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Leave Payment Procedures- Frequently Asked Questions
When is an employee eligible to be paid for their unused vacation hours?In order to be eligible for payment of unused vacation, an employee must meet the following requirements:
When is an employee eligible to be paid for floating holiday?Upon separation from University employment or transfer to another state agency, an employee shall be paid for any unused floating holiday balance. If the employee is also eligible to be paid for unused vacation hours, this payment should be made on the same voucher. Floating holiday hours should be listed as a separate item on the voucher, and not combined with the vacation balance. When can unused sick leave be paid?If the employee is deceased, their estate is entitled to receive payment for one-half of their final sick leave balance or 336 hours, whichever is less. The payment must be made using a paper voucher, and a single voucher should be used to pay any vacation, floating holiday, or sick leave owed. Sick leave should be listed as a separate item on the voucher, and not combined with the vacation or floating holiday balances. Who initiates vacation, floating holiday, and sick leave payments?In order to pay vacation, floating holiday, or sick leave, a vacation voucher must be created by the employing department. The voucher should be created as soon as possible after the employee's separation, in order to assure timely payment. Which document do I use to pay for unused vacation, floating holiday, or sick leave?If the employee separated during the current fiscal year (but is not deceased), payment should be made using an OV6 electronic document. Training on the use of OV6 documents is available in the class DE216- Payroll Vouchers, offered by the Office of Accounting. For questions, please contact the Human Resource Service Center at 512-471-HRSC (4772). What account number do I use?Lump sum payments for vacation, floating holiday, and sick leave are made from account number 18-9999-0151. What rate is used for the payment?The rate used for payment will be the rate at the time of separation, or if the vacation hours were frozen, it would be the rate earned when the change in status occurred. The rate does not include longevity or hazardous duty pay. If you use an OV6, the rate will be calculated automatically. If you are using a paper voucher, you may need to convert the annual rate to an hourly rate. This can be done using command AH3 in *DEFINE, or by dividing the annual rate by 2080 hours. How do I find out the correct number of hours to pay the employee for?Check with the vacation/sick leave maintainer for your department to find out the employee's final balances. Verify that the employee has turned in all timesheets, and all deductions for time used have been entered in *DEFINE. The employee's vacation and floating holiday balances in *DEFINE should match the hours being paid on the voucher. What is holiday pay, and why should I add it to an employee's lump sum vacation payment?In accordance with state law, vacation payments must also include payment for holidays that fall after the employee's separation date, provided the vacation balance is sufficient to carry them through the holiday. Take the following steps to determine if any holiday pay (as it applies to lump sum vacation payments) is owed:
Holiday pay should be listed as a separate item on the voucher, and not combined with vacation or any other balances. Employees moving from a position that is vacation eligible to a job that is not eligible for vacation are not entitled to have holiday pay added to their lump sum vacation payments. Note: Holiday pay in this context should not be confused with holiday pay for actual hours worked on a holiday. Hours worked on a holiday are not paid on the same voucher as a vacation, floating holiday, or sick leave payment. Please call the Human Resource Service Center at 512-471-HRSC (4772) for more information on how to pay an employee for holiday hours worked. How do I verify an employee's separation date?Look at AL1 in *DEFINE- the ending date of the appointment is the official separation date. If the employee's appointment has not ended yet, please contact the appropriate person in your department to make sure this is done. The separation date given on a voucher should match the ending date of the employee's appointment. If these dates do not match, it may cause delays in processing the voucher. Is a separation form required in order to make a vacation payment?Yes, with one exception. If an employee is changing from a vacation eligible job to a vacation ineligible job and remaining in your department, you do not need to send in a separation form. Separation forms should be forwarded to Human Resource Services, mail code J5600. Processing of the vacation voucher may be delayed until receipt of the separation form by HRS. How long does the employee have to wait to receive a payment?The department must process a vacation voucher(OV6). This can be done immediately upon termination. Vouchers must be received by HRS prior to the appropriate payroll deadline in order for the vouchers to be processed and paid out on time. The payment is then processed on the next semimonthly payroll. Payroll processing deadlines and check release dates are listed in *DEFINE under command OVP. Note: If an employee will be returning to the State of Texas employment with no break in service, then the vacation voucher should not be processed. The employee should transfer the vacation balance to the new State of Texas agency. Where will the check be sent?Check distribution to the employee will be the same as the employee's previous checks, unless the employee made other arrangements with Payroll at the time of separation. Questions regarding check distribution should be directed to Payroll at 512-471-5271. Who can I call if I have more questions?Any questions regarding these procedures should be directed to: HRS Leave Management Human Resource Service Center |
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