Payroll Advance

A payroll advance can be requested by a departmental payroll representative when an employee has not been paid due to an administrative error.  The most common administrative errors occur when a new employee begins working before the scheduled submission date for payroll processing or the department inadvertently omits pay data in time entry.

Procedures

The Payroll unit will send a myUMBC post in the Payroll Preparer/Approver group each pay cycle when the Preliminary Gross Pay Report is available for review.  The departmental representative should first carefully review the Preliminary Gross Pay report for any errors, discrepancies, or missing pay.  If an error is found, the departmental representative can resolve it before the final payroll is submitted by submitting a Time Entry Correction form.

Once payroll has been finalized, Payroll will send a notification that the Final Gross Pay report is available.  This report represents the actual pay employees will receive on the pay check.

If the departmental preparer discovers that an employee has not been paid, the following steps should be taken:

  • Contact Payroll to determine if a Payroll Advance may be submitted
  • Notify the employee that a paycheck will not be generated for the pay cycle and provide the option for a payroll advance. If the advance is requested by the employee, complete the Request for Pay Advance form.
  • Submit the Pay Advance form by 4:30 PM on the Thursday prior to the pay date. If the request is submitted after that time, Financial Services will process the check as soon as possible.  Advances will only be processed on pay Friday and the following Monday.
  • Financial Services will contact the employee when the check is ready. The employee is the only person authorized to pick up the pay check from Financial Services. A picture ID will be required.
  • Payroll will process the gross pay amount in the following pay cycle and recover the amount paid in the payroll advance. If, for any reason, the recovery does not occur, the employee is required to pay the recovery amount by check.

PLEASE NOTE:  New employees that will receive a regular pay may receive up to of their 75% gross pay.   Existing employees will receive the net amount if there is paycheck history to support the net amount requested or 50% of the gross amount due in order to be able to cover all estimated taxes and deductions so the recovery can happen in the following cycle. Pay advances will not be issued to employees submitting late time sheets (hourly employees), or for new employees who have not submitted new hire supporting documents in a timely manner.

Employees with benefits will not receive double deductions via payroll to cover the missed deduction, the State will bill the employee for a mandatory retroactive benefit deduction(s).  Employees in the pension OR ORP plan with a retroactive adjustment will receive additional contributions withheld as long as the retroactive adjustment is coded as ‘RAJ’ in payroll and we are not in the summer months. 

If the employee is not able to pick up the pay advance as required, the check will be void and the employee will be paid the money due in the next pay cycle.