PAYROLL AND TIMEKEEPING INFORMATION

The General Services Administration (GSA) National Payroll Branch (NPB) would like to remind everyone that due to the government shutdown; employees, with the exception of exempt employees, will only be paid through September 30, resulting in a pay check for only six days for Pay Period Ending October 5, 2013. Payroll will be processed on the normal schedule with an EFT date ofFriday, October 11, 2013.

Time worked October 1-5, 2013 for excepted employees will be paid via amended time cards once Congress resolves the lapse in appropriation. Non-excepted employees may be paidfor furlough hoursvia amended time cards ifCongress makes a determination to retroactively pay non-excepted employees.

Some payroll rules are different than normal during a shutdown furlough situation. This notice is to help employees understand the potential impacts to their pay for Pay Period Ending (PPE 10/5/2013) and beyond if the furlough continues. There will be further guidance issued on how retroactive payments will be processed once the lapse in appropriations has been resolved.

Order of Precedence for Deductions:

Due to the decrease in income, there is the possibility that some of the normal deductions to your pay will be impacted. Should you have insufficient pay to cover all of your deductions, the NPB is required to take deductions in the following order as shown below.

  1. Retirement (FERS, CSRS, etc.)
  2. Taxes - Social Security (OASDI) Tax, Medicare Tax, and Federal Income Tax
  3. Basic Health Insurance Premium
  4. Basic Life Insurance Premium
  5. State Income Tax
  6. Local Income Tax
  7. Collection of Debts Owed to the U.S.
  8. Court-Ordered Collection/Debt - Child Support, Alimony, Bankruptcy, and Commercial Garnishments
  9. Optional Benefits - Health Care/Limited-Expense Health Care Flexible Spending, Dental, Vision, Health Savings Account, Optional Life Insurance Premiums, Long-Term Care Insurance Premiums, Dependent-Care Flexible Spending Accounts, Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), and Other Optional Benefits
  10. Other Voluntary Deductions/Allotments - Military Service Deposits, Professional Associations, Union Dues, Charities, Personal Account Allotments, and Additional Voluntary Deductions
  11. IRS Paper Levies

The NPB will not take a partial deduction from an employee’s pay. If there is insufficient pay to cover a deduction, the deduction will not be taken nor will any other deductions that follow in the order listed above.If you have a court-ordered deduction and you do not have enough pay for the required payroll deduction, you need to make arrangements for direct payment. These deductions will not be made up in future pay periods once the furlough is over.

Below is an example of a full 80 hour pay period and a partial pay period resulting in the employee’s paybeing insufficient to withhold all of the employee’s deductions. In the example below note that deductions based on a percentage of pay (taxes, retirement and TSP if deducted as a percentage of pay) will be reduced due to the lower amount of pay. But deductions that are set at a specific rate (insurance premiums, court ordered collections, TSP if set as a specific dollar amount, TSP loans and voluntary allotments) will be deducted in whole.


Health Benefits:

Due to the Government Shutdown on October 1, 2013, many employees were placed in a non-pay (furlough) status. Although their Federal Employees’ Health Benefits (FEHB) insurance coverage will continue during the furlough, being in a furlough status may cause their pay to be insufficient to cover the premiums. Per the Shutdown Furlough Guidance issued by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the employee is still responsible for the payment of their share of the premium and the employee’s portion of the FEHB premium is to be withheld from the employee’s pay upon return to pay status. The General Services Administration (GSA), Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO), National Payroll Branch (NPB) will begin collecting those premiums from the first available salary payment after the employee returns to paid duty status.

Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 550, paragraph 550.1104 (c) (3), grants an exception to entitlement to notice, hearing, written responses, and final decisions when any adjustment to pay resulting from an employee’s election of coverage or a change in coverage under a Federal Benefits program requiring periodic deductions from pay, if the amount to be recovered was accumulated over four pay periods or less.

In accordance with 5 CFR 550, the GSA NPB will initiate offset of the missed employee premium amount by doubling the premium amount over the same number of Pay Periods as were impacted by the furlough period.

If you have further questions, please contact Rick Fuentes at 816-823-2605.

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAFEDS):

Payroll deductions related to Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAFEDS) will cease for any employee that does not receive paysufficient pay to cover their deductions, please see the order of precedence for deductions above. After the return to full operation, the remaining allotments arerecalculatedby FSAFEDS over the remaining pay periods to match the participant's election amount.

Federal Long Term Care (FLTCIP)

Payroll deductions related to Federal Long Term Care (FLTCIP) will cease for any employee that does not receive paysufficient pay to cover their deductions, please see the order of precedence for deductions above. If Long Term Care Partners does not receive payment for three consecutive pay periods, they will begin to direct bill the employee. The enrollee should pay premiums directly billed to him/her on a timely basis to ensure continuation of coverage.

Federal Dental and Vision (FEDVIP)

Payroll deductions related to Federal Dental and Vision (FEDVIP) program will cease for any employee that does not receive paysufficient to cover their deductions, please see the order of precedence for deductions above. If BENEFEDS does not receive payment for two consecutive pay periods, they will begin to direct bill the employee. The enrollee should pay premiums directly billed to him/her on a timely basis to ensure continuation of coverage.

Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)

Because excepted and non-excepted employees do not receive pay during the furlough, Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) contributions (for both Traditional, Roth and any associated catch up deductions) will stop when an employee does not receive any pay. In a pay period where an employee receives partial pay, the TSP deductions for those who are contributing on a percentage basis of their pay will be reduced to reflect the reduction in pay. Employees who have designated a specific dollar amount will have the designated amount deducted in a partial pay situation, if they have sufficient pay to meet all of their deductions (please see the order of precedence for deductions above). If you are a FERS employee, you will not receive matching agency contributions if you are not receiving any pay and therefore are not contributing to TSP.

Overtime Pay:

Overtime (OT) calculations are based upon a 40 hour work week unless the employee is on an Alternate Work Schedule (AWS); then OT is calculated based upon an 80 hour work week. Due to the government shutdown, during the pay period ending October 5, 2013, employeeson a regular schedule who are classified as non-excepted or excepted and worked OT in week two of the pay period (September 29thand 30th) will not be eligible for pay at the OT rate for those hours. These hours will be coded as make up hours and paid at the regular rate; your furlough hours will be reduced accordingly.

An employee on an AWS Schedule who worked OT during the pay period ending October 5, 2013, will not be paid for OT hours. For example, if an employee on an Alternate Work Schedule (AWS) works 47 hours (45 core hours plus 2 hours on Saturday) in week one, 6 hours on Sunday of week two and 12 hours on Monday of week two, the employee will be paid for a total of 65 regular hours(47 hours from week one plus 18 hours in week two) with15 hours of furlough.

Further guidance on the processing of amended time cards will be issued pending Congressional action to resolve the lapse in appropriations.

If you have any additional questions, please contact the GSA National Payroll Branch at 1-800-676-3690 ext 33900 or 816-823-3900 or by email at