Understand Your Paystub
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There’s a lot of information on our paystubs! We want to help you understand what everything means so you feel confident and prepared to make all the financial decisions you need to make. View the payroll team’s Guide to Understanding Your Paystub here.
*This paystub is a sample only. Actual amounts vary by person and may vary on each check*
Standard Paystub Information
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YTD = Year-to-Date
YTD amounts show the total amount for that line item for the current calendar year. If you experience a change (like waiving your benefits) the YTD amount will still reflect the amount that was paid from January 1 to the current date. The amount resets on the January 7 paycheck every year.
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Amount
The Amount column demonstrates the total amount paid or deducted for the current pay cycle. This amount may fluctuate. Check below for specifics around why certain line items fluctuate. If there is not a payment or deduction for a line item in the current pay cycle, then this column will be blank. If you see a negative amount in this column, please review the specific line item below for an explanation.
Earnings Items
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Regular Pay
Hours
- Hourly Employees - this will reflect your actual hours worked for the pay period. This is the amount of hours you entered into True Pay
- Salary Employees - this will not reflect actual hours worked. Because you’re paid an annual salary, this will reflect your total hours over the year divided by 24 pay periods. This means that it may reflect less than 80 hours - in order to pay you for scheduled time off throughout your work calendar (see your specific work calendar for information on paid non-duty and non-paid non-duty days). Because of the way pay periods are measured and the varying amount of non-duty days per your work calendar, this hourly reflection may vary from paycheck to paycheck.
Rate
- Hourly Employees - this is your rate of pay per hour
- Salary Employees - this field will be blank, you are paid on a salary basis
Amount
- All employees - this is the total amount paid for hours worked in this pay period and before any deductions
- Hourly Employees - this amount will fluctuate based on your total amount of hours worked per pay period
- Salary Employees - this amount may fluctuate slightly depending on your work calendar, non-duty days, and other factors that impact the actual amount of your salary being paid out per pay period.
YTD Amount
- All employees - this is the gross total amount (including the current pay period) that has been paid from January 1 to date. This amount does not include any deductions.
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Cash4Ben
In certain rare situations, you may be eligible to receive your benefit credit amount in cash (or any remaining balance if you elect benefits through DPS). In this case, you will see that amount reflected here.
The Amount is the total for this pay period.
The YTD Amount is the total paid from January 1 to date.
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Holiday
This reflects any holiday time per your work calendar. The amount is generally zero for this field unless you are hourly.
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Sick Pay, OR Personal, OR Vacation
This is allocation of your accrued paid time off per your work calendar.
Hourly Employees will have a dollar amount for this.
Salary Employees will not have a dollar amount.
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Other Line Items
You may see several additional line items, these can range in description from “Extra Pay Miscellaneous”, “Stipend Non-Pension”, “District Closure Excused”, or any other description. These are related to incentives, stipends, extra duty pay, or other eligible additional pay items.
Pre-Tax Deduction Items
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These are deductions that come out of your gross (total) pay before taxes are calculated. These are typically benefit premiums based on your elections. If your gross (total) pay fluctuates, these amounts will not fluctuate (unless you take action to change them. Visit Changing Benefits to understand when you may be eligible to change benefit plans/premiums).
Benefit Credits: if you are eligible for benefit credits (based on your FTE and bargaining unit), they will be reflected in the Pre-Tax Deduction section. The amount of benefit credit will be shown as a negative number. This negative number will reduce your total amount deducted. View your eligibility for benefits at thecommons.dpsk12.org/benefits.
**Commuter benefits are different from other types of deductions. Commuter benefits may fluctuate every paycheck based on your total available balance in your commuter account. For more information, visit thecommons.dpsk12.org/supplementalinsurance.
Mandated Deduction Items
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These are deductions that are required legally. These are your taxes and PERA contributions. DPS does not determine the amount that comes out for these categories. They are based on a percentage or formula from your gross (total) pay minus your pre-tax deductions. If your gross (total) pay or pre-tax deductions fluctuate, these amounts will also fluctuate.
After Tax Deduction Items
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These are other benefits that you may have elected that are taken out of your paycheck after your Mandated (taxes) are taken into account. These typically include items like Optional Life Insurance, Employee Association Fees, etc. These amounts typically do not fluctuate.
Employer Paid Contributions Items
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These items are paid into accounts (PERA, HSA, etc.) from DPS on your behalf. These amounts are not taken out of your pay.
Amount represents the amount paid on your behalf for this pay period.
YTD Amount represents the total amount paid on your behalf for this calendar year (January 1 to date).
Summary Items
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First, this lists your total amount of pay earned (regular pay, benefit credit amounts, stipends, incentives, extra duty paid, non-pension stipends, etc.).
Then, your total amount of pre-tax, mandated, and after-tax deductions are listed.
Finally, your net pay is displayed. This is the amount that is actually deposited into your account.
Total amount earned - total deductions = net pay
Distribution Items
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This category lists the account you have set up for direct deposit. If you have more than one account set up, this will list all accounts and the total amount that will be deposited into each for the current pay cycle.
