RECOVERY OF OUTSTANDING TRAVEL ADVANCES - 8116.1

(Revised: 10/2022)

Agencies/Departments must comply with Government Code section 19838 and SAM Section 8293.2 regarding notification and collection of overpayments from employees. Agencies/Departments will follow the travel advance collection procedures below:

1. Monthly, agencies/departments will send a request to employees who have travel advances but have not submitted a Travel Expense Claim (TEC) to substantiate the travel expenses and/or have not returned any excess travel advance amount.

    

2. If an employee does not submit a TEC to substantiate the travel expenses within 15 calendar days of the notification date, agencies/departments must deduct the total amount of outstanding advances from the employee’s next regular payroll warrant(s).

    

3. If an employee submits a TEC within 15 calendar days of the notification date but does not return any excess travel advance amount within the same 15 calendar days, agencies/departments must deduct the excess travel advance amount from the employee’s next regular payroll warrant(s).

    

4. If the amount of the revolving fund check paid to the employee exceeds the State Controller’s reimbursement (due to a claim correction by State Controller’s Office [SCO]), the employee must reimburse the revolving fund for the difference. The amount owed to the revolving fund must be returned no later than 15 calendar days of the notification date. If the employee does not clear the outstanding amount, agencies/departments must deduct it from the employee’s next regular payroll warrant(s).

    

5. For employees with payroll direct deposit, the notification must inform the employee that if the excess travel amount is not returned within the 15 calendar days of the notification, the direct deposit will be canceled. A payroll deduction for the outstanding travel advance amount will be made in the next regular payroll warrant(s).

Below is an example of the timeline for items 2 and 3 above.

Date	Travel Advance Recovery Activities
03/02/20XX	Travel advance is issued to the employee.
03/10/20XX	Travel date of the employee.
03/17/20XX	End date of employee travel.
03/27/20XX	A TEC should be submitted and/or return excess travel advance.

 

Actions for non-compliance:

Date	Travel Advance Recovery Activities
03/27/20XX	Employee does not submit a TEC, nor return the travel advance.
04/01/20XX	Employee is sent a notification to submit a TEC, and/or return the excess travel advance by 04/15/20XX. (The 1st of the month is the agency/department’s established mail out date for the monthly notification).
04/16/20XX	Employee does not submit a TEC nor return the travel advance. (This is 15 calendar days from the notification date). The agency/department will deduct the outstanding advance amount from the employee’s current regular payroll warrant.

 

Note: For an employee who has direct deposit, the agency/department accounting or personnel office must send a notification to SCO by the 15th of the month to cancel the direct deposit.