Policy 0802.71 Salary Overpayment

The Payroll Department (Payroll) is responsible for making timely and accurate salary payments to District Employees. On occasion, due to errors in processing, employees may be paid more than is owed to them. If a Supervisor or Principal becomes aware of an overpayment, he or she is responsible for reporting it to Payroll immediately. If an employee becomes aware of an overpayment, he or she is responsible for reporting it to his or her Supervisor or Principal. Employees must repay all amounts paid in excess, regardless of how the overpayment occurred. For employees who leave the District before full repayment has been made, the District is authorized to deduct from the employee’s final salary payment any repayment amount not yet received. Corrections made to the previous year’s salary must be on or before December 1 of each year.

Discovery of Overpayment

Upon discovering that a payment has been made in error, or that the amount paid was erroneous, Payroll will take steps to determine the source of the error, will calculate the amount paid in error, accounting for taxes and other amounts withheld.

Notification

Payroll will notify the Supervisor or Principal and send information to the employee that includes:

• The amount of the overpayment;
• The date(s) on which the overpayment occurred;
• The reason for the overpayment; and
• The employee’s options for repayment

The employee must select an option for repayment and notify Payroll of the option selected.

Correction and Repayment

Payroll will complete a Payroll Corrections form to include the amount of overpayment, the date occurred, the reason and the repayment plan. This will be scanned to the employee’s file.

The employee has the following options for repayment:

• Full repayment by deduction from the employee’s regular pay. This option will be used for amounts less than the employee’s monthly pay and repayment will be made on the employee’s next regular payroll.
• Full repayment by check or money order
• Repayment in installments withheld from the employee’s regular payroll until repayment is satisfied. Payroll will work with the employee to determine a repayment timeframe not to exceed six (6) months or the end of the calendar year, whichever is sooner. The full repayment amount must be received within the same calendar year as the overpayment, when possible.

If the employee leaves the District before full repayment is collected, the District is authorized to withhold from any final salary payment(s) the amount still owed as repayment. If such an amount cannot be withheld, Payroll may send a certified letter to the former employee’s last known address including the amount still due and requesting repayment within thirty (30) calendar days. If necessary, payroll and the former employee may agree upon a payment schedule not to exceed six (6) months or the end of the calendar year, whichever is sooner.