have changed the Time and Attendance and Electronic Time Card closing schedules for the biweekly pay period ending January 19, 2020 (Pay Period 03-20). The revised schedules are included below. As a result, we will need your assistance with meeting these critical deadlines.

Time and Attendance users may access their time card at their convenience (24 hours a day, seven days per week).

Electronic time card users may access their time card at their convenience (24 hours per day, seven days per week).

As a follow up to the previous communication on December 23, 2019, Corporate Payroll Services would like to share some additional information related to the New IRS Form W-4.

The dates for the distribution of both electronic and paper W-2 forms are included below.

Friday, January 17, 2020

As a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the IRS has elected to implement a new Form W-4 which is very different from the current and prior year forms. The officially revised form was released in December 2019. Our partners in Administrative Systems Management have been working diligently to implement the necessary updates through the Employee Self Service tool using Duke@Work.

In support of the designated holiday for Christmas, we have changed the Time and Attendance and Electronic Time Card closing schedules for the biweekly pay period ending December 22, 2019 (Pay Period 01-20). The revised schedules are included below. As a result, we will need your assistance with meeting these critical deadlines.

Time and Attendance users may access their time card at their convenience (24 hours a day, seven days per week).

Electronic time card users may access their time card at their convenience (24 hours per day, seven days per week).

Attached are the 2020 PostDoc Scholar Health Insurance Stipend Guidelines. The guidelines provide instructions for processing health insurance stipend payments and the new stipend dollar amounts for 2020. These new stipend amounts will need to be paid to PostDoc Scholars in December of 2019 since insurance premiums are paid one month in advance.

In support of the designated holiday for Thanksgiving, we have changed the Time and Attendance and Electronic Time Card closing schedules for the biweekly pay period ending November 24, 2019 (Pay Period 25-19). The revised schedules are included below. As a result, we will need your assistance with meeting these critical deadlines.

Time and Attendance users may access their time card at their convenience (24 hours a day, seven days per week).

Electronic time card users may access their time card at their convenience (24 hours per day, seven days per week).

Over the past year, Duke Procurement and Duke Corporate A/P have identified companies pursuing ‘toner cartridge scams’ in an effort to generate revenue and they are targeting Duke University and Duke University Health System. No company should be calling any Duke employee to have them order toner or confirm a shipping address.

Duke University and Duke University Health System have agreements in place with vendors for the ordering of toner cartridges and the delivery addresses are already on file.

The Buy@Duke system was restored this morning. If you notice any shopping cart or purchase order issues, please contact the Buy@Duke Help Desk by emailing procurement@duke.edu or calling 919-681-1872.

Daylight Saving Time ends Sunday, November 3rd at 1:00 a.m. Employees who work between the hours of 1:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. November 3, 2019, will be adjusted AUTOMATICALLY by the Daylight Saving Time process in API. Additional time will be automatically added to the end of the continuous shift. An exception message will be generated and will display on the Time Card Screen for each employee working these hours. Please see the example below.