Method and Frequency of Payroll
Twice-Monthly Payroll Payments

Though most state employees are paid once a month, there are exceptions. An employee is entitled to receive compensation payments twice a month if all the following criteria are met:

• The employee must work for an agency authorized to pay compensation twice monthly. Those agencies are:
  • 320 – Texas Workforce Commission
  • 405 – Department of Public Safety
  • 601 – Texas Department of Transportation
  • Any other agency designated by the Comptroller’s office. Those agencies are:
    • 529 – Health and Human Services Commission
    • 537 – Department of State Health Services
    • 809 – State Preservation Board
• The employee must hold a classified position under the state’s position classification plan.
• The employee must hold a position classified below salary group A12 under Classification Salary Schedule A in the General Appropriations Act.
• At least 30 percent of eligible employees must be paid twice monthly at the authorized agency the employee works for.

Beginning Sept. 1, 2025, an agency authorized to pay employee compensation twice a month may elect to do so for any employees who hold positions classified under Classification Salary Schedule A in the General Appropriations Act.

Employees who are eligible to be paid twice monthly may instead choose to be paid once a month.

Agencies interested in being designated to pay compensation twice monthly should ensure they meet the requirements and submit a written request to the Fiscal Management Division of the Comptroller’s office. The request must describe how the specific requirements are satisfied.

Send written requests to:

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

For employees whose salaries are paid twice a month, the payday for the payroll period spanning the first through the 15th day of the month is the 15th day of the month, or the first workday following it if the 15th falls on a Saturday, Sunday or national holiday. The payday for the payroll period spanning the 16th day through the last day of a month is the first workday of the following month, which is also the payday for employees whose salaries are paid once a month.

Sources

Texas Government Code, Sections 659.081, 659.082, 659.083.