Check Cancellations, Overpayments, Stale Dated Checks & Direct Deposit Failures
Please refer to the Payroll Staff List to determine the appropriate contact person to assist with your questions.
There may be times that an employee is not paid correctly. The department must take the necessary steps to resolve the incorrect payment as quickly as possible and minimize the impact to the employee.
Check Cancellations
If an employee is overpaid by the total amount of their check, please contact the appropriate payroll representative to determine how to correct the overpayment. If it is a time entry processing week, you may be able to avoid the overpayment by completing a Time Entry Correction form otherwise you will need to cancel the live check by completing the Check Cancellation Form, stop the direct deposit or get a check for the overpayment amount from the employee.
Overpayment Recovery
If an employee will no longer be paid from UMBC, you will need to contact Payroll to receive the overpayment amount which may be different than the gross overpayment figure. The department will make arrangements with the employee to pay back the amount of the overpayment. The employee should write the check to be paid to UMBC and submit to the department payroll preparer. The preparer then submits the check to Payroll in order for the deposit to be made.
If the employee will receive additional pay, the department may reduce the payment from the employee’s next pay. If the employee is retirement eligible and the employee’s salary was over-reported, a retirement adjustment may be necessary if contributions were over-reported.
Stale Dated Checks
Checks that haven’t been cashed for 6 months or longer are considered “stale” and will need to be reissued. The Payroll Preparer needs to void the stale dated check and bring it to Payroll. It may take up to 6 weeks for the check to be reissued by Central Payroll Bureau.
Direct Deposit Failure
If an employee that has direct deposit needs to change banks, they need to complete the direct deposit form to change their bank account. The bank account should not be closed until they receive a payroll check or the new account is established (whichever comes first). If the account was closed too soon and the direct deposit to the old account fails, a payroll check will be reissued. This process may take up to 10-14 days. The employee should contact the bank to ensure that the bank has sent back the funds in order for a live check to be issued. A live check will not be issued if the bank has not sent the funds back and may delay the process.
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