Payroll
The payroll department at Saint Louis University is responsible for the processing of payroll, labor distribution posting to the General Ledger, tax withholding, nonbenefit payroll deductions, and other activities required to generate payroll payments to SLU employees.
The payroll department is also responsible for ensuring the University complies with employer federal, state and local tax regulations, and preparing annual W-2 statements for employees.
Understanding Your W-2
Below are the most common guidelines to help you understand your W-2 Statement and the correlation between the different boxes on the W-2 and your actual gross pay on your check stubs.
The wages listed in box three are your taxable Social Security wages, which for calendar year 2025, had a maximum taxable wage of $176,100. The wages listed in box five are your taxable Medicare wages; no cap applies to these wages. These wages can differ from your actual gross pay due to various benefits and pre-tax deductions. Below is a sample calculation:
| Gross pay on check stubs (Jan. -Dec. 2025) | $45,000 |
| Less pre-tax benefit deductions (Jan. - Dec. 2025) | |
| Medical insurance | $289.59 |
| Dental insurance | $196.92 |
| Flexible spending | $200 |
| Dependent care | $500 |
| Parking | $470.04 |
| Social Security and Medicare taxable wages (on W-2) | $43,343.45 |
The wages in box one and box 16 are considered your federal and state taxable wages,
which you would report on your federal and state tax returns. To arrive at the figures
for box one and box 16, you should take the Social Security and Medicare taxable wage
total above and subtract your deductions for retirement (403b and 457 Plans). Below
is a sample calculation:
| Social Security and Medicare wages (on W-2) | $43,813.49 |
| Less retirement deductions (January -December 2025) | $4,500 |
| Federal and state taxable wages (on W-2) | $38,843.49 |
The information necessary to make these calculations for your specific history is available by clicking on the Benefits and Pay Worklet in Workday. You can select in the Payslip section your final payslip of the year to view.
For 2025, if you had “Qualified Overtime Compensation” as defined in Section 225(c)(1) of the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act as overtime compensation paid to an individual required under 29 USC Section 207 that is in excess of the regular rate at which the individual was employed; the OT Premium amount that qualifies is reported in Box 14 of your W-2 with the label ‘OT Prem’.
If you have questions about your W-2, please e-mail your question, along with your Employee ID and phone number, to payroll@list.slu.edu.