| (I) the hours worked in that half of the month by the
employee; and
(II) the employee's hourly rate for the month calculated
according to the comptroller's requirements.
(iii) The amount of compensation that must be paid
to a state employee for services provided during the second half of
a month equals the difference between:
(I) the total compensation that must be paid to the
employee for the entire month as determined under clause (i) of this
subparagraph; and
(II) the compensation that must be paid to the employee
for services provided during the first half of the month as determined
under clause (ii) of this subparagraph.
(C) This subparagraph applies to a state employee who
works all the available hours in the first half of a month but does
not work all the available hours in the second half of that month.
(i) The total compensation that must be paid to a state
employee for an entire month is equal to the product of:
(I) the hours worked in the month by the employee;
and
(II) the employee's hourly rate for the month calculated
according to the comptroller's requirements.
(ii) The amount of compensation that must be paid to
a state employee for services provided during the first half of a
month equals 50% of the employee's compensation for the month.
(iii) The amount of compensation that must be paid
to a state employee for services provided during the second half of
a month equals the difference between:
(I) the total compensation that must be paid to the
employee for the entire month as determined under clause (i) of this
subparagraph; and
(II) the compensation that must be paid to the employee
for services provided during the first half of the month as determined
under clause (ii) of this subparagraph.
(r) Payroll deductions.
(1) Special definitions. The following words and terms,
when used in this subsection, shall have the following meanings unless
the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(A) Certified state employee organization--A state
employee organization that the comptroller has certified according
to §5.46 of this title (relating to Deductions for Paying Membership
Fees to Employee Organizations).
(B) State agency--
(i) a board, commission, department, office, or other
agency that is in the executive branch of state government and that
was created by the constitution or a statute of the state, including
an institution of higher education as defined by Education Code, §61.003;
(ii) the legislature or a legislative agency; or
(iii) the supreme court, the court of criminal appeals,
a court of appeals, the State Bar of Texas, or another state judicial
agency.
(2) Statutory limitation. Government Code, §659.002,
prohibits a state agency from making a deduction from the compensation
paid to an employee whose compensation is paid in full or in part
from state funds unless the deduction is authorized by law.
(3) List of authorized deductions. The deductions authorized
by law are:
(A) court-ordered deductions under Bankruptcy Code,
Chapter 13;
(B) deductions required by levies imposed by the Internal
Revenue Service;
(C) deductions required by payroll deduction agreements
between the Internal Revenue Service and state employees if the agreements
are legally binding on employing state agencies;
(D) federal income tax withholding;
(E) deductions required by the Federal Insurance Contributions
Act, which includes social security and Medicare withholding;
(F) income tax deductions required by states other
than Texas or by local governments outside Texas in which state employees
live and work;
(G) contributions to the Employees Retirement System
of Texas, the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, the optional retirement
program, the Judicial Retirement System of Texas Plan One, or the
Judicial Retirement System of Texas Plan Two;
(H) fees charged to state employees by their employing
state agencies for complying with court-ordered child support deductions
from the employees' compensation;
(I) court-ordered child support deductions;
(J) extra federal income tax withholding;
(K) deferrals to and repayments of loans from the qualified
deferred compensation plan;
(L) deductions required by a valid assignment, transfer,
or pledge of compensation as security for an indebtedness under Education
Code, §51.934;
(M) health benefits plan deductions, cafeteria plan
deductions, and other deductions authorized by Insurance Code, Chapter
1551, Texas Employees Group Insurance Benefits Act;
(N) health benefits plan deductions, cafeteria plan
deductions, and other deductions authorized by Insurance Code, Chapter
1551, Texas State College and University Employees Uniform Insurance
Benefits Act;
(O) deductions for goods and services provided to employees
by the institutional division of the Department of Criminal Justice;
(P) deductions for services provided to state employees
of agencies as authorized in statute or the GAA;
(Q) deferrals to the deferred compensation plans governed
by Internal Revenue Code of 1986, §457;
(R) contributions by employees of the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board, the Texas Education Agency, the Department
of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services, the Department of State
Health Services, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, and the governing
boards of state-supported institutions of higher education to any
investment authorized under Internal Revenue Code of 1986, §403(b);
(S) deductions to pay membership fees to certified
state employee organizations;
(T) service purchase installment deductions for contributing
members of the Employees Retirement System of Texas, the Judicial
Retirement System of Texas Plan I, or the Judicial Retirement System
of Texas Plan II;
(U) deductions from the compensation paid to certain
faculty members who take English proficiency courses under Education
Code, §51.917;
(V) deductions for contributions to eligible charitable
organizations;
(W) deductions for payments to credit unions;
(X) deductions required by federal law for the repayment
of guaranteed student loans;
(Y) deductions for savings bond purchases;
(Z) deductions for supplemental optional benefit programs
approved by the Employees Retirement System of Texas under Government
Code, §659.102;
(AA) deductions to make payments under a prepaid tuition
contract; and
(BB) deductions for contributions to a qualified football
coaches plan.
(s) Garnishments.
(1) Delivery of garnishment notices. A notice to garnish
the compensation of a state employee must be delivered directly to
the employing state agency.
(2) Garnishment notices for terminated employees. If
a state agency receives a garnishment notice for a person no longer
employed by the agency, then the agency must:
(A) return the notice to the entity that issued the
notice;
(B) inform the entity that the person is no longer
employed; and
(C) identify to the entity the retirement system that
the entity should contact to seek information about the person's retirement
contribution balance.
(3) Compliance with garnishment notices. Upon receipt
of a valid garnishment notice, the receiving state agency must:
(A) inform the affected state employee about the notice
and the procedures the agency will follow to comply with the notice;
(B) establish a mail code on the comptroller's Texas
payee information system for the recipient of the garnishment proceeds
unless a payee number has already been designated for all state agencies
to use; and
(C) show the garnishment as a miscellaneous deduction
on the affected state employee's payroll record.
(4) Effective date of garnishment notices. A garnishment
notice takes effect with the first payroll document submitted to the
comptroller after the notice is received. Therefore, if a state agency
receives a garnishment notice after the agency has submitted a payroll
document to the comptroller, the notice does not apply to that document.
(t) Refunds of deductions. A state agency may refund
amounts previously deducted in error only by using credit amounts
in the appropriate deduction column on a payroll document.
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