Payroll FAQs

Follow the instructions in this guide.

Follow the instructions in this guide. See below for tools to help you calculate how much to withhold.

• Visit the IRS website to use the federal tax withholding estimator.
• Visit the Massachusetts website for guidance on Calculating Withholding from Wages.

Follow the instructions in this guide.

Pay dates for biweekly payrolls are on the Friday following the end of the pay period. (Visit this page for current Payroll Calendars.) Time entry locks at 3 pm on the Monday after the pay period ends. After 3 pm, you have the following options:

• Contact payroll and request your hours be entered or adjusted for the pay period, which must be done before noon on Tuesday. After this time, payroll is being completed and time entry will need to wait until Friday when time entry unlocks.)
• Wait for the time entry to reopen on Friday @ 11 am and enter your hours for the next payroll.

As of November 2024, Payroll does not accept paper time sheets to process unpaid hours. Hourly workers are able to enter hours in Workday for the current pay period as well as the prior two pay periods. For any unpaid hours more than two pay periods back, workers must contact payroll@wpi.edu and copy their supervisor. Hours submitted will not be processed for payroll without a supervisor's approval.

• From the Workday Apps menu, click on Personal Information.
• Click on Addresses under the View menu.
• Click the Edit button on the next page and select which address to change.
• After making changes, click the check mark icon to save them.

Review this Job Aid and follow the detailed instructions.

Creating an ADP account will provide access to view and download any pay slip or tax document from WPI regardless of whether you currently have an active profile. If you have any issues, please email payroll@wpi.edu to request assistance.

Late January or early February. W-2 forms are mailed out by the deadline of January 31 each calendar year. 

All W-2s were published in Workday on 01/17/2024.  You can get a copy by logging into Workday -> Benefits and Pay -> My Tax Document.

Go to my.adp.com -> Your Tax Statements Are Ready (click on “Review” and then scroll down) -> You will see Tax Statements that can be downloaded in the PDF format.  

Your access to Self-Service will be terminated in Workday once you are no longer employed or your position has ended with WPI.  Hard copies will be mailed by the deadline of January 31, 2024.  You will still have access to your W-2 under ADP’s i-Pay (instructions on how to create i-Pay accounts are saved under WPI website: https://www.wpi.edu/offices/talent/payroll). Before leaving WPI, make sure you update your address in Workday.   

Taxable wages are all total income (e.g. base pay-hourly and base pay-salary wages, all PTO income: vacation, sick, personal, etc.; all supplemental pays: bonuses, shift differentials, severances, vacation pay outs, relocation, allowances etc.) paid to an employee that by IRS’s regulations, must have taxes calculated and withheld.  

The W-2 Box 1 amount represents the federal taxable wages. Federal taxable wages are Gross Earnings minus pre-tax deductions such as health/dental/vision insurance, retirement contributions, FSA Medical/Dependent Care, and HSA deductions. 

The W-2 Box 3 and W-2 Box 5 amounts represent taxable wages that are subject to Social Security (SS)/Medicare taxes. These totals differ from Gross Earnings on the last pay slip of the year because certain pre-tax deductions reduce Social Security/Medicare taxable wages such as medical/dental/vision insurance, FSA Medical/Dependent Care, and HSA deductions. Retirement contributions do not reduce Social Security/Medicare taxable wages.

Please note that the IRS releases a cap for SS each calendar year. Employees who earned wages over the cap will no longer have a statutory deduction withheld for Social Security tax for the remainder of that year.  The SS tax calculation and withholding resets every year.

The explanations of each code can be found on the reverse side of printed W-2 form.  Visit the section below, Form W-2 Explained, to understand the calculation for each box in the IRS W-2 form.

Full-time students of WPI who are working at WPI as student employees are exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes. Some foreign nationals on specific types of visas are also exempt from these taxes.

No, address changes do not require a corrected W-2 form.  Please ensure that the address is updated in Workday for all future correspondence.

You will need to correct your address in Workday, which will be effective immediately (not retroactive) and complete a FlexWork Agreement to be sure your hybrid or remote schedule is captured with the number of days you are working in a state other than MA.  You will also need to file your taxes for the closed tax year in both states.

Wages are reported when they are paid, not when they are earned. Any December days worked and paid in January are considered earnings in the following calendar year.

Check your pre-tax deductions (e.g. medical/dental/vision insurance, retirement, etc.) from one year to another. Also compare your last two pay statements (for two different calendar years) and check if you received supplemental pay in the prior year.

If you could not get your question answered by reviewing the W-2 FAQ section or W-2 Explained section, please contact the Payroll Office at payroll@wpi.edu.

Please note, the payroll department can answer general questions and verify information but is not able to provide any tax advice. Please consult with a tax professional if you have specific questions related to your personal income and tax situation.

lease contact the Accounts Payable Office at accountspayable@wpi.edu.

This is your total taxable wages for federal income tax purposes. This amount includes all your regular wages (Base Pay – Hourly or Base Pay – Salary), supplemental pay: overload, summer salary, and any taxable fringe benefits (such as education benefits greater than $5,250), taxable moving expenses, and taxable value of group-term life insurance more than $50,000 (see box 12, below). The amount in Box 1 will generally be the “YTD Gross” under the YTD column of your final pay slip in Workday, minus pre-tax deductions such as health/dental/vision insurance, FSA/HSA spending accounts and retirement. The “YTD Gross” is the sum of the Year to Date (YTD) amounts under Hours and Earnings.

This amount represents the total amount withheld from your paycheck for federal income taxes.

This figure represents wages subject to Social Security tax. There is a Social Security wage base for each calendar year and once you reach that amount, you no longer will have deductions for Social Security tax. Social Security wages are reduced by pre-tax deductions such as health/dental/vision insurances, FSA Medical/Dependent Care Spending Accounts but not reduced by retirement contributions (403(b) or 457.) The only exceptions are WPI students working at WPI while enrolled at least half time and attending classes and nonresident alien employees working in the U.S. for a limited period on F-1, J-1, M-1 or Q-1 visas.

This amount represents the total amount withheld from your paycheck for Social Security taxes. The Social Security tax rate is 6.2%, and WPI matches the same amount. Exceptions include full-time students working at WPI as student employees and nonresident alien employees working in the U.S. for a limited period on F-1, J-1, M-1 or Q-1 visas.

This figure represents income subject to Medicare tax. There is no maximum wage base for Medicare taxes. Medicare wages are reduced by pre-tax deductions such as health/dental/vision insurances, FSA Medical/Dependent Care Spending Accounts but not reduced by retirement contributions (403(b) or 457.)  Exceptions include full-time students working at WPI as student employees and nonresident alien employees working in the U.S. for a limited period on F-1, J-1, M-1 or Q-1 visas.

This amount represents the total Medicare Taxes withheld from your paycheck. The Medicare tax is calculated based on the flat rate of 1.45%, and WPI matches the same amount. Once you reach $200,000 of wages within a calendar year, an additional 0.9% of tax is calculated which makes a total of 2.35%. Exceptions include full-time students working at WPI as student employees and nonresident alien employees working in the U.S. for a limited period on F-1, J-1, M-1 or Q-1 visas.

This is not applicable to WPI employees.

Blank; field not used.

This amount represents any amount reimbursed for dependent care expenses through a flexible spending account. WPI must report the pre-tax amount paid into a dependent care flexible spending account as part of the university’s Benefits Plan. Only dependent care benefits are reportable in this box. 

This is not applicable to WPI employees.

• 12 C - Taxable Cost of Group-Term Life Insurance (GTL). The calculated value of group-term life insurance is more than $50,000 that has been added into Box 1 as “other compensation”. 
• 12 E - Section 403(b) Salary Reductions. This represents your total elective deferrals to TIAA/Fidelity retirement plans. 
• 12 G - Section 457(b) Contributions. Any amount that you contributed to the 457(b) Tax Deferred Savings Plan. 
• 12 DD – Cost of Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage. This is the cost of your employer sponsored health care coverage. The amount reported is not taxable. This represents the employer paid portion of health insurance premiums and is for informational purposes only. 

If the “Retirement Plan” box is checked with an “X”, it indicates that an employee is an active participant to WPI’s retirement plan.  If the box is checked “Yes”, it lets the recipients know if the employee, depending on the filing status, is eligible for an additional IRA contribution.

This box may be used by an employer to report any additional tax information. 

• MA PFML – Massachusetts Paid Family Medical Leave (MA PFML) tax 
• Other applicable state/local tax withholding 
• Mandatory 403(b) 
• Medical FSA 

This box reports the WPI's state and state identification number for taxation purposes.

This amount represents the total taxable income earned in that state.  This box can be used to report wages from two states.

This amount represents the total of state income taxes withheld from your paycheck for the wages reported in Box 16.

These boxes apply to out-of-state employees only, whose tax residency states collect local income taxes.