The Arkansas Human Resource Management System (AHRMS), the state's mechanized payroll system, pays employees on an exception basis. The employee is paid at his/her current grade salary each pay period unless the agency submits documents to change the employee's pay status.

The agency is responsible for submitting AHRMS documents to the State Payroll Systems Section for processing according to the schedule established by the State Payroll Systems Section. Refer to the AHRMS Procedures Manual for payroll procedures and forms.

“Garnishment” means any legal or equitable procedure through which earnings of an individual are required to be withheld for the payment of a debt It refers to a court proceeding through which a creditor seeks to reach an employee's earnings before they are paid to him/her so that they may be applied to the satisfaction of a claim against the employee.

The law's restrictions on garnishments are based on the employee's disposable earnings, which are different from his gross pay or net pay. An employee's disposable earnings refers to that part of earnings remaining after the deduction of any amount required by law to be withheld.

Following are examples of deductions as required by law which pertain to a garnishment in determining “disposable earnings”.

Total garnishment amount in any one work week may not exceed the lesser of:

These restrictions represent the maximum amount subject to garnishment, regardless of the number of garnishment orders received by the employer. Thus, if $50 of an employee's pay is the maximum amount subject to garnishment and that amount is being withheld to satisfy a current garnishment order, no further withholding can be made from that particular pay even if a second garnishment order is received.

Restrictions on the maximum amount that may be garnished do not apply to:

The Federal Wage Garnishment Law prohibits an employer from discharging any employee because his/her earnings have been subject to garnishment for any one indebtedness. The term “one indebtedness” refers to a single debt, regardless of the number of levies made or the number of proceedings brought for its collection.

When an employer is served with a garnishment order on an employee, all wages in the employer's possession for the employee must be handled as outlined in the preceding Sub-section.

Garnishment orders must be answered within twenty (20) days or the employer will be liable for the amount not withheld from the employee's wages for that time period.

The garnishment amount can be processed as any other miscellaneous deduction if the garnishment order is received before the payroll voucher is prepared.

If the employee's payroll warrant/check has been written, but not yet issued to him/her, the agency must cancel the warrant/check and prepare a supplemental payroll voucher showing the appropriate net pay to the employee and deduction amounts, including the garnishment.

In the event an employee is being paid less than the maximum provided for by law and receives a salary increase, the new rate of pay shall not exceed one-twelfth (1/12), one-twenty-fourth (1/24) or one-twenty-sixth (1/26) of the maximum annual salary amount of the position for the remainder of the annual period.

No increase in the rate of pay, either by paying the full amount of the maximum salary or by placing the employee in a position calling for a greater salary, shall be construed as authorizing the payment of any retroactive salary.

Salary payments made to correct administrative errors shall not be considered retroactive pay and can be made within a fiscal year but not for a preceding fiscal year.

In no case shall such payments be made for a preceding fiscal year.

In the event a bi-weekly pay period starts at the end of a fiscal year and ends after the beginning of the next fiscal year, the salary payments will be made in whole from the appropriations and funds of the fiscal year in which the pay period ended.

In no event shall any obligation for personal services be incurred unless there are funds on hand or estimated to become available when the obligation for payment is due.

The State agency head, or his bonded disbursing officer, is responsible for recovering any erroneous or improper salary payments.

The Chief Fiscal Officer of the State, the State Auditor, or the State Treasurer shall not be liable under their surety bonds for any erroneous or improper payments.

All payroll vouchers for the expenditure of salaries shall contain the following certification statement and shall be signed by the bonded disbursing officer of the agency:

Maximum annual salaries for positions may be paid partly from State appropriated funds and partly from State agency bank funds.

The aggregate of such payments may not exceed the authorized maximum annual salary for the position.

If a personal services appropriation has been established on the basis of a scholastic year or other period less than twelve (12) months, then any person so employed may be paid for the remainder of the year from bank funds. The payment shall be made only if the State agency requires his services.

No person drawing a salary or other compensation from one (1) State agency shall be paid salary or compensation other than actual expenses from any other agency or institution.

An exception may be approved by the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State after the head of each agency or institution provides written certification that:

If an employee or his authorized agent files suit against the State of Arkansas in a court of competent jurisdiction for relief under the provisions of Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 or 1971 or the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and the court finds for the employee and awards wages or salaries for personal services rendered in addition to wages or salaries already paid or due, such additional wages or salaries shall be paid from the regular salary appropriation from which the employee is normally paid.

If such payment will impair the regular salary appropriation, the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State can transfer the necessary amount from maintenance and general operations appropriation of the employing agency to the regular salary account.

Any liquidated damages awarded by the court, pursuant to the above, shall be paid in the same manner as outlined previously.

When notified that a State employee has filed suit or is in any way claiming redress under the provisions of the Federal laws cited in section above, the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State may investigate the circumstances surrounding the claim.

If the Chief Fiscal Officer determines or has reason to believe that the court would sustain the employee's claim and find for the employee, and also award salaries in addition to those paid or due for the employee's personal services rendered, he shall authorize payment of the additional salaries as provided in paragraph above.

The Chief Fiscal Officer of the State shall obtain the advice of the Legislative Council or the Joint Budget Committee prior to authorizing any salary payments as provided in paragraph above.

All salaries established by the General Assembly shall be considered to be a maximum amount to be paid for a fiscal year.

No greater amount than that established for the maximum annual salary of any State official or employee shall be paid during any twelve (12) month period.

The salary paid to any employee shall not exceed one-twelfth (1/12) of the annual salary during any one calendar month, unless specifically authorized.

Those State agencies which operate principally on a scholastic year, or on a part time basis, or where such salaries or personal services are specifically established for a period less than one (1) year are exceptions to the preceding paragraph.

The maximum annual salary cited for any position established as a “Nine Month Educational and General Academic Position” in the Regular Salaries section of the appropriations act of any institution of higher education is declared to be the maximum annual salary for a nine (9) month contract, at a rate of pay not to exceed one-ninth (1/9) of the maximum authorized salary during any one month. The employee's contract or subsequent contract may exceed nine (9) months, and the maximum annual salary authorized for such position may be exceeded by not more than one-ninth (1/9) of the maximum annual salary for each additional month or part thereof contracted.

Provided, however, that when a faculty member is assigned overload teaching responsibilities, an amount in excess of one-ninth (1/9) of the maximum annual salary may be paid during any one month if the applicable maximum authorized salary is not exceeded.

For those positions identified as part time in the appropriations of any institution of higher education, payment may be made in one or more payments each semester or term with the total of all payments made during a fiscal year not to exceed the applicable maximum authorized salary.

A maximum annual salary may be converted to semi-monthly, bi-weekly or weekly increments of one-twenty-fourth (1/24), one-twenty-sixth (1/26) or one-fifty-second (1/52), of the maximum annual salary.

The maximum annual salary may also be converted to hourly rates of pay.

Remuneration paid to an employee of the State may exceed the maximum annual salary as follows, and the following shall not be construed as payment for services or as salary as contemplated by Section 4 of Article 16 of the Constitution of the State of Arkansas:

Each institution of higher education may request a salary disbursement procedure whereby the salaries for all employees of the institution are paid from the institution's bank funds. Such payments will be subject to reimbursement from the institution's State appropriated funds.

The Executive Head of the institution may request, in writing, permission from the Chief Fiscal Officer to disburse salaries from bank funds. The request will provide a detailed explanation of the institution's internal payroll controls used in preparing the payroll voucher.

The Chief Fiscal Officer of the State may approve the disbursement procedure if he feels all administrative procedures have been complied with.

The Chief Fiscal Officer may revoke such approval by transmitting a thirty (30) day notice to the executive head of the institution. Such revocation shall be tendered when it is proven that the institution's disbursement methods and controls are inadequate.

The Disbursing Officer of the institution shall prepare a payroll voucher from bank funds for each payroll period and submit it to the State Payroll Systems Section for audit. A request for reimbursement must be prepared and attached to a payroll voucher made against the institution's State appropriated funds. The request must indicate the amount of salaries which is to be charged to State appropriated funds in addition to the amounts that were obligations charged to the institution's bank funds.

The State Payroll Systems Section will audit the payroll voucher(s) to ensure compliance with laws and procedures. All erroneous or improper payments will be reported to the institution's Disbursing Officer for correction. The State Payroll Systems Section shall approve the issuance of the payroll vouchers if no errors are detected, or after all errors have been corrected. Copies of the approved vouchers will be returned to the institutions.

Liability for all erroneous or improper salary payments shall rest with the Executive Head of the institution, its bonded Disbursing Officer, or his designated bonded assistant.

The State Payroll Systems Section is responsible for performing a pre-audit of all payroll vouchers.

The pre-audit will determine correctness of each employee's salary payment and the agency's usage of the position.

Erroneous salary payments will be changed to the correct amounts before the State Payroll Systems Section will approve the voucher for payment.

No payroll voucher for employees of any State agency, board, commission, department or institution of higher learning shall be processed for payment until approved by the State Payroll Systems Section.

The State Payroll Systems Section may withhold approval of payroll vouchers if any individual salary payment shown on the voucher is in error. Approval shall be withheld until the error is corrected or the individual whose salary is in error is removed from the voucher.

The Regular Salaries appropriation classification is applicable to all salaries for State employees where the number and maximum amounts of such salaries are established by law, as provided by Article 16, Section 4 of the Constitution of the State of Arkansas.

Extra Help: This title is applicable to all part-time or temporary employees, as provided by law.

The number and rates of pay for extra help employees shall not exceed, at any one time, those established by law for regular salaries for comparable services for the agency having such appropriation for extra help. This provision shall be in force unless specifically provided for by the agency's appropriation act.

Agencies must assign a valid class code to all extra help employees. Such class codes must correspond to the codes authorized for the agency's regular positions and be consistent with the job duties assigned to the employee in that position.

Employer Matching: This appropriation represents the agency's share or contribution towards Social Security, Retirement, Employees Insurance, Worker's Compensation and Unemployment Compensation.

Overtime: All agencies have authority to pay overtime under the provisions of Act 820 and Act 95 of 1985 without having a specific line-item appropriation. Authorization for such payment shall be in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the Chief Fiscal Officer and by the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

All overtime salary payments are subject to the standard withholdings: Social Security, Federal and State tax and Retirement.

Extra Salaries: This appropriation classification is used by agencies which have special language in their appropriation acts to authorize such expenditures. “Extra salaries” include all special remuneration received by state employees in addition to their regular salaries authorized by law.

All extra salary payments are subject to the standard withholdings: Social Security, Federal and State tax and Retirement.

Supplemental Emergency Salaries: This appropriation classification refers to salaries paid from positions which have been authorized from the Governor's special legislation.

Foster Grandparent Stipend includes payments of stipends to individuals performing services under the auspices of the Foster Grandparent Program for Mental Retardation Developmental Disabilities Services.

Special compensation includes special remuneration when authorized by law for employee suggestion awards.

State Insurance Contribution: Act 1280 of 1999 provides that theState of Arkansas, on behalf of agencies particpating in the plan(s) adopted by the State, is authorized to make a monthly contribution equal to the number of budgeted state employee positions times the monthly contribution authorized by the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State, not to exceed two hundred seventy five dollars ($275) monthly for each state employee budgeted position into a fund designated for state employee health benefits.

Each State agency, board or commission subject to the provisions of the Uniform Classification and Compensation Act (Act 199 of 1969, as amended) shall maintain a system of position control for all authorized positions.

A unique position control number will be assigned to each position authorized for the agency.

See the AHRMS Procedures Manual for information on categories of position control reports available for agency use.

The Chief Fiscal Officer of the State may restrict an agency's use of authorized positions only after finding that the agency is in financial difficulty and after invoking the fiscal controls provided in Sections 13 and 14 of Act 876 of 1973, as amended.

If new or additional Federal funds become available or new Federal programs are initiated which were not previously anticipated, the head of the State agency may request one or more additional salary positions.

The salary rates of these positions shall not exceed the highest maximum annual salary rate or the highest grade level of positions authorized for the agency by their current appropriation act, as governed by the Uniform Classification and Compensation Act.

Those agencies or institutions exempt from the Uniform Classification and Compensation Act may not establish positions at salary rates exceeding the maximum established in the salary schedule of their appropriation act for comparable positions.

In no event shall the additional positions exceed the maximum number of positions authorized in the agency or institution appropriation act.

If the General Assembly fails to appropriate funds for any positions as established herein, the authorizations for the positions shall cease on June 30 following the adjournment of the Regular Session of the General Assembly and the State shall no longer participate in such program.

Supplemental Personal Services Positions are positions which have been authorized from the Governor's special legislation. These positions are to be used in lieu of personal services contracts for short-term employees only.

These positions are requested and approved according to the following procedures: