Payroll
Policy
FIACCT 11-19: Payroll overpayments and underpayments
Effective: April 24, 2004
Revised: July 6, 2026
References: FI 15: Payroll warrant request
Purpose
This policy explains how to resolve payroll overpayments and/or underpayments to employees and establishes guidelines for the issuance of supplemental payroll. This policy ensures payroll errors are corrected quickly while using resources efficiently and following IRS tax withholding rules.
Definitions
Agency – Any agency, board, bureau, commission, office, department, or other administrative subunit of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of state government.
Emergency – A payroll error caused by the employer that, in the determination of the state finance director, would result in an undue financial hardship for the employee if delayed until the next scheduled pay date.
Financial hardship – A situation where the amount of the payroll error, when considered as a percentage of the employee’s paycheck, and the length of time until the next scheduled pay date, creates an undue financial burden on the employee.
GovOps – The Department of Government Operations.
State finance – The GovOps Division of Finance.
State payroll – The GovOps Division of Finance payroll team.
Supplement payroll – A payroll cycle that is issued on the Friday following the regular pay date.
Policy
A – Employees must repay overpayments
1 – Employees must repay overpayments in full unless the overpayment is $50 or less. Employees may keep overpayments of up to $50.
1a – Employees must repay any overpayment that occurs because of theft or fraud.
2 – When agencies identify overpayments of $50 or more, they must report them to state payroll, who will create a claim in Vantage Payroll.
3 – State payroll will deduct the overpayment from the employee’s next regular paycheck.
3a – If an employee can’t pay back the overpayment in the next regular paycheck, agency commissioners must submit a written exception to the state finance director requesting an employee repayment plan.
3b – State payroll will create the repayment plan in Vantage Payroll if it’s approved by the state finance director.
B – State payroll corrects underpayments
1 – State payroll corrects underpayments caused by employee errors (such as missed hours or unsubmitted timesheets) during the next regular payroll cycle.
2 – If an underpayment of $100 or less is caused by something outside of the employee’s control (such as system errors or supervisor oversight), state payroll will correct the error during the next regular payroll cycle.
2a – If an underpayment of more than $100 is caused by something outside of the employee’s control, see section C.
C – Supplemental payroll may be used in emergencies
1 – State payroll uses supplemental payroll to correct underpayments of more than $100 only during emergencies.
2 – The agency payroll coordinator must complete, approve, and submit form FI 15: Payroll warrant request to the payroll help desk by 12 p.m. on the Tuesday after the regular pay date.
3 – The state finance director will review the request to see if it meets the emergency criteria to decide if supplemental payroll is justified.
4 – If the state finance director approves the request, state payroll will issue supplemental pay on the Friday following the regular pay date.
4a – If requested in advance, employees paid by check through Vantage Payroll may pick up their payment in person at the state finance disbursements office on the first floor of the Taylorsville State Office Building
5 – State payroll processes unapproved supplemental requests during the next regular payroll cycle.