FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

FAQs related to Human Resources: Payroll, Time, and Leave

Added: January 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

Employees should input timesheets in the OneRF system. Job Aids on how to input timesheets are available on the RFCUNY Training Resources page. RFCUNY also produced a brief video tutorial on how to submit a timesheet.  

Added: March 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

You can review your pay information by searching for “My Payslips” in OneRF.  On that page, you can review your most current and historical pay slips.  We know that the format of this information in OneRF is different than what you might have seen in RFCUNY’s legacy E-Pay system.  

For a more familiar view, you can click on “Print Payslip Image”. The OneRF system will generate a PDF that more closely resembles those generated by the legacy E-Pay system.  Please note that the PDF does not appear immediately – the system typically needs a minute or two to process the request.  Once it is done, the PDF will appear on screen and a link to the document will also be sent to your email inbox.   

Added: January 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

No, the pay period and due date for timesheets remain the same; timesheets are due the Monday after the pay period ends. RFCUNY strongly encourages employees to submit timesheets on Friday if work has been completed for the pay period. 

Added: January 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

Time off accrual balances are visible in the Absence section of OneRF. For more information, please view the Job Aid “How an Employee Accesses Accrual Balances”.

Added: January 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

Employees are required to submit time off and absence requests electronically through OneRF’s Absence Calendar. Approved time off then automatically flows to the employee’s timesheet for payroll processing. A leave of absence can also be requested through the Absence Calendar, and those requests are routed electronically for HR’s approval.  

Please note: in OneRF, time off must be entered in the Absence Calendar and cannot be submitted through the timesheet. 

Added: March 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

The Case Management tool within OneRF allows users to submit a ticket that routes directly to the appropriate expert group, and users can track responses and updates there. In order to address the most urgent issues, the RFCUNY team reviews and responds to cases in OneRF based on severity and business impact.  

Urgent payroll, vendor payment, and operational disruptions are escalated immediately. Lower-severity items are addressed in the order they are received and more complex issues may require additional analysis, configuration review, or coordination with our vendors before a substantive response can be provided.  

Added: January 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

Time off requests submitted via OneRF’s Absence Calendar are routed to the applicable Principal Investigators, Authorized Signatory, and/or Timekeepers for approval. These roles also have the ability to approve, deny, or edit an employee’s request. Once the time off request has been approved, the time off flows to the employee’s timesheet for payroll processing.  

Employees with multiple positions; where a primary position and multiple additional positions exist; requests for time off on any of the additional positions will route to all Principal Investigators on the additional positions. Principal Investigators will need to approve only the time off request that aligns with the positions they manage. 

Added: January 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

Yes. All employees must have a work schedule in OneRF. Schedules for full-time employees are preset to 35 hours a week, seven hours per day, Monday through Friday.  

Full-time employees who work a different schedule and part-time employees need to have their work schedule set up by their Principal Investigator in OneRF. Work schedules in OneRF are managed at the employee level, meaning that employees only have one work schedule. 

Added: January 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

Yes. Work schedules must be set up for all part-time employees and full-time employees who work different hours than mentioned above.  

Work schedules in OneRF are managed at the employee level, meaning that employees only have one work schedule. For employees working on multiple positions, the employee’s work schedule will have to be updated with the hours for all positions. 

Added: January 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

OneRF features an employee-level approach to managing time off accruals. Each employee maintains a single annual leave balance and a single sick leave balance, regardless of the number of positions they hold.  

Employees may use their accrual balance throughout their employment at RFCUNY and are required to use all of their annual leave accruals prior to separation. Principal Investigators and supervisors should continue to monitor leave usage to prevent excessive accumulation.

Added: January 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

No. In OneRF, employees’ accruals cannot be tracked by individual grants or positions. With OneRF’s employee-level approach, employees will accrue time off at the employee level - one employee, one balance. 

Added: January 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

In OneRF, annual leave eligibility is determined solely by the employee’s Primary Position. For employees holding multiple positions, if the Primary Position is eligible for annual leave, the employee will accrue annual leave, even if the additional positions are ineligible (e.g., On-Call, Temp, GRA, Part-Time Instructor). 

Added: January 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

In OneRF, employees accrue time off at the end of a completed pay period. Employees are able to see their updated accrual balances immediately upon the end of a pay period.  

Added: January 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

When an anniversary date impacting an accrual tier change falls mid-pay period, employees accrue at the highest tier for the entire pay period at the end of that pay period.  

Added: January 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

In OneRF, employees are required to maintain their annual leave balance at the maximum allowable amount (175 hours) by the last completed pay period of the year. Employees should aim to use their annual leave in order to remain within the allowable carryover limit by the last completed pay period of the calendar year. The end of year cutoff will occur on January 1 of each year based on the numbers from that last completed payroll of the calendar year. 

Added: January 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

Employees are required to use all their annual leave accruals prior to separation. Principal Investigators and supervisors should continue to monitor leave usage to prevent excessive accumulation. Any unused annual leave balances will be paid out at separation from a pooled account. 

Added: January 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

In OneRF, annual leave may be advanced for special or emergency situations to full-time employees, including religious observances upon approval by the project director, in response to a written request from the employee. Annual leave may be advanced up to 70 hours. Where the Research Foundation has advanced payment for annual leave and the individual's employment terminates before he or she accrues the leave advanced, the remaining amount of leave that was advanced and not earned may be deducted from regular pay to the extent permitted by law. 

Added: March 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

RFCUNY’s top priority is to ensure that every employee receives pay for the hours they work. Our Human Resources team addresses issues on pay discrepancies on an individual, global, and ongoing basis. Specifically: 

  • An early issue regarding tax withholding was resolved by March 2026. Employees can review their pay slips and withholding elections directly in OneRF’s Workday platform at any time. 
  • At any time, if an individual believes their withholding is inaccurate, they should speak to their campus payroll coordinator immediately.  That individual will call our HR team and we will review it as quickly as possible.  
  • Retroactive pay issues can be corrected; submitting a case in OneRF with the employee’s name and missing pay periods will allow our HR team to prioritize and resolve payment immediately.  

For additional questions on timesheets and pay, please review the following materials: 

GOs and PIs can correct pay issues – please contact your campus payroll coordinator immediately for assistance. RFCUNY’s Human Resources team prioritizes these cases.

Added: March 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

In OneRF’s Workday platform, an employee’s schedule is tied to the worker record, not to individual grants. For employees appointed on multiple grants under different PIs, one PI does not automatically have visibility into commitments tied to other supervisory organizations.  

For employees who are paid concurrently on more than one grant, we completed the data migration to match legacy data and created separate job appointments and obligations by grant. Additionally, we have added a position code to the position title as a unique identifier so employees with multiple appointments across different grants can allocate their timesheets accordingly.

Added: March 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

Yes. OneRF has reports that identify employees who have not submitted timesheets and employees whose timesheets are pending approval. These reports are available on the OneRF Dashboard for PIs and GOs. More information about the reporting available is located on RFCUNY’s OneRF Report Dashboard page.   

  • RFCUNY Timesheet Pending Submission – A timesheet that has been created by the employee in the RFCUNY system but has not yet been submitted for approval. 
  • RFCUNY Timesheet Pending Approval – A timesheet that has been submitted by the employee and is waiting for the Principal Investigator (PI) or supervisor to review and approve before payroll processing. 
  • RFCUNY Timesheet Uncreated – A timesheet that has not yet been created in the system by the employee for the applicable pay period, meaning no hours have been entered. 

We have created instructions on how to pin the Dashboard to your OneRF homepage to assist users in finding these resources as quickly and efficiently as possible.  

Added: March 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

Grants Officers can see employee pay rates and associated obligations in OneRF, even when appointments cover only part of the year, in the Compensation area of OneRF and can see obligations for this compensation using the RFCUNY Grant Budget and Expense Report.   

In OneRF, personnel commitments and obligations are calculated based on the weekly hours the employee is scheduled to work, similar to the calculation options that existed in RFCUNY’s legacy system.  Within OneRF, the following methods are used: 

  1. Hourly employees – these employees will require an hourly rate of pay. To calculate the hours per pay period, multiply the hourly rate by the estimated hours worked in a pay period.  
  2. Salaried employees will require an annual salary. To calculate an employee’s annual salary, multiply their biweekly pay rate by 26. 

CUNY Grants Officers can view and access the pay rate for each employee by navigating to the employee’s profile under the Compensation section in OneRF. The employee’s pay history appears under Pay Change History. If an employee has multiple positions, the compensation for each position is viewable by toggling between the positions. 

The estimated obligations (encumbrances) for employees are available in the Reporting section by reviewing the RFCUNY Grant Budget and Expense Report. 
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