Within a year, paper pay stubs will be just a memory at Ohio State.

Instead of receiving tangible paychecks, OSU faculty, staff and student employees’ pay information will be available online and over a telephone interactive voice response system.

“A bid for a vendor, in accordance with university policy, was completed in November 2003. We anticipate the announcement of the vendor in late December 2003,” said Karen Carroll, director of payroll for the Office of Human Resources.

Employees will have immediate access to a 12-month pay history online, in addition to annual pay summaries dating back three years. To ensure web security, employees will select a personal identification number to access their account, Carroll said.

Employees without a bank account will be given a payroll card and their paycheck amount will be credited to the card.

“Using their payroll card, the employee would make withdrawals at either an Automated Teller Machine or would execute cash back debit transactions at point-of-sale locations, such as a grocery store, drug store or gas station,” Carroll said.

Those who do not wish to use a payroll card can have checks sent to their home, but Carroll said there are numerous advantages to the new system.

Employees will have access to their payroll information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and a call center will be available for support. Authorized verifiers will be able to obtain pay stubs online and employees will have the ability to participate in direct deposit.

The university will reduce or eliminate paper paychecks and pay statements, in addition to express mail, stop payments and lost paychecks. Phone calls regarding pay stub copies will be reduced. Reductions in manually looking up, printing and mailing pay stub copies will also be apparent.

“I think it’s a great idea, especially for me because I have direct deposit already,” said Lola Omoyosi, a resident advisor in Smith Hall.

Sixty-seven percent of OSU’s employees already use direct deposit.

I’m in favor of it,” said Sarah Brewer, a graduate administrative assistant with USAS.

Brewer said paper pay stubs serve no other purpose than documentation. Like Omoyosi, Brewer said convenience is another favorable factor in a paperless pay system.

The Office of Human Resources proposed this pay method more than a year ago, Carroll said.

Most of the Big Ten universities, including the University of Minnesota, Indiana University and the University of Michigan have employee self-service systems, Carroll said.