State Auditor Rich Sattgast
Distribution and record accuracy of state employee payroll is handled by the office. There are 24 normal payroll periods during the course of the year for employees on the central payroll system. The central payroll system contains all state employees except those located at the universities. Personnel at the universities are issued payroll monthly or bi-weekly, depending on their position.
W-4 information and creation of W-2s and 1099s are a responsibility of the State Auditor.
What is ESS? It stands for Employee Self Service. For our purposes, the term employee self service means empowering employees to perform certain tasks themselves that traditionally have required interaction with someone in the personnel or finance office. It involves providing access to information directly to the employees rather than making them go through an intermediary. It also involves placing some of the employee's own information directly under their control. Please use this link for Employee Self- Service.
Levies, filed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), against vendors receiving payments from the state or against state employees are filed through this office for the proper collection and transmission of funds claimed by the IRS.
Garnishments against state employees are handled by the office as well as any court ordered child care payments.
The Payroll Card has many benefits for state employees. It can be a great tool for budgeting personal finances.The card can be used as a specified spending account designated for only certain spending, such as for Holidays or special occasions. The card can be designated for state travel reimbursements. The card can also be used for a cash allowance, or for only paying bills. By not extending credit, the card helps train the user to spend only what is available. When the card is empty, spending is put on hold until another deposit is made. This is a great tool for use in personal budgeting.
Employees can have their payroll checks, a portion of their payroll checks, or their employee reimbursements (travel, moving, etc) deposited onto the card. The card works like a MasterCard and can be used wherever MasterCard Debit Cards are offered. The card can be used for point-of-sale purchases, automatic bill payments, at the ATM machine or inside the bank for cash withdrawals, up to the amount stored on the card. The card does not extend credit, and cannot be used for transaction amounts that exceed the amount stored on the card. A brochure outlining all the card's features and benefits is available at https://bfm.sd.gov/paycard/
For more information, or to sign up for the card visit
https://bhr.sd.gov/policies-forms/forms/#payroll