• 2024 W-2s were mailed from James Madison University on January 29th to the address on file in MyMadison under the Employee tab, as of 1/23/25.

• General Guide to Sections of your W-2.
• Why is my reported W-2 earnings different than my paycheck gross earnings/salary?
• What to do if you do not receive your W-2 timely.

For faculty wishing to make tax withholding adjustments for their summer pay, please reference our summer school calendars under the “Calendars and Deadlines” link on the left sidebar.

There are two calendars available...  a “guaranteed” course calendar and a “contingency” course calendar.

Note:  A contingency course that “makes” is still considered a contingency course for the purpose of determining your scheduled pay dates.

In order for Payroll Services to assist with the calculations, faculty must have filed a 2020 or later W4 and have at least 1 paycheck confirmed on the new selections before we can advise on adjustments for future payrolls.  Additionally, faculty must provide the following information…

1. The session(s) being taught (i.e. 1^st 4 wks, 2^nd 6 wks, etc…)

2. The actual pay dates the payments are schedule to pay out

3. The exact amount expected

4. Your PeopleSoft Employee ID Number, or the last four digits of your SSN.

For payroll assistance, please email payroll-operations@jmu.edu.

In an effort to “Go Green” , all adjustments must be made electronically via MyMadison.  There is a “DD and W-4/VA-4 Effective Date Table” calendar located under our “Calendars and Deadlines” link as well.  This calendar will identify when changes must be made via MyMadison in order for the change to be effective for a particular pay date.

The academic year is divided into two semesters: Fall and Spring. Fall is the 1st semester, pay period dates running 8/25 – 12/24. Spring is the 2nd semester, pay period dates running 12/25 – 4/24. If an employee terms after the 1st semester (12/24), they are entitled to ½ of the salary. In our example, the employee should be paid a total of $20,000 for working ½ of the contract. The employee has been paid $13,333.36 and will be paid the additional amount of $6,666.64 as a contract buy-up.

The academic year is divided into two semesters: Fall and Spring. Fall is the 1st semester, pay period dates running 8/25 – 12/24. Spring is the 2nd semester, pay period dates running 12/25 – 4/24. If you are beginning your employment in the 2nd semester, we will need to prorate your salary to carry you through the summer months of 4/25-8/24. The following is a list of steps we use to calculate your prorated salary:

1. Divide your annual salary in half since you are only working half of the academic year. For example, if your salary is $65,000, you will use $32,500.

2. Next, using the annual salary calculated in step 1, divide that number by 16 which is the total number of pay periods from 12/25 – 08/24 (Spring and Summer). This will give you your adjusted semi-monthly rate. Example: $32,500/16 = $2,031.25.

3. Take the adjusted semi-monthly rate and multiply it by 24 to get the adjusted salary that will be keyed into the system. Example: $2,031.25 x 24 = $48,750. This will be the annual salary shown in the payroll system through 8/24.

Then effective 8/25, Payroll will bring your salary back to the full 10 month amount, which in this example would be $65,000. The $65,000 would then be paid out 8/25 – 8/24 of the following year in 24 equal installments. For this example your semi-monthly gross pay would become $2,708.33 ($65,000 divided by 24). For further clarification or additional information on your 10-month salary calculation, please contact your corresponding Payroll Transaction Analyst (visit our STAFF page).

For an employee who has a less than 12-month contract, the contract period is divided into working months (9-month employee, 10-month employee, etc.) and then rest months. If you are beginning your employment in the middle of your contract working months, we will need to adjust your salary and make adjustments to your compensation rate when you start working the partial contract. The following is a list of steps we use to calculate your adjusted salary:

1. We divide your full contract annual salary by the number of working pay periods in your full contract. (Since we pay bi-monthly, 9-month = 18 pay periods, 10-month = 20 pay periods, etc.) This will give us your pay period earnings during your working months.
   • For example, let’s say you are a 10-month employee whose full contract annual salary is $50,000. We would calculate $50,000 / 20 = $2,500. This is what you will earn each pay period you actually work.
2. Next, since you are starting in the middle of your contract working dates, we multiply the pay period earnings from step 1, by the actual number of pay periods you will work before your rest period. This gives us the amount of salary you are earning in your partial contract.
   • For example, let’s say your full contract would have you working from 6/25/23 – 4/24/24, with rest months of 4/25/24 – 6/24/24. Now, let’s say you don’t start working until 8/25/23.  That means you did not work the first 2 months of your contract, so you are only working 16 of the 20 pay periods. So, we would calculate $2,500 X 16 = $40,000.
3. Next, we divide the number found in step 2 by the number of pay periods from your starting work date until the end of your rest months. This will give us the adjusted semi-monthly (pay period) rate you should be paid during your partial contract.
   • Continuing with the example from step 2, we need to pay you during the 20 pay periods from 8/25/23 – 6/24/24. We would calculate $40,000 / 20 = $2,000. This is the adjusted semi-monthly rate for your partial contract.
4. Next, we take the adjusted semi-monthly rate and multiply it by 24 (number of pay periods in a full year) to get the adjusted annualized salary that will be keyed into the system. This will be the annual salary shown in the payroll system through the end of your contract.
   • Using the semi-monthly rate found in step 3, we would calculate $2,000 X 24 = $48,000.
5. Finally, Payroll will bring your salary back to the full annual amount at the beginning of your next contract year, since you will then be working the full year contract. The system will automatically divide this full annual salary amount by 24 to give you your full contract semi-monthly amount per pay period.
   • So, in the example we have been using, when you start working again at the beginning of your new year contract on 6/25/24, you will see the full salary of $50,000 in the system, and your new semi-monthly amount will be automatically calculated as $50,000 / 24 = $2,083.33

ANOTHER example, with just the numbers:

• 9-month employee
• $62,350 full contract annual salary
• Full year contract dates are 7/25/24 – 4/24/25 (working months) & 4/25/25 – 7/24/25 (rest months)
• Date to begin working partial contract is 12/25/24

• • Step 1 – $62,350.00 / 18 = $3,463.89
  • Step 2 – $3,463.89 X 8 = $27,711.12
  • Step 3 – $27,711.12 / 14 = $1,979.37
  • Step 4 – $1,979.37 X 24 = $47,504.88 adjusted salary starting 12/25/24
  • Step 5 – $62,350.00 full salary starting 7/25/25