Employee Start Date

Start date defined

The Banner start date is considered the first day of employment for a new Virginia Tech employee or the first day an existing employee begins a new job.

For new employees, the start date is what MUST be used for completing the federally required Form I-9. The start date should not change even if an employee does not begin working until a later date. Example: A graduate assistant's contract states the start date as Aug. 10 but the employee does not begin work until the first day of the academic semester. The graduate assistant's start date would still be Aug. 10.

When determining what the start date should be for a new Virginia Tech employee or for an existing employee in a new position, refer to the following guidelines:

Start date guidelines

New Employees:

New employees can start on any day.

To ensure timely payment the new employee must:

1. Complete their PageUp New Hire form a minimum of three working days prior to the start date.
2. Successfully pass the conviction check (and any other required checks such as a driving check for those whose role requires driving).
3. Finalize new hire paperwork, particularly the Form I-9 and tax forms. Failure to complete both Section 1 and Section 2 of the Form I-9 within three days of the employee's start date may result in the employee being terminated. See the onboarding site for more information on key onboarding activities for new employees.

Job entry should be completed before the salary overtime, retroactive entry, and payroll end dates as listed on the payroll schedule. New hire transactions received after the established deadline will be processed retroactively. 

Existing Employees:

Start dates for existing employees moving to a new job within the university should coincide with the beginning of a pay period, which start on the 10th and 25th of each month.

To ensure timely payment, the employee must complete the abbreviated PageUp New Hire form a minimum of five working days prior to the start date.

HR will process the new job entry transaction for existing employees on the start date to prevent interruption of system access. New job entries for existing employees cannot be completed between the salary overtime, retroactive entry, and payroll end dates as listed on the payroll schedule.