This Bulletin Supersedes Payroll Bulletin No. 70.

Purpose:

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide agencies with updated guidance when issuing salary advances. 

Affected Employees:

Employees deemed eligible to receive a salary advance by their agency are affected.

Background:

Although every effort is made by agencies and OSC to ensure State employees are paid accurately and on time, there may be an occasion where all or part of the employee’s pay is not received by the employee on the scheduled paycheck date.

Salary advances are intended to provide a means for the agency to pay an employee for time worked, when any part of the employee’s pay will be delayed past the scheduled check date, resulting in undue hardship to the employee.

Effective Dates:

This bulletin is effective for salary advances issued on or after January 1, 2024.

OSC Actions:

OSC has created new Single Payment Vendor IDs, allowing agencies to pay salary advances through the Statewide Financial System (SFS). In addition, OSC has issued Operational Advisory 35 and updated the Guide to Financial Operations (GFO) to include the new business processes for making salary advance payments and return of salary advances.

Agency Actions:

Agencies are to determine their own guidelines regarding the issuance of salary advances.

OSC recommends the agency obtain an agreement signed by the employee acknowledging the repayment of the salary advance. All advances should be repaid within 14 days or upon receipt of the employee’s salary check.

In the event the agency determines a salary advance is necessary, agencies must follow the updated GFO guidance when issuing the salary advance. Allowable Payments and Limitations include:

• Personal service payments are allowed for employees only. They must be (a) for an initial payment to a new employee or (b) to employees already on the payroll.
• The advance cannot be in an amount greater than the estimated 'net' salary.
• Under no circumstances should salary advances be made to individuals on a recurring basis to expedite the payroll process or for minor changes in the individual’s biweekly earnings.
• Employees who are on an agency’s payroll, but because of absences in excess of available leave credits or for other reasons are not entitled to a full biweekly salary check, may be paid on the normal pay day for the time actually worked.

If choosing to use the Accounts Payable module of SFS to issue a personal service (salary) advance payment, the agency must utilize the appropriate Single Payment Vendor ID as indicated in the updated GFO guidance. This method is recommended for ease of reconciliation. The agency should utilize the appropriate personal service chart strings to create the payment.

Upon receipt of the return of the salary advance, agencies must follow the updated GFO guidance for cash advance reimbursement.

Questions:

Questions regarding this bulletin may be directed to the Payroll Services mailbox.

Questions regarding the GFO guidance or voucher issuance may be directed to [email protected].