OSPS News ~ Three payroll OAMs placed out-for-comment

Thu Nov 13 05:49:54 PST 2025

On behalf of Rob Hamilton
________________________________

Good morning,

The three OAMs that were placed out for comment have been approved and are now incorporated into the OAM, beginning today. I want to thank everyone that shared their feedback; it was invaluable and it has resulted in some changes, the significant ones I've laid out below.

45.07.00 Payroll: Time Record Approval and Leave Report Review<https://www.oregon.gov/das/Financial/Acctng/Documents/45.07.00.pdf>

  *   What was paragraph 107 addressing employee responsibility has been moved up to paragraph 102, to better link employee and supervisor responsibility to enter time and approve time.
  *   Paragraph 104's strong recommendation of weekly time approval by supervisors now also includes the weekly submission of time by subject employees (as covered in paragraph 102), also as a strong recommendation.
  *   The term "Agency administration" was replaced with "Agency management" in paragraph 106 to add clarity. "Agency management" is used over 100 times in the OAM whereas "Agency administration" only showed up in the previous version of this OAM.
  *   Paragraph 109f from the exposed version, addressing vacation payout, was removed as that is covered in a separate process.

45.50.00 Payroll: Payment of Overcollection of Wages<https://www.oregon.gov/das/Financial/Acctng/Documents/45.50.00.pdf>

  *   New paragraph 104a notes that if an employee discovers they have received an overpayment, they shall inform their employer agency or its agency payroll provider as soon as possible.
  *   Paragraph 105 has been modified to note that the requirement of notifying an employee of an overpayment within 364 days of it occurring begins January 1, 2026, to agree to Senate Bill 968 (2025). In addition, paragraph 105 also adds clarity that the overpayment collection doesn't need to begin within 364 days, just that the notification must occur.
  *   The requirement that the employee shall be notified by the 10th of the calendar month in order for collection to occur at the start of the next month has been removed. This was found in paragraph 107 of the exposed version. The OAM now conforms to Senate Bill 968 (2025), which is that 10 days notification must occur recoupment can begin.
  *   The replacement paragraph 107 clarifies (1) that the employee receiving the notice is not required to respond and (2) how agencies are to proceed if an employee does not respond to the notice.
  *   The clarification that a corrected W-2 shall be issued upon full repayment has been added to paragraph 111.
  *   The requirement that the repayment to the joint payroll account be made via a state warrant or Balance Transfer (BT) has been removed.
  *   Paragraph 113b adds that the question applies only after January 1, 2026.

45.55.00 Payroll: Collection of Employee Benefit Payment Amounts Paid by the Employer<https://www.oregon.gov/das/Financial/Acctng/Documents/45.55.00.pdf>

  *   The term "under deduction" was changed to "under withholding".
  *   New paragraph 104a notes that if an employee discovers they have received an overpayment, they shall inform their employer agency or its agency payroll provider as soon as possible.
  *   Paragraph 105 has been modified to note that the requirement of notifying an employee of an overpayment within 364 days of it occurring begins January 1, 2026, to agree to Senate Bill 968 (2025). In addition, paragraph 105 also adds clarity that the overpayment collection doesn't need to begin within 364 days, just that the notification must occur.
  *   The requirement that the employee shall be notified by the 10th of the calendar month in order for collection to occur at the start of the next month has been removed. This was found in paragraph 107 of the exposed version. The OAM now conforms to Senate Bill 968 (2025), which is that 10 days notification must occur recoupment can begin.
  *   The replacement paragraph 107 clarifies (1) that the employee receiving the notice is not required to respond and (2) how agencies are to proceed if an employee does not respond to the notice.
  *   Pursuant to legal advice from DOJ, paragraph 111 provides clarity on the tax treatment of "forgiven" overpayments.
  *   The requirement that the repayment to the joint payroll account be made via a state warrant or Balance Transfer (BT) has been removed.
  *   Paragraph 113 adds that the question applies only after January 1, 2026.

In addition to their individual links, these OAMs have also been added to the Complete Chapter 45<https://www.oregon.gov/das/Financial/Acctng/Documents/45%20Payroll%20search.pdf> and Complete OAM<https://www.oregon.gov/das/Financial/Acctng/Documents/Complete%20OAM%20search.pdf>.

Thank you again for the engagement on these OAMs and anyone with questions is welcome and encouraged to reach out!

Rob

Robert W. Hamilton, CPA
State Controller
971-719-3031

From: OSPS-News <osps-news-bounces at omls.oregon.gov> On Behalf Of LOWRY Timothy * DAS
Sent: Wednesday, October 1, 2025 1:13 PM
To: osps-news at omls.oregon.gov
Subject: Re: OSPS News ~ Three payroll OAMs placed out-for-comment

Good afternoon,

I'm reaching to send a reminder about the three OAMs below and the October 7 comment deadline, and to ask that for the remaining comment period, please include OSPS Manager Tim Lowry (Timothy.LOWRY at das.oregon.gov<mailto:Timothy.LOWRY at das.oregon.gov>) in your feedback. I'll be out of the office starting tomorrow and I want everyone to know that Tim is available.

Thanks again for engaging with us in this process; we really appreciate the feedback!

Rob

Robert W. Hamilton, CPA
State Controller
971-719-3031

From: OSPS-News <osps-news-bounces at omls.oregon.gov<mailto:osps-news-bounces at omls.oregon.gov>> On Behalf Of LOWRY Timothy * DAS
Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2025 10:58 AM
To: osps-news at omls.oregon.gov<mailto:osps-news at omls.oregon.gov>
Subject: OSPS News ~ Three payroll OAMs placed out-for-comment

Good morning,

We have placed three Oregon Accounting Manual (OAM) payroll policies as out-for-comment and we're seeking agency feedback on them. The three OAMs are listed below along with a highlight of some the changes, which I'm adding in lieu of a track changes document. Given the changes in format that have occurred, the track changes document is challenging to follow in my opinion. However, if you would like a copy, I'm happy to share it directly with you.

  *   45.07.00 Payroll: Time Record Approval and Leave Report Review<https://www.oregon.gov/das/Financial/Acctng/Documents/45.07.00%20Time%20Record%20Approval%20Leave%20Reports-Final%20Draft%2009.2025.pdf>
     *   Paragraph 103: Adds a strong recommendation that supervisors review and approve time on a weekly basis, at the conclusion of their employees' work week.
     *   Paragraph 105: Emphasizes the need for agencies to ensure that there are alternate or delegate reviewers identified and authorized to approve employees' time records when direct supervisors are absent or unavailable.
     *   Paragraph 107a: Adds when FLSA exempt employees that are unrepresented, management service, or unclassified service are required to submit their time.
     *   Paragraph 108: Expands on supervisor responsibilities to enter time on behalf of an employee when necessary.
     *   Updates OAM format.
     *   Updates language to OSC and CHRO.

  *   45.50.00 Payroll: Collection of Overpayment of Wages<https://www.oregon.gov/das/Financial/Acctng/Documents/45.50.00%20Collection%20of%20Overpayment-Final%20Draft%2009.2025.pdf>
     *   Incorporates the requirements of SB 968 (Oregon Laws 2025 Chapter 602), which was passed in the 2025 legislative session and signed by the governor. While that law is effective 1/1/2026, we felt it was appropriate to implement it as a policy choice now given other necessary changes to this policy.
     *   Incorporates the requirements of the Workday Settlement on the ability of state agencies to recoup overpayments from employees.
     *   We are actively engaging with DOJ on the tax treatment covered in paragraph 111, so while that paragraph is tentative at this point, we did not want to hold up this OAM for just this paragraph.
     *   Updates the OAM format.
     *   Updates language to OSC.

  *   45.55.00 Payroll: Collection of Employee Benefit Payment Amounts Paid by the Employer<https://www.oregon.gov/das/Financial/Acctng/Documents/45.55.00-Collection%20of%20EE%20Benefit%20Amounts%20Paid%20by%20ER-Final%20Draft%2009.2025.pdf> - NEW OAM
     *   Applies the same approach as OAM 45.50.00 above when it comes to SB 968 but focuses on situations when agencies pay employee benefits on behalf of employees. This approach was pursued for consistency, from the perspective of the employee and agencies.
        *   This limits collections to 5% of gross wages per pay period. We recognized that three current CHRO policies allows 10%. If this part of the OAM were to be approved, the CHRO policies would be updated to 5% to eliminate any the inconsistency.
     *   This OAM does not refer to the Workday Settlement as items covered in this policy are outside the scope of the Settlement.
     *   As with OAM 45.50.00, we are actively working the DOJ on the tax treatment covered in paragraph 111.

While the links above directly take you to those OAMs, they can also be found at the OAM website<https://www.oregon.gov/das/Financial/Acctng/Pages/OAM.aspx>.

Those changes listed above are what I believe the highlights to be, but I'm hoping you'll review the proposed OAMs in their entirety when providing feedback.

The comment period for these three OAMs closes at the end of the day on Tuesday, October 7. Please email your feedback to me at robert.w.hamilton at das.oregon.gov<mailto:robert.w.hamilton at das.oregon.gov>

Thank you so much for engaging with us in this process!

Rob

[A picture containing logo  Description automatically generated]Robert W. Hamilton, CPA
State Controller
Chief Financial Office
971-719-3031
http://www.oregon.gov/DAS/financial/acctng
Pronouns: he, him, his

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