1. OSU Payroll Services - 405-744-6372
Overpayments
Hello. Introduce everyone and the topic for today’s discussion.
12/4/2018
OSU Payroll Services

2. OSU Payroll Services - 405-744-6372
Overpayments:
Are when an employee received more pay than what they are entitled to
When it is too late to rewrite the check at the state
When it is too late to cancel the pay at the state
Overpayments happen when:
An employee receives more pay than they are entitled to receive in a particular pay period, and
1) it is too late to rewrite the pay at the state level, or
2) It is too late to cancel the pay at the state (less than 3 days until payday) before it goes into the banking system (ACH)
3) The bank will not allow us to reverse the deposit – we don’t like this method because it is not a guarantee that we will get the money back.
Examples:
Monthly – an employee terminates after the monthly payroll has finaled and been sent to the state for payment. We can cancel the direct deposit up until three days prior to payday, so this would be after that time period. The employee will get the pay and this becomes an overpayment.
Bi-weekly – when the employee is paid the wrong hours and it is too late to re-write the check or cancel it at the state, or when the wrong employee is paid.
Also, there are some banks that will not allow a reversal of a direct deposit. In this case, the employee has been overpaid.
12/4/2018
OSU Payroll Services

3. OSU Payroll Services - 405-744-6372
Overpayment Topics
Common causes
Notification
Recovery
Here are some of the topics that we will be covering.
12/4/2018
OSU Payroll Services

4. OSU Payroll Services - 405-744-6372
Common Causes
Bi-weekly time was input incorrectly
Duplicate ENP’s or ENP’s to the wrong person
ENP’s for work that was never performed
Late separation EA forms
For Bi-weekly employees, the overpayment most likely occurs when time input is input for the wrong employee or the wrong number of hours. However, it can also occur when hours are estimated – for example during the break at Christmas. It is not a good idea to estimate hours for students, and maybe even temporary employees, unless you are sure they will be back.
ENP’s can cause overpayments in two different ways – duplication and work never performed.
Duplicate ENP’s happen when one is input online and the second one is done via paper. For some reason, the department didn’t think that the system accepted the online method and they did a paper ENP as well. This can happen when a department inputs the online ENP in advance and then forgets that is what was done and then does a paper ENP to get the employee paid. Last, but not least for ENP’s is when the ENP is done and the work was never performed and approved in advance. You should never approve ENPs until the work is substantially complete.
For monthly employees, the most common cause for an overpayment is a late separation. Late separations happen when the employee terminates after we have finaled the payroll. Or, in some cases, the department fails to notify payroll of the separation until after the payroll has finaled. One way to avoid this is if the department will call us and then follow-up with an prior to when we final the payroll, we can stop the employee’s assignment so that they won’t get paid.
Another form of overpayment is when the employee is terminating and used more annual leave than what they have or are entitled to.
12/4/2018
OSU Payroll Services

5. OSU Payroll Services - 405-744-6372
Notification
Responsibility of the department
Notify payroll
Notify the employee
Oral
Written – letter or
Sometimes payroll is notified by the employee.
It is the responsibility of the department to notify payroll of the overpayment situation and then when Payroll determines the amount due back to the university, it is the department’s responsibility to notify the employee. We realize that some employees may be hard to get in contact with, so if you, as the department, want to call or talk to the employee or former employee or if you opt to send a letter or , that is at your discretion. Just remember to document, for your files, whatever form of communication you use. We recommend a letter – that way you have documentation.
For your convenience we have attached a sample letters that you can use.
Also, be sure to notify payroll if the employee states what form of re-payment that they opt for.
12/4/2018
OSU Payroll Services

6. OSU Payroll Services - 405-744-6372
Methods of Recovery
Rewrite/Cancel/Reversal
Reduce next check
Recover from employee
Billed to Bursar account
The first thing Payroll will try to do is rewrite the check at the state. This will correct the information at the state and should result in the correct amount being paid to the employee. If we can’t rewrite the check, then our next option would be to cancel the incorrect check. Again, the employee wouldn’t be paid, and therefore, it wouldn’t be an overpayment situation. We would have to process the correct amount, if any, on the next payroll. However, if we are unable to stop or cancel the direct deposit, then the next step would be to request a direct deposit reversal. This option is not always successful – there are some banks that will not reverse a direct deposit. Also, it is an all or nothing type deal – if there are not enough funds in the account – even after the deposit to cover the payroll amount, the bank won’t reverse the deposit.
The best option is to reduce the employee’s next check. However, if the employee has left the university, then this is not a valid option.
The most common form of repayment is to recover the funds from the employee. In this case, the employee would write a check payable to OSU in the amount that is due and forward it to Payroll Services.
The only other option for repayment is to charge the amount due to the employee’s bursar account. The employee needs to be aware that if the balance isn’t paid off within a month, then finance charges will accrue. We usually don’t like to charge overpayments to the employee’s bursar account but at the end of the year when all the payrolls have processed and we don’t have the physical time to get the information cleared up before the end of the tax year, we have no other option but to do this. Not getting an overpayment cleaned up before the end of the tax year can adversely affect the employees tax situation.
If we have not heard from the department or the employee within 2 weeks, or if payment is made when it is said to be made, we will charge the employee’s bursar account.
12/4/2018
OSU Payroll Services

7. OSU Payroll Services - 405-744-6372
Follow Up
Departmental responsibility
Oral/written follow up with employee
Notify Payroll of payment method
Personal check payments delivered to Payroll Services for deposit
We need to get the overpayments cleaned up on a monthly basis and therefore can not allow an overpayment to be held open for a long period of time. It is the department’s responsibility to follow-up with the employee as needed to insure that repayment is prompt. Again, it is up to the department on which method they choose to use to contact the employee. Also, keep Payroll informed. That way we know that you are in contact with the employee and that the employee knows what to expect. If the department can’t get in touch with the employee, then we may have no other option than to charge the amount to the bursar account, but department needs to let us know that. Sometimes the employee may state that they want to pay by check on a certain day – just let us know so that we will know when to expect it.
Again, any personal checks to repay overpayments need to be forwarded to the payroll office. When we receive the checks, we deposit them into the salary liability account – we then cancel the original incorrect check and reissue a correct check in HRS only. This is to get the funds back to the department and to get the W-2 records correct.
12/4/2018
OSU Payroll Services

8. Ways to Avoid Overpayments
Double check time input
Double check all ENP’s
Be aware of the Payroll Processing Schedule
Notify Payroll as soon as possible
We have talked about what an overpayment is and what to do when it does happen, now we are going to talk about how to avoid overpayments.
First of all, double check all the time inputs – pay careful attention to the names and the hours for each employee.
Next, double check all ENP’s. Before you do a paper ENP, make sure that there isn’t one online for the same thing. Also, make sure the work has been done. Don’t approve any online ENP’s until the work is substantially complete and they are ready to be paid.
Regardless of what payroll you are working on, be aware of the payroll deadlines and when we final that particular payroll. There is a schedule on our website. If you ever have any questions about any of our schedules/deadlines, just give us a call.
Last, but not least – if you are pushing a deadline or know of a late termination, just give us a call. We will work with you in any way that we can.
12/4/2018
OSU Payroll Services

9. OSU Payroll Services - 405-744-6372
Questions?
Call Payroll Services –
Any questions?
12/4/2018
OSU Payroll Services