HUMAN RESOURCES

All employees and students with access to myHR can view their paycheck information by logging into myHR.  If you have a paper check or advice sent to you, it may be sent to your primary department (faculty, staff, and graduate students) or your local home address (temporary and terminated employees)

If you are missing paperwork or I-9 Section 2, your check may be held for pickup at the payroll office on your campus. The most common reasons for checks to be held are a missing I-9 (proof of eligibility to work in US), missing I-9 and nonresident paperwork, and missing work-study authorization form (required for work-study students).

If you have not received a paycheck, contact Human Resources to request a replacement.  Replacement checks typically take two to four days to stop the original payment and re-issue a new check.  

You must complete a Personal Data Form and have a valid I-9 Section 2 completed within three days of being hired to receive your first paycheck on time.  It is also recommended that you complete the federal and state W-4 tax forms.  Visit our Tax Information webpage for more details.  

All faculty, exempt (salaried) staff and graduate students are paid on the last workday of every month. All biweekly (hourly) staff and temporary employees are paid every two weeks, typically on a Friday.  Visit the Pay Dates webpage to see a list of pay dates for all employees.  

Employees who have access to myHR, can update their direct deposit online.  Visit this webpage for instructions on how to update this information in myHR.  Changes to your account(s) must be made no later than 7 (seven) days before your pay date, in order to take effect on that date. 

Employees who do not have access to myHR can submit a Direct Deposit Form to Human Resources.  Please allow at least one week for your changes to be processed.

Please update your address in the "My Personal Information" section of the myHR if you are an active employee. If you are no longer active and have left the University, please use a Personal Data Form.

Complete a Personal Data Form and attach a copy of your new Social Security Card. Your name in payroll must match your Social Security Card.  For more details, visit our Personal Information & Records webpage.  

All paychecks since December 2010 are available for download as PDFs. Clicking on these paychecks will automatically open the PDF file (you may have to turn off your pop-up blocker to see it). Paychecks prior to December 2010 will open within Self Service and are not available as PDFs. For more information regarding the viewing of a PDF paycheck, see the overview guide.

All checks received since 1997 will be displayed in myHR.  To view all your historical paychecks, use the arrow button in the “Select Paycheck” box.

By default, Northwestern no longer prints paper paychecks or check advices. You may, however, opt to receive paper advices by contacting askHR.

A negative sign in front of an amount signifies a reversal of either your earnings, benefit or tax data. For specific questions, please contact the benefits or payroll office.

To change your tax exemptions or take additional taxes out, you must complete and submit a new Federal and/or State Form W-4.  The forms are available online and can be updated and sent to Payroll at any time of the year.

Visit this website for instructions on how to access these forms online or to request a digital copy.  

If you are receiving a stipend from a scholarship/fellowship payment, these wages are not reported on form W2 and are not used to calculate federal and state taxes to be withheld despite their taxability. You need to complete a federal and state W2 listing exactly how much tax you want to be withheld in the additional withholding field. More details are available on the Scholarships & Fellowships page. If your position changes to a graduate assistant, change your W4s back to zero additional withholding.

To receive a refund of Social Security and Medicare tax taken from your monthly check due to late enrollment, you must send the payroll office a copy of both your check stub showing the tax was withheld and a copy of your schedule or other proof of full-time student status. Your tax will be refunded in a separate payment within 30 days sent to your department.

No, the FSA benefit plan is administered by a third party, PayFlex. If you are enrolled in the FSA plan, you can see details about your claims by logging into the PayFlex website.

At this point, vacation and sick balances are not included in the online paycheck view; balances can be seen by logging in the Workforce Software time system.

All forms should be submitted by the 5th of the month. Faculty and staff who submit applications for RTA transit checks (for Metra) that are received by the 5th of the month will have a deduction that month and will receive the transit check by the end of that month. Faculty and staff who submit applications for CTA Chicago Card Plus by the 5th of the month will have their first deduction in the following month receiving their Chicago Card Plus by the end of that month with the deduction value loaded by the end of that month.