805 Paycheck Distribution

Georgia State Seal

Georgia Department of Human Services
Human Resources Policy #805

Paycheck Distribution

Release Date:

October 1, 1999

Revised Date:

Next Review Date:

November 30, 2024

The policy of the State of Georgia that all employees paid by the PeopleSoft Human Capital Management (HCM) central payroll system be required to use direct deposit to receive payroll related payments. In accordance with federal requirements regarding direct deposit of payroll, an employee may select the financial institution of his/her choice to accommodate the receipt of direct deposit payments.

Section A: Condition of Employment

  1. All new hired and rehired employees are required to enroll in direct deposit within thirty (30) days of hire or rehire and remain enrolled in direct deposit for the term of their employment. For County payrolls, this is required as part of onboarding.

  2. Newly hired or rehired employees will be required to sign the “Direct Deposit Authorization Form,” indicating their understanding and compliance with the direct deposit policy.

Section B: Leave Without Pay

Situations may arise when employees are placed on leave without pay due to authorized or unauthorized absences in the latter part of the pay period. Since processing deadlines must be set well in advance of pay day, paychecks for employees in these situations will reflect more pay than the employee is entitled. In these instances, the supervisor and OHR should review each circumstance carefully and may consider the following options:

  1. If the employee is absent with approval for a short period of time [two (2) hours or less] and the absences/tardiness would normally be authorized, the supervisor may permit the employee to make up the amount of time absent within the same Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) work period provided that FLSA overtime is not accrued and other FLSA provisions are not violated. No leave without pay adjustment would be necessary.

  2. If the employee is absent without approval for a short period of time [two (2) hours or less] and the absences/tardiness is unauthorized, the employee should not be allowed to make up the amount of time absent. The next paycheck should be adjusted to reflect the unauthorized leave without pay to recover the overpayment.

  3. If the employee has been absent from work for more than two (2) hours, the supervisor should carefully evaluate the employee’s status as follows:

    1. If the employee is in a leave without pay status but is expected to return within the next pay period, the next paycheck should be adjusted to reflect the leave without pay period and the overpayment recovered.

    2. If the employee is expected to be in a leave without pay status beyond the following pay period or no determination can be made regarding the employee’s return to work, the OHR transaction center should be notified immediately.

Section C: Paper Checks and Off-Cycle Checks

For employees who receive payroll payments from the TeamWorks system, the State of Georgia central print shop managed by the State Accounting Office (SAO) will directly send paychecks through the United States Postal Service (USPS) when one of the following situations occurs:

  1. Newly hired or rehired employees who do not enroll in direct deposit within thirty (30) days of hire or rehire.

  2. There is a successful direct deposit reversal, and an on-demand paycheck is requested.

  3. When an employee or the Office of Financial Services transaction center requests a stop payment of the current payroll, and an off-cycle paycheck is requested.

  4. When an employee transfers into DHS after the payroll cutoff, but before the pay date of the current pay period.

  5. An administrative error results in the employee being underpaid and an off-cycle paycheck is requested.

    All paper and off-cycle checks issued from the TeamWorks system will be sent directly by the State of Georgia central print shop through the United States Postal Service (USPS) to employee’s home address on file in the Employee Self Service portal. All issued from county payrolls are mailed from the Regional Accounting office. This is the only available option for paper check distribution.

Section D: Terminations and Final Paychecks

  1. Notification of an employee’s separation from state service should be entered into HR PASS immediately upon the notification of the separation to avoid unnecessary overpayments (See policy #1901).

  2. When notice of an employee’s separation is received after the payroll cut-off, adjustment for any overpayment received will be made from the final paycheck.

  3. Payment for unused annual leave, FLSA compensatory time, and deferred holidays is normally issued the pay period following the employee’s last regular paycheck. Payment will be directly deposited into the former employee’s selected financial institution. For county payrolls, Terminal Annual Leave payments are made no later than the second pay period following period of employee’s termination.

  4. As of 2005, employees have the option to defer all or part of a terminal leave payment into their 401k or 457 accounts. OHR Operations should be notified 30 days in advance of the scheduled retirement or separation date, of the amount to be deferred.

For additional information or assistance, please contact your local Human Resources Representative.