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Salary overpayment

Process overview

A salary or wage overpayment occurs when a Queensland Government employee, past or present, receives money to which they are not entitled. An overpayment may be the result of:

  • late advice to payroll of leave without pay, leave, change in hours, or separation
  • incorrect or misinterpreted advice by the business area to payroll
  • incomplete or incorrect documentation
  • processing or system error.

In general, this is how a wage or salary overpayment is dealt with.

  1. Employee is overpaid
  2. Overpayment identified
  3. Either:
    • Overpayment repaid in full
    • Payment plan begins
    • Debt recovery

    Directives, policies, and guidelines

    While overpayments are not intentional, action is required to recover any monies overpaid to employees in accordance with the Financial Accountability Act 2009 and the Industrial Relations Act 2016.

    Talk to your HR team or see your intranet for your agency's salary overpayment policy.

    Notification of an overpayment

    Queensland Government employees are responsible for contacting their payroll services provider as soon as they identify a discrepancy in their pay advice or bank account. Similarly, managers are responsible for contacting the payroll services provider when they observe something that may result in an overpayment to an employee.

    Salary overpayment options

    Payroll Services Debt administration
    Product

    Overpayment recovery

    Debt recovery

    Who

    Current Queensland Government employees

    • Current Queensland Government employees
    • Terminated Queensland Government employees
    Level of expertise

    Nil

    Nil

    Benefits
    • Specialist expertise
    • Standard process
    • Integrated with payroll
    • Specialist expertise
    • Standard process
    • Uses SAP (dunning) process
    Provider QSS or your agency payroll services provider QSS or your agency debt recovery provider
    QSS cost Contact us Contact us
    Timeframe Varies Varies

    If your agency is a QSS customer and you need help with a salary overpayment, email the QSS overpayments team at gyp.debtadmin@hpw.qld.gov.au.