Employee Salary Advance Payment Guide 

The information provided in this guide is intended to assist a UCSC employee in arranging a salary advance. Please contact the Payroll Helpline at 459-2488 with questions or locate your representative directly.

  1. Salary advance eligibility
  2. Allowed frequency of salary advances
  3. Requesting a salary advance
  4. Repaying a salary advance
  5. Tax withholding
  6. Where to get help
Forms
Quick links to forms referenced in this guide are provided below.
 
Important Form Information:
Payroll_Salary_Advance_Request.pdfPayroll_Salary_Advance_Request
What to KnowFilter
Salary advance eligibility

A salary advance is a payment issued to an employee in the form of a short-term loan, for emergency situations, on a date in advance of the employee’s regularly scheduled payday. The amount of the advance is based on a percentage of the net of forthcoming wages.

Special Conditions: The following conditions apply to this type of payment.

  • Type 1 - Employee Emergency:

    • A salary advance may be requested by an employee experiencing a financial hardship against the hours worked to date in the current month (contingent upon Payroll deadlines)
    • The emergency salary advance is to be used only for unexpected, isolated events that place the employee in financial hardship
    • Emergency hardship circumstances vary greatly and each request will be given individual consideration
    • Events that are recurring or planned, do not qualify as an emergency situation

The following matrix is designed to help you determine if your situation qualifies for a salary advance.

Type
Qualifies
Does not Qualify

Housing Expense

Emergency home repairs due to unforseeable events (storm damage, theft, vandalism, etc)

Recurring, predictable expenses such as money to pay mortgage,  property tax, home insurance, rent, utilities, etc.

Transportation Expense

Repair of a vehicle which is the sole means of transportation to work, if the need for repairs could not have been reasonably planned for (ie as a result of an accident or break-down)

Repair of routine vehicle problems or maintenance requirements, such as tune-ups, new tires, battery replacement, etc. inherent to vehicle ownership.

Health Expense

Expenses due to medical emergency for employees or those who are dependent on the employee

Elective surgery

Travel Expense

Bereavement travel

Travel for vacation, recreation

  • Type 2 – Administrative Error or Timing Issue:

    • A salary advance may be requested by an employee when a payroll payment cannot be made on the scheduled payment date due to administrative error or timing, resulting in financial difficulty to the employee. For example:
      • The employee’s time and attendance record is misplaced or is processed after the payroll processing deadline
      • An employee is hired after the published Payroll deadline to update payroll system records enabling a timely wage payment

Note:  Not every occurrence of late submission of time and attendance records or late hires can be accommodated with an advance. Employee must demonstrate financial hardship as a result of the delay.

Allowed frequency of salary advances

Type 1 - Employee Emergency

  • Requests are limited to no more than two in a 12-month period.


Type 2 – Administrative Error or Timing Issue

  • Requests are approved on a case by case basis.

Note:  Your HR Unit must approve your request for either Type 1 or Type 2 salary advance prior to Payroll Office approval.

Requesting a salary advance

Follow these steps to request a salary advance:

  1. Contact your HR representative:
  2. Complete the Payroll Salary Advance Request Form with your HR Representative.


  3. Submit your request to your HR Representative.
    • A request may be made for up to 60% of wages earned through the date of the request.
    • An employee having “exempt” tax filing status, such as a student employee, may request up to 80% of wages earned through the date of the request.
  4. Your HR representative will complete a UCSC Direct Payment Form and route it to the Payroll Office for processing.


  5. The salary advance payment check will be mailed to the employee’s campus mailstop, or the campus mailstop indicated on the Direct Pay form.

Repaying a salary advance

The amount of the salary advance will be deducted from your next payroll payment.

Tax withholding

A salary advance is considered to be a short-term loan on the net (after-tax) amount of your next payroll payment.

  • No withholding is made from the salary advance payment for taxes.
  • A salary advance payment is not tax-reportable, and thus the advance itself has no impact on wage or tax reporting. The wages on which the advance is based, when paid through the Payroll system on the next payroll cycle, is the reportable payment.

Your next payroll payment will reflect the usual deductions for tax withholding, benefits, and other miscellaneous deductions. In addition the amount of the payroll advance will be deducted.

Where to get help

  • Assistance is available for your salary advance-related questions from the Payroll Office.