Chapter 3 – Personnel, Training, and Employee Relations

It is the policy of the Department that all employees receive a payroll warrant each payday. For all fulltime and fractional timebase employees, payday is the last working day of each pay period (Master Payroll). For intermittent/hourly employees, payday is no later than the 15th day of the following month. These dates may be affected by any late payroll adjustments (e.g., late dock).

State Administrative Manual (SAMState Administrative Manual) 8580.2 states that when a pay period ends on a normal workday (Monday through Friday), departments may release salary warrants anytime on that day after the employee has completed the work for the pay period. When the pay period ends on a Saturday, Sunday, or a holiday, departments may release salary warrants anytime on the last preceding normal workday (Monday through Friday) provided the employee has completed the work for the pay period. If employees are going to deposit or cash their warrants prior to the issue date, they should be cautioned to do so just before bank closing time, or 4:00 p.m., on those days when the banks are open until 6:00 p.m.

Generally, Master Payroll warrants are not to be released until the completion of work on payday or before 3:00 p.m. on payday, whichever is earlier. Payroll warrants released earlier, or at 3:00 p.m., shall not be deposited or cashed before 4:00 p.m.

In the event of staff use of informal administrative time off as granted by the Governor, payroll warrants shall not be released earlier than 12:00 noon of the last working day in December.

SAMState Administrative Manual provides for salary advances only when errors or delays in submitting or processing documents make it impossible for the State Controller’s Office (SCOState Controller’s Office) to prepare and deliver proper payroll warrants within a reasonable amount of time. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOUMemorandum Of Understanding) limit the number of annual salary advances, and identify the time frame in which late dock salary advances shall be issued.

This Article sets forth the procedures for the early release of payroll warrants and the release of payroll warrants after normal work hours, and addresses late dock salary advances.

Employees may avoid this process by signing up for Direct Deposit (DD) of their payroll warrants. It is strongly urged that employees make arrangements for DD of their payroll warrants. STDStandard Form (DGS) Form 699, Direct Deposit Enrollment Authorization, may be obtained from the Personnel Office. The bank routing number from the financial institution will be necessary. It will take approximately 30 to 45 days from the time the SCOState Controller’s Office receives the STDStandard Form (DGS) Form 699 to credit the employee’s payroll warrant to the designated bank account.

Payroll warrants may be approved for early release, but no earlier than one day prior to the normal payday. Early release of the Master Payroll warrants may be allowed for the following reasons:

• Employees are required to travel on State business on payday.

• Employees are called away on personal emergencies or for unforeseen urgent matters on payday.

Acceptable Reasons

• Examples of personal emergencies or unforeseen urgent matters include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Death in the immediate family.

  • Medical emergency or sudden illness in the family.

  • Acts of vandalism which have caused significant damage to a vehicle which requires immediate repair.

  • Emergency home repairs due to unforeseen events such as fire, flooding, storm damage, theft, or vandalism.

• Good judgment should be used in requesting and approving early release of payroll warrants.

To request an early release of a payroll warrant, an employee shall complete a CDCRCalifornia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Form 1816, Request for Early Release of Payroll Warrant, and include:

• The need for an early release of a payroll warrant with sufficient explanation of the circumstances, i.e., away from the work place on payday due to State business travel, personal emergency, or unforeseen urgent matter and not on leave status.

• Employee’s signature stating the payroll warrant will not be deposited or cashed before 4:00 p.m. on the official payday.

Early release of payroll warrants shall not be approved if the employee is:

• Utilizing leave credits for other than personal emergency or unforeseen urgent matters on payday.

• On extended sick leave.

Employees in these situations have the following options:

• Provide a self-addressed, stamped envelope in which to have their payroll warrant mailed.

• Initiate DD with their bank or credit union.

• Designate, in writing, another person (including the designated person’s social security number) to pick up the employees’ payroll warrant(s) for them.

• Obtain their payroll warrant upon returning to the workplace.

Employees with flexible work schedules may not request early release of their payroll warrant because payday falls on one of their Regular Days Off (RDORegular Day Off). If employees are on a mandatory 4/10 timebase, the accounting office will release their payroll warrants upon completion of their work shift, at the end of the pay period, but not more than one day before payday, and only if payday falls on one of their RDOs.

Note: Violations of the early warrant release policy may result in suspension of all early releases of payroll warrants at the facility, parole region, or headquarters. If control agencies note widespread violations, CDCRCalifornia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation may be suspended from releasing any payroll warrants early.

Wardens shall designate a staff member, at a level of Correctional Business Manager I or above, to review all CDCRCalifornia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Form 1816s for their respective facilities.

Since payroll warrants of parole region staff are normally mailed to the parole region offices prior to payday, each Regional Parole Administrator shall be responsible for the approval of any early release of payroll warrant requests for their respective regions. Regional Parole Administrators may designate their Deputy Regional Parole Administrator or their Assistant Regional Parole Administrator to review all CDCRCalifornia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Form 1816s for their respective parole regions.

The Chief of Accounting Management Branch, headquarters, is the designated reviewer for headquarters’ unit’s early releases.

Prior to signing and forwarding the CDCRCalifornia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Form 1816, it is the responsibility of the supervisor of the requestor to:

• Review the request.

• Verify the personal emergency or unforeseen state of urgency for appropriateness.

• Verify the employee will be away from his or her work site on State business on payday.

• Verify the employee has sufficient leave credits available to cover the completion of work in the pay period.

• If approved, sign the CDCRCalifornia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Form 1816 and forward it to the designated reviewer with all the appropriate supporting documentation.

• If denied, return the CDCRCalifornia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Form 1816 to the employee.

Prior to signing and forwarding the CDCRCalifornia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Form 1816, the designated reviewer shall:

• Review the request for appropriateness.

• Request further verification, if necessary.

• If approved, sign the CDCRCalifornia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Form 1816 and forward it to the accounting office or to the parole unit office with all of the appropriate supporting documentation.

• If denied, return the CDCRCalifornia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Form 1816 to the employee.

• Maintain a copy of each CDCRCalifornia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Form 1816 (approved or denied).

The accounting office or parole unit supervisor for the parole region shall:

• Notify the employee when the payroll warrant may be picked up.

• Maintain a warrant log of the payroll warrant number, employee name, and signature of employee when he or she picks up the payroll warrant. Substitutions for a warrant log must receive prior approval from the Chief of Accounting Management Branch in headquarters.

When an employee does not receive a payroll warrant on payday, the Department agrees to issue a salary advance, consistent with the MOUMemorandum Of Understanding and Department policy and under the following conditions:

• When errors or delays occur in processing the payroll documents through no fault of the employee, a salary advance shall be issued on payday for an amount close to the actual net pay.

• For represented employees, the number of salary advances allowed per calendar year is defined in the bargaining unit contract. If the employee has not exceeded the maximum number of salary advances allowed by their respective MOUMemorandum Of Understanding, a salary advance for the amount close to actual time worked in the pay period shall be issued within five workdays after payday.

• An employee with late dock who has exceeded the maximum number of salary advances allowed by his/her respective MOUMemorandum Of Understanding shall receive his/her corrected SCOState Controller’s Office payroll warrant when it has been reissued by SCOState Controller’s Office.

This section only pertains to 24-hour facilities. There shall be no provisions for release of payroll warrants after-hours, weekends, or holidays for headquarters staff.

Wardens should establish procedures for releasing payroll warrants other than on normal workdays (Monday through Friday) and normal work hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) and ensure that:

• Staff (e.g., control room or assignment staff) are not designated to handle payroll warrants if their duties are incompatible with the requirements regarding the handling of payroll warrants. (See DOMDepartment Operations Manual 31155.6.1.)

• A warrant issuance log is maintained by the above-designated staff. The warrant issuance log shall include the warrant number, printed employee name, and the signature of the employee whose payroll warrant is being released.

• In lieu of the above warrant issuance log, a printed alpha roster with the names and social security numbers of all employees may be used. Warrant numbers must be printed on the roster.

• The facility designates a secured area where the payroll warrants shall be locked safely when unattended and available only to the designated staff.

• The facility establishes procedures to transfer custody of the payroll warrants and the warrant issuance log:

  • Between designated staff at each change of shift.

  • When the payroll warrants and warrant issuance log are picked up from and returned to the accounting office.

This procedure shall require the designated staff to be fully accountable for payroll warrants at all times; and that the undistributed payroll warrants and the completed warrant issuance log will be returned by the designated staff to the accounting office on the first normal workday after the weekend and/or holiday when the accounting office opens.

Unless a facility is unable to meet all of the above requirements or has other extenuating circumstances that would prohibit implementation, all Wardens are strongly urged to implement a process for releasing payroll warrants after-hours, on weekends, and holidays. Implementation of such procedures shall not result in additional cost to the State, nor affect institutional security.

If a facility cannot meet any one of the above requirements, the Warden may seek an exemption from the requirement if an alternative means is established to compensate for that requirement. Exemption from any of the above requirements shall be made in writing to:

• California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
  Associate Director – Accounting
  Sacramento Management Branch

It is strongly recommended that all accounting offices extend their hours each payday to accommodate as many of the different shifts/work schedules as possible and minimize the need to establish procedures for releasing payroll warrants during weekends or holidays. Payroll warrants released shall not be deposited or cashed prior to 4:00 p.m. on payday.

Per SAMState Administrative Manual 8580.1, State agencies will observe the following separation of duties in designating persons who can certify or process personnel documents to SCOState Controller’s Office, Division of Personnel and Payroll Services. Persons designated by agencies to receive salary warrants from SCOState Controller’s Office, or to distribute salary warrants to employees, or to handle salary warrants for any other purpose will not be authorized to process or sign any of the following personnel documents:

• STDStandard Form (DGS) Form 603, Absences Without Pay Report.

• STDStandard Form (DGS) Form 634, Absence and Additional Time Worked Report.

• STDStandard Form (DGS) Form 666, Payroll Exceptions Report.

• STDStandard Form (DGS) Form 672, Time and Attendance Report.

• STDStandard Form (DGS) Form 674, Payroll Adjustment Notice.

• STDStandard Form (DGS) Form 680A, Personnel Action Request.

Additional forms that shall not be processed or signed by persons designated to distribute or handle payroll warrants are:

• CDCRCalifornia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Form 998-A, Employee’s Record of Attendance.

• STDStandard Form (DGS) Form 671, Miscellaneous Payroll/Leave Actions.

• State Controller’s CD Form 113-B, Proof of Lost or Destroyed Payroll Warrant and Request for Issuance of Duplicate Warrant.

As outlined in Accounting Standards Board (ASBOffices identified as: ASB Bakersfield, ASB Corcoran, ASB El Centro, ASB Paso Robles, ASB Rancho Cucamonga, ASB Sacramento, ASB Stockton) 1991-6, and in SAMState Administrative Manual 8080 for the purposes of separation of duties and adequate internal control, payroll warrants shall not be disbursed by the person who authorized the disbursement, nor by the person who prepared the warrant.

The accounting office shall prepare a warrant issuance log that identifies the total number of payroll warrants turned over to the designated staff. The warrant issuance log shall be released to the staff member(s) designated by the Warden. The designated staff will sign for the payroll warrants.

On the first normal workday after the weekend or the holiday, the accounting office will receive the warrant issuance log and the undistributed payroll warrants from the designated staff. The accounting office will be responsible for verifying the warrant issuance log against the remaining payroll warrants.

Leaving the payroll warrants for an extended period of time outside the accounting office with another unit is not recommended.

The Deputy Director, Human Resources, or designee is responsible for ensuring that the contents of this Article are kept current and accurate.

SAMState Administrative Manual §§ 8080, 8580.1, 8580.2, and 8595.

ASBOffices identified as: ASB Bakersfield, ASB Corcoran, ASB El Centro, ASB Paso Robles, ASB Rancho Cucamonga, ASB Sacramento, ASB Stockton 1991-6.