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Texas Payroll/Personnel Resource

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General Provisions
Method and Frequency of Payroll

State law requires agencies to pay employees on a monthly basis except for those state agencies that have been authorized to make twice-monthly payments to employees.

Monthly Payrolls

The majority of state employees are paid once per month. Employees who are paid monthly will be paid on the first workday of each month following the payroll period. If an employee worked in December, he or she would be paid on the first workday following Jan. 1 because Jan. 1 is a holiday.

For example, if Jan. 1 falls on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, the first workday is the following Monday (see examples A, B and C below). If Jan. 1 falls on another weekday, the payday is the next day (see example D).

Important note: It is important to be aware that, for holidays falling on a Sunday, all Federal Reserve banks and branches are officially closed the following Monday.

Though the banks are officially closed, they still have several options for how they do business. They may open their lobby and customer service lines but as they are officially closed, are not required to post direct deposit payments. This means state employees cannot be assured that their direct deposit will be posted to their accounts until the next business day.

First Workday/Payday Examples

Example Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
A           1
Holiday		 2
3 4
(Payday)		          
B             1
Holiday
2 3
(Payday)		          
C 1
Holiday		 2
(Payday)		          
D   1
Holiday		 2
(Payday)		        

Twice-Monthly Payrolls

Some agencies are authorized to pay certain employees two times per month. In order to be eligible to be paid twice monthly, all of the following criteria must be met:

  • The employee must work for an agency that has received authorization to pay compensation twice monthly. The authorized agencies for twice-monthly payrolls are:
    • 320 – Texas Workforce Commission
    • 405 – Department of Public Safety
    • 529 – Health and Human Services Commission
    • 537 – Department of State Health Services
    • 601 – Texas Department of Transportation
    • 809 – State Preservation Board
  • The employee must be in a classified position under the state’s position classification plan.
  • The classified position must be classified below salary group A12 under Classified Salary Schedule A in the General Appropriations Act.
  • The agency must have at least 30 percent of its eligible employees paid twice monthly.

The Comptroller’s office is authorized by state law to designate other agencies to pay employees twice monthly. Agencies interested in this option should ensure they meet the requirements and submit a written request to the Fiscal Management Division. The request must describe how the specific requirements are satisfied.

Please send written requests to:

Comptroller of Public Accounts
Fiscal Management Division, Payroll Policy
111 East 17th Street
Austin, Texas 78774

To submit your request electronically, please send a letter on agency letterhead to payroll.policy.mail@cpa.texas.gov.

Employees who are paid twice monthly will be paid on the first workday of the month and again on the 15th day of the month (or first workday thereafter). If an employee worked the last half of December, he or she would be paid on the first workday following Jan. 1 because Jan. 1 is a holiday.

For example, if Jan. 1 falls on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, then the employee would get paid for the last half of the December payroll period on the following Monday. The payroll period being paid on Jan. 15th is for the first half of January. If the 15th were a weekend or holiday, the employee would be paid on the first workday after the 15th.

Employees who are otherwise eligible to be paid twice monthly may instead choose to be paid on a monthly basis.

Institutions of Higher Education

Institutions of higher education are not limited by the rules listed above for state agencies, such as the requirement to request approval from the Comptroller’s office before paying employees on a twice-monthly basis.

Institutions of higher education may submit payrolls to pay their employees weekly, biweekly, twice monthly or monthly.

Sources

Texas Government Code, Section 659.081; Texas Government Code, Section 659.082.