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Office of Human Resources

Important Payroll Information for New Hires

Clemson University uses several functions within Employee Self Service (ESS) to input, maintain and access payroll information. Active faculty and staff members can access ESS to setup and maintain their Direct Deposit account(s), make changes to their W-4 (Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate), view their online paystubs, sign up for electronic W-2s, view W-2 year-end statements and access Paycheck Modeler to calculate changes in their pay, deductions or taxes.

To see when you will receive your first paycheck, please review the Payday Schedule (PDF).

Accessing Your Employee Self Service

As an active Clemson University staff or faculty member, you will use your primary username to access Employee Self Service. Proceed using the login instructions below.

Logging into Employee Self Service
Information Regarding Your CU Username
  • You recently received a welcome email from Clemson’s Director of Training, Development and Retention. Refer to this email to obtain your Clemson username, password, employee ID and more.
  • Two-Factor authentication using DUO is also required when using the University’s online Employee Self Service (access DUO instructions).
  • At any time after your hire date, you can obtain your username by using the my.Clemson directory.
  • Should you have more than one username, you can find your primary username at whoami.clemson.edu.
  • For username/password issues and resetting a forgotten password, please contact the CCIT Support Center at ithelp@clemson.edu or (864) 656-3494.
Information Regarding Your Password
  • New Employees:
    • Your initial password is the last five digits of your SSN, which is a temporary password. You will be prompted to change your initial password when logging in for the first time. To change your password now, visit the Password Change Utility.
  • Returning Employees/Former CU Students:
    • Your password and username are the same as they were during your previous time at Clemson University.

Required Step: Setting Up Your Direct-Deposit

All faculty and staff members are required to have 100 percent of their net pay directly deposited into a bank account. Please follow these instructions:

A required step of your onboarding process, within 10 days of your official start date, enter your correct bank account information into the HR database using the online Employee Self Service.

  • Your net pay can be split up to as many as five (5) distributions. The distributions can be a mix of multiple financial institutions, as well as multiple checking and/or savings accounts.
  • If you choose to distribute your net pay using percentages for some bank accounts and dollar amounts for other bank accounts, the account with the lowest priority (i.e. highest Deposit Order number) must have a deposit Type of Balance.
  • The sum of the percentages of all accounts must equal 100 percent.
  • The Direct Deposit Policy and step-by-step instructions on how to access ESS to input direct deposit information can be found on the ESS Direct Deposit webpage.

Changing Your Default W-4 Tax Withholding Allowance Certificate

Initially, your W-4 Tax Withholding Allowance Certificate defaults to a filing status of Single or Married filing separately, until you initiate a change, if a change is desired. To change your Filing Status, report Multiple Jobs or Spouse Works, Claim Dependents, make Other Adjustments or to Claim Exemption from Withholding, follow the instructions below:

W-4 Tax Withholding Allowance Certificate
Using Clemson’s Online Employee Self Service
  • After your hire date, access Employee Self Service.
  • Login using your username and password.
  • Authenticate with DUO (access DUO instructions).
  • Click Payroll and Compensation.
  • Click W-4 Tax Information.
  • Make your changes as needed for Step 1 through Step 4.
  • Scroll down and click the Submit button on the bottom of the screen.
  • ou will receive a Submit Confirmation.
  • Click OK.
Filing a Paper W-4
  • If your tax situation requires you to claim allowances for State of SC, you will need to complete the South Carolina Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate
  • Print, sign and return the form to:
    Payroll Office
    Administrative Services Building
    108 Perimeter Rd.
    Box 345313
    Clemson, SC 29634-5313

Online Paystub

Clemson University utilizes an online paystub as the method to report your earnings each payday. Follow these instructions to view your paycheck:

Paper Paystub

While you are actively employed by Clemson University, your pay will be reported to you via the online paystub feature above.

In the event you are no longer an active employee, the system will generate your final paper paystub, which will be sent to your home address listed in the HR database. For instructions to update your address and other information, you can visit the Updating Your Information webpage.

Online W-2

You have the option to review your W-2 online, and can elect to download your W-2 for tax purposes rather than having a hardcopy W-2 printed and mailed to you. Follow these instructions to elect to receive an online W-2 when they become available each January:

  • After your first payday, access Employee Self Service.
  • Login using your username and password.
  • Authenticate with DUO (access DUO instructions).
  • Click Payroll and Compensation.
  • Click W-2/W-2c Consent.
  • Click in the box at "I consent to receive W-2 or W-2c forms electronically"
  • Click Submit.

W-2s will be available to view annually (no later than January 31) for the previous year by clicking View W-2/W-2c Form. You will receive an e-mail from Clemson Payroll (payroll@clemson.edu) when W-2s are made available online.

Office of Human Resources
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Office of Human Resources | 108 Perimeter Rd, Clemson, SC 29634
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