Salary Overpayments

Salary overpayments can result from errors in gross or net salary. Examples of gross salary overpayments include payment of overtime to the wrong employee, miscalculation of overtime, and incorrect pay rates. Net salary errors may occur when a required deduction (such as a health or parking deduction) is not taken.

The campus does not have the authority to write-off or forgive a salary overpayment until all efforts to collect the debt have been exhausted.

Guidelines for Recovering Salary Overpayments

Amounts owed to the University (overpayments from prior periods) require written approval from the employee prior to recovery via payroll deduction.

Action Required

• Departments are responsible for recovering overpayments. Obtain employee preference in writing: they can either pay by personal check or have the overpayment recovered from future salary.
• If the overpayment will be recovered from future salary, departments schedule the appropriate RX transactions in OPTRS.
• If recovery will occur by personal check, the department requests a net calculation from Central Payroll. Complete the Request to Recover Overpayment form and attach it to an e-mail to payhelp@berkeley.edu with the Subject: Overpayment – Net Calculation. Payroll will call you with the dollar amount.

  Due to tax issues, the gross to net calculation for overpayment is only valid until December 1 of the current year. When you receive the check from the employee, complete the Request to Recover Overpayment form and mail it to Central Payroll with the check. Upon recovery, Central Payroll credits Department's general ledger and updates employee's earnings record.

• After notifying the employee monthly for three months without a response, the department should send the three notices to Central Payroll, and they will pursue recovering the overpayment.

Overpayments Resources

Recover Overpayments

• Request to Recover Overpayment Form (Word) 1/1/10
• Request to Recover Overpayment Form Instructions
• Request to Recover Workers Compensation Salary Overpayment Form (pdf) 8/02/07

Sample Memos

• Salary Overpayment Notice for Current Employees (Word) (employee’s choice of salary deduction or check) 5/23/11
• Salary Overpayment Notice for Separated Employees (Word) 5/23/11
• Reminder Notice – Salary Overpayment (Word) 10/18/05
• Final Notice – Salary Overpayment (Word) 5/23/11