TSC Recovery, Sanction Strategies For Salary Overpayment

Recovery strategies 

The Commission shall adopt various strategies to redeem salary overpayments,  which include but not limited to: 

1.  Recovering salary overpayments of at least 1/3 of the basic salary for all employees on payroll and ensuring each employee retains 1/3 of their basic salary as their net pay.
2. Full recovery of all outstanding overpayment from salary arrears and any balance thereof through the payroll.
3. Use of pay increment and/or salary adjustment to adjust the rate of recovery of salary overpayment.
4. Notifying employee upon discovery of any overpayment by use of a  demand letter
5. Initiating proceedings to follow up salary overpayments from employees  who have exited service.
6. Recommending for write-off for any irrecoverable overpayment in  accordance with Section 157 of the Public Finance Management Act, 2015. These shall include the Commission secretary being satisfied that:

• Reasonable steps are taken to recover the losses and that the loss is  irrecoverable.  
• Further efforts to recover the loss would be uneconomical: 
• It would be to the advantage of the Commission to effect a settlement  of its claim or waive the claim. 

Note: If the employee leaves the commission before all the overpayment has been  recovered, the full amount of any outstanding balance will immediately become due  and payable in accordance with the government regulations.  

SANCTION 

All TSC employees shall be expected to exercise trust and act in good faith whenever  overpayment occurs. Lack of good faith will be implied if an employee who is aware  of an overpayment:  

1. Suppressed a material fact that affected the amount payable; (ii) Deliberately or carelessly failed to ensure that relevant information affecting the  amount payable was received by the Commission;
2.  Knowingly failed to bring an overpayment to the Commission’s attention; (iv) Failed to make enquires or check employment particulars with the Commission when they could reasonably have done so;
3. Failed to notify the Commission of an obvious error;
4. Failure to act in good faith shall be considered as a serious offence that could lead to disciplinary action and criminal proceedings.

Disciplinary action 

1. Disciplinary action shall be taken against any employee found culpable of  causing an overpayment of salary in accordance with the Code of Regulation  for Teachers and Human Resource Policies and Procedure Manual for  secretariat staff (2018).
2. Regulation 168 of CORT and 134 (5) Human Resource Policies and Procedure  Manual for secretariat staff stipulates that a head of institution or supervisor  who fails to report an employees’ exit shall be liable to disciplinary action and surcharged to the extent of any loss occasioned to the commission.
3. In order to institute a surcharge against any employee who cause salary  overpayments, the following guidelines shall apply:

• Where salary overpayments have been declared irrecoverable, the  Commission shall recover the amount in full from the employee(s) who  occasioned the loss.  
• Where the salary overpayment is recoverable, a surcharge equal to the  Central Bank interest rate may be levied.  
• Whereupon Director Human Resource Management and Development  (HRM&D) and/or Director, Field Services (FS) find an employee/staff culpable of causing salary overpayments, the matter will be referred for  disciplinary action. 

Criminal proceedings  

The Commission in collaboration with other State Agencies may recommend  institution of criminal proceedings against ANY suspected employees and their  accomplices.