Accrued Compensable Absences Payable Operating Guidelines

Program Summary

Texas A&M University (TAMU) and Texas A&M University at Galveston (TAMUG) participate in the established service center accounts to process annual time off payments payable to faculty & staff when their employment ends.  The service center will be funded through a payroll set-aside calculated and transferred on each payroll in a manner similar to workman’s compensation insurance (WCI) and unemployment compensation insurance (UCI).

The payroll set-aside will only be assessed for time off eligible faculty & staff and verification will be made on each payroll.  All time off eligible employees, including those paid by contracts and grants, will participate.

The set-aside percentage rate will be adjusted annually by Financial Management Operations based on the ACAP historical usage for both faculty & staff.

NOTE: Effective September 1, 2020 ALL TAMU Faculty Time Off Payouts will be funded 100% by college fund accounts. TAMUG faculty will continue participation in the ACAP service center.

Definitions

Accrued Compensable Absences Payable (ACAP) – Employee vacation and/or FLSA time off balances payable when an employee leaves the university (resignation, retirement, active employee moving from accruing to non-accruing position, or death).  This does not include sick time off paid upon the death of an active employee to their estate.

ACAP Set-aside – Payroll charge assessed to employing departments on behalf of each time off eligible employee.  The set-aside is transferred to the ACAP central fund to provide funding for ACAP payments.

ACAP Central Fund – Service center accounts established to collect set aside funds and process ACAP payments in Workday.

Program Effective Date

The ACAP set-aside program began September 1, 2007 and remains in effect.

ACAP Rate Calculation

The ACAP set-aside rate will be determined annually based on the prior five years ACAP expenditures as a percentage of the prior five years payroll expenditures for time off eligible employees, taking into account any balances (positive or negative) in the central accounts.  Separate rates will be calculated for time off eligible faculty and staff.  These rates will be communicated to departments annually during the budget preparation process.

Contributions to the ACAP Central Fund

Workday Services Operations for TAMU & TAMUG will verify time off eligibility and assess the departmental set-aside on each payroll calculation.  All funds incurring time off eligible payroll will participate in the set-aside program.

ACAP Central Fund Balance

Any funds remaining in the central fund at the end of a fiscal year will be retained by the fund for future ACAP payments and will be incorporated into the calculation of the next year’s set-aside rate.  Central funds deficits at year end will also be incorporated in the calculation of the next year’s set-aside rate.

Accessing ACAP Central Fund and Processing Joint Appointments

Upon notification that an employee is terminating, retiring or has deceased or when an active employee moves from an accruing to a non-accruing position, the departmental HR Contact will prepare a Payroll Payment Request (PPR) form available on Payroll website, and send the form with required attachments to Payroll’s shared email address.  Details regarding the various types of payouts are listed on Payroll's website in the Workday Tools section.

Payroll staff will review and verify the employee’s prior five year work history to assure that the appropriate amounts and service center accounts are charged.  If the employee had worked for a System Agency located in College Station during the past five years (Texas A&M Agrilife Extension, Texas A&M Agrilife Research, Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, & Texas A&M Transportation Institute), the ACAP payment to the employee will be funded jointly by the University and the Agency based on the percentage of time in time off eligible positions at each agency over the previous five years.

TAMUG Faculty Time Off Payments

When a TAMUG faculty member has been in a leave eligible position within the previous five years (60 months) the ACAP payment will be allocated between the central fund and the college based on the employee’s years of service in the time off eligible position.

Extended Employee Time Off

Departments that allow employees to remain on the payroll to exhaust time off balances will bear the entire cost of these arrangements.  The ACAP central fund will not provide funding for employees who elect to remain on payroll to use time off balances at the conclusion of their employment.

Office of Responsibility 

Payroll, Texas A&M University