Frequently Asked Pay Questions - NASA Do I have to take a lunch? Why was my overtime/comp-time cut? What is a statutory cut? What is the current FICA limit? Why should I have my check direct deposited versus mailed to my home? How do I change my address? There are actually two ways to change your address. Go on line to http://www.employeeexpress.gov and process your home address change. You will need to have your social security number and PIN number previously assigned. Personally go to the Payroll Office and fill out an Address Change Request Form. How do I change my allotments for direct deposit? There are actually two ways to change your allotment. Go on line to http://www.employeeexpress.gov and process your allotment change. You will need to have your social security number and PIN number previously assigned. An Allotment can be started, increased, decreased or deleted by  submitting a signed Standard Form 1199A. An employee is allowed two allotments in addition to their direct deposit. You can obtain one of these forms from your local payroll office. If this is a new request, Section 3 must be completed and signed by the financial institution verifying their routing number code and your account number. How do I change the mailing address for my savings bonds?   I earned 28 hours of overtime last pay period but was only paid for 25 hours of that overtime.  My leave and earnings statement shows an amount equal to 3 hours of overtime pay in the block called "stat cut".  What does that mean?  Why wasn't I paid for the other 3 hours of overtime?  Will I receive that pay in my next pay check?  If there is a reason I cannot be paid for these 3 hours of overtime, may I receive 3 hours of compensatory time off in lieu of the overtime payment? Answer: There is a statutory limit on the maximum amount of premium pay an employee may earn in a biweekly pay period (5 USC 5547).  Premium pay is pay such as overtime, night pay, and Sunday pay.   This restriction limits the total amount of basic and premium pay an employee may receive during a biweekly pay period to the higher of the biweekly pay established at the GS-15,step 10 level (including locality pay or pay from a special salary rate schedule) or Level V of the Executive Schedule.  If the amount of premium pay earned during a biweekly pay period exceeds the maximum limitation, the amount that exceeds the limit is shown in the "stat cut" block on your leave and earnings statement.  This overtime cannot be paid and is forfeited.  It cannot be deferred for payment in a future pay period.  Further, since compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay is a form of overtime compensation, it cannot be earned and accrued in a biweekly pay period in any amount that would exceed the maximum earnings limit, regardless of the fact that the compensatory time off would actually be taken in some future pay period where total pay would not exceed the biweekly maximum limitation. There are two exceptions to the biweekly earnings limitation.  Whenever the head of an agency or the Office of Personnel Management determines an emergency exists, an employee performing work in connection with the emergency or its aftermath will be paid premium pay under the annual, rather than biweekly, earnings limitation.  Further, when the head of an agency determines an employee is needed to perfrom work that is critical to the mission of the agency, premium pay may be paid under the annual limitiation.  The annual limit is equal to the annual pay for the GS-15, step 10 level, including  a special rate or locality pay, or Level V of the Executive Schedule, whichever is higher.  There are no exceptions to the annual earnings limitation. The current GS-15, step 10 annual and biweekly earnings limits for employees covered by this rule are listed in FAQ, #3, entitled, "What is a statutory cut?"  The pay rate for Level V of the Executive Schedule can be found at http://www.opm.gov/oca/02tables/ex.htm   NOTE:  Overtime earned and paid under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), i.e., non-exempt employees, is not subject to the statutory limitation discussed above.   What hours can I claim as duty hours when in a travel status? How do I extend my compensatory time? Why is my earned salary different from my annual scheduled salary? Generally, most federal employees work schedules consisting of an eight-hour day, five-day, 40-hour workweek. Hourly rates of pay for general schedule employees (which are used, for example, for overtime-calculation purposes) are computed by dividing a worker's annual rate of pay by 2,087 and rounding up to the nearest cent, if one-half cent or more. To compute an employee's bi-weekly pay, the hourly rate must be multiplied by 80. If computing compensation for fractional pay periods (i.e. partially paid periods  resulting from separations, retirements, use of leave without pay, etc.) the amount of pay is determined by multiplying the employee's hourly rate by the number of hours or fractions of hours. In the past, the number of annual work hours normally used for such computations was 2,080, which represented 52 weeks times 40 hours. However, since the number of work hours in a given year can vary, this resulted in employees being paid more in some years and less in others than the annual salary set for their grade and step. The General Accounting Office determined that 2,087 was the average number of hours in a federal employee's work year, and Congress adopted that standard into law.Ref. 5USC sec. 5303 & 5USC sec. 5504) If I am a new employee, when do I get my first pay check? Can I receive an advance on my pay? How long after a timesheet has been submitted can I submit changes? How does leave with out pay (LWOP) affect my pay and benefits? If I resign or retire, what will I be paid for? (comp, credit, a/l, toa, sl, restored, donated leave) Who or when is administrative leave authorized? What is PYCO? PYCO stands for Prior Year Carry Over. When the new leave year starts, you are entitled to carry over certain prior year unused balances. An example of these are annual leave, sick leave, comp time, etc. How do I compute my hourly rate from my annual salary? Hourly rates of pay for general schedule employees are computed by dividing a worker's annual rate of pay by 2,087 and rounding up to the nearest cent,  if one-half cent or more. What do the terms exempt and non-exempt mean? Why didn’t I get paid for the holiday? You are a part-time employee and the holiday falls on a day you are not schedule to work, or you were not in a pay status (i.e. standard work hours reported) immediately proceeding or following a holiday. What can I change/view through Employee Express? Address, Federal and state tax withholdings, Health coverage, Direct deposit, Financial allotments, Earnings and leave statement, TSP, and Savings Bonds (Series EE & I) What do I do if I lose my savings bond? There are actually two ways to change your address. 1. Fill out the online form at http://www.savingsbond.gov/sav/sbfaqcs2.htm#Lost 2. Go to your local payroll office and fill out the SB-2152 form to change your address on your Series EE savings bonds or the SB-2253 for your Series I savings bonds. This allows you to change the address on an individual bond. How do I change the mailing address for my savings bonds? How do I extend my compensatory time? Compensatory time that has been forfeited can be re-instated one time for an additional 7 pay periods from the time of loss. However payroll can only re-instate when a total of eight (8) hours or more has been forfeited. To re-instate the time lost, a memo from your management must be submitted to your local payroll office, requesting re-instatement of comp time lost, the reason why the time was not used and the total amount in hours lost. You can obtain the amount of hours forfeited by contacting your local payroll office. Only the full amount of hours lost for each pay period can be re-instated. This memo should be signed and submitted by the employee's supervisor/department head. Once approved by the payroll office, the time will be corrected in the employee's compensatory time records. What is TSP? My TSP loan is paid off, why is a deduction still coming out of my check? How do I change my state tax withholding? How do I change my federal tax withholding? Click on the following link and print the form. After filling out the form, mail or deliver it to your local payroll office http://ftp.fedworld.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4_01.pdf What happens to my advanced leave while I am on the donated leave program? An employee may accrue a maximum of 40 hours of annual leave and sick leave while in a donated leave status. Any annual or sick leave accrued by leave recipients in excess of this amount is not available for use. For this reason, annual leave advanced to leave recipients at the beginning of the year is retracted from their accounts. Leave recipients will continue to accrue annual leave while on the Leave transfer program to the extent necessary for the purpose of reducing any indebtedness caused by the use of leave. (Ref. 5CFR 630.907 (b) (2) & 5CFR 630.907 (d) (1) (2)) What is COP? What is Workmen’s Compensation? What is the difference between court and jury leave?