Employee Financial Obligations                                         UPPS No. 03.01.11 (New)

Issue No. 1
Effective Date: 5/19/2004
Review: March 1 E5Y

 

 

01.       POLICY STATEMENTS

 

01.01 The purpose of this UPPS is to establish policies and procedures for Texas State to recoup excess compensation and other financial obligations to the University owed by current or former university employees.  Such action is authorized under Government Code, Chapter 666. 

 

01.02  The University may recover (in accordance with this UPPS) the amount of an employee’s indebtedness to the University by deducting the amount of indebtedness from any amount of compensation that the University owes the employee or the employee’s successor. (Refer to Section 02.05 for definition of “successor”.)  The University may delay paying compensation or expense reimbursements until indebtedness issues are resolved. 

 

01.03  Account managers and other university administrators who become aware of any current or former employee indebtedness to the University as defined in Section 02 of this UPPS should immediately notify the Associate Vice President Financial Services/Treasurer and the appropriate vice president. Such notification should be in writing, detailing the amount and nature of the debt.

 

02.       DEFINITIONS

 

02.01  Compensation - includes base salary or wages, longevity or hazardous duty pay, benefit replacement pay, payment for the balance of applicable accrued leave, and any emolument provided in lieu of or in addition to base salary or wages.  This includes leave granted under the Development Leave Program (UPPS No. 04.04.35).  

 

02.02  Excess compensation - is defined as all amounts of compensation paid to a university employee that exceed the amount the employee is eligible to receive.

 

02.03  Indebtedness – is defined as the amount of compensation paid to an employee that exceeds the amount the employee is eligible to receive because at the time the compensation was paid:  (1) the employee was ineligible to receive the entire amount paid; or (2) the employee’s eligibility to receive the amount paid was conditioned on either the occurrence of an event that did not occur or the employee’s fulfillment of a promise that the employee did not fulfill. 

 

02.04  University employee - a faculty, staff, or student employee of Texas State University-San Marcos.  This includes both regular and non-regular employees.

 

02.05  Successor - the estate of a deceased university employee, the surviving spouse of a deceased university employee, or the distributees of the estate of a deceased university employee. In the appropriate context, the word “employee” in this UPPS refers to a university employee or to his or her successor.

 

02.06  Date of Notification is defined for each situation as follows.

 

a.   Hand-delivered – the date of actual delivery.

 

b.   Electronic notification (such as e-mail or fax) – the date sent.

 

c.   Mailed or shipped – the earlier of the actual date received (as shown on mail or other shipping records) or 3 days from the date of mailing (or shipping) the notice. 

 

02.07  Other debts – amounts owed to the University other than those defined previously as “indebtedness”.     

 

03.       PROCEDURES FOR RECOVERING INDEBTEDNESS

           

03.01  Financial obligations may be categorized and require approval(s) as follows:

 

a.   Indebtedness - The University may deduct from employees’ pay and/or expense reimbursements amounts owed due to excess compensation (i.e., overpayments) at the discretion of the University.  It is not necessary to have consent from the individual involved for deductions due to excess compensation. 

 

b.   Other debts- The University will not deduct other debts from an employee’s compensation or expense reimbursement unless it has written authorization for the deduction from the employee.  

 

03.02  The University may terminate the employment of employees who fail to resolve their indebtedness within 30 days from the date of notification (as defined in Section 02.06).  These employees are also subject to penalties prescribed by law.  An employee may resolve his or her indebtedness by payment in full or by signing a promissory note with a payment plan.

 

03.03  Former employees who fail to resolve their indebtedness within 30 calendar days after notification (defined in Section 02.06 above) by the University are subject to penalties as prescribed by law.  A former employee may resolve his or her indebtedness by payment in full or by signing a promissory note with a payment plan. 

 

03.04  Specific procedures for notification to employees indebted to the University are detailed below.  Notices will comply with Government Code, Chapter 666.003.  Prior to initiating the procedures detailed below, the Payroll Office and/or Collections Department will notify the appropriate vice president that these processes will be undertaken to collect the indebtedness.

 

a.   Excess Compensation – The Payroll Office will:

 

1)   Send a notice to the current or former employee’s address as shown in their personnel records by certified or regular mail or express shipping service.  Alternatively, a notice may be sent via e-mail to the individual’s university e-mail address or may be hand-delivered directly to the employee or successor;

2)   Describe the nature and amount of the excess compensation;

3)   Specify the pay period(s) during which deduction(s) will be made;

4)   As appropriate, inform the employee that failure to resolve the indebtedness may result in further legal action taken against him/her; and

5)   Inform the individual of the option for reconsideration as described in Section 03.05. 

 

b.   Other indebtedness – The Collections Department will:

 

1)   Send a notice to the current or former employee’s address as shown in their personnel records by certified or regular mail or express shipping service.  Alternatively, a notice may be sent via e-mail to the individual’s university e-mail address or be hand-delivered directly to the employee or successor;

2)   Describe the nature and amount of the indebtedness;

3)   As appropriate, inform the employee that failure to resolve the indebtedness may result in further legal action taken against him or her;

4)     Specify the date by which the indebtedness must be paid;

5)     Inform the individual that unless the indebtedness is paid on or before the date specified, the amount of the indebtedness may be deducted from any amount of compensation that Texas State owes to them; and

6)   As appropriate, inform the current employee that failure to resolve the indebtedness will result in disciplinary action including termination.

 

03.05  Current or former employees may ask that Texas State reconsider its decision to deduct their financial obligation from subsequent compensation by following these steps:

 

a.   Send a written request for reconsideration to the Associate Vice President Financial Services/Treasurer (AVP-FS/T) within 10 calendar days of the date of notification (as defined in Section 02.06 above). 

 

b.   Specify in the written request the reasons why the University should reconsider its decision. The request may include documents, names or witnesses, or other evidence that the employee’s request be considered.

 

c.   The University need not consider any request for reconsideration if the AVP-FS/T does not receive it within 10 calendar days (as specified in Section a. above.)  

 

The AVP-FS/T will consider the request and the reasons the employee, former employee, or successor sets forth. The AVP-FS/T will send the individual a written decision on the matter within 10 calendar days of the AVP-FS/T’s receipt of the reconsideration request. The AVP-FS/T’s decision is final.

 

03.06  The University may, at its discretion, agree to a payment plan to resolve an employee’s indebtedness.  The payment plan will include a written promissory note with specific repayment terms and due dates.   The Collections department will collect and monitor receivables due the University under this policy. 

 

03.07  The University will pay the current or former employee or his or her successor (refer to Section 02.05) any amount that remains owed to the employee after all deductions for indebtedness.  Such payments will be in accordance with standard payroll processing timelines.

 

04.       REVIEWERS OF THIS UPPS

 

04.01  Reviewers of this UPPS include the following:

 

Position                                                                      Date

 

Dr. Carolyn Conn, Associate Vice President        March 1 E5Y

Financial Services/Treasurer

 

Mr. William L. Fly                                                       March 1 E5Y 

University Attorney

 

05.       CERTIFICATION STATEMENT

 

This UPPS has been approved by the following individuals in their official capacities and represents Texas State policy and procedure from the date of this document until superseded.

 

Dr. Carolyn Conn, Associate Vice President Financial Services/Treasurer; senior reviewer of this UPPS

 

Mr. William A. Nance, Vice President for Finance and Support Services

 

Dr. Denise M. Trauth, President