NJ Civil Service Navigator

N.J.A.C. 4A:3-4.21 Salary overpayments: State service

N.J.A.C. 4A:3-4.21, Salary overpayments: State service. The Civil Service Commission may waive, in whole or in part, the repayment of an erroneous salary overpayment, or may adjust the repayment schedule based on Full text with 2 recorded amendments, 26 citing decisions, cited by 1 other rule.

Classification, Services, and Compensation · Compensation

Current through New Jersey Register, Vol. 58 No. 14, July 20, 2026. Reviewed as of July 26, 2026.

This is an annotated mirror, not the official publication. Verify against the Civil Service Commission before relying on it.

In plain language

Being overpaid by mistake does not automatically mean repaying all of it on the payroll terms. The Civil Service Commission may waive repayment of an erroneous salary overpayment in whole or in part, or leave the debt standing and adjust the repayment schedule instead. Three factors are listed for that decision: whether the circumstances and amount were such that the employee could reasonably have been unaware of the error, whether the overpayment resulted from a specific administrative error rather than mere delay in processing a change in pay status, and whether the repayment terms would cause economic hardship. Either the employee or the appointing authority may request a waiver, and the request travels through the procedure for written record appeals.

Written by the NJ Civil Service Navigator editorial team from the text of N.J.A.C. 4A:3-4.21. It is a description of the rule, not the rule itself, and not legal advice.

(a) The Civil Service Commission may waive, in whole or in part, the repayment of an erroneous salary overpayment, or may adjust the repayment schedule based on consideration of the following factors: #

1. The circumstances and amount of the overpayment were such that an employee could reasonably have been unaware of the error; #

2. The overpayment resulted from a specific administrative error, and was not due to mere delay in processing a change in pay status; #

3. The terms of the repayment schedule would result in economic hardship to the employee. #

(b) An employee or appointing authority may request a waiver of repayment in accordance with the procedure for written record appeals. See N.J.A.C. 4A:2-1. #

Amendment history

Rule numbers, effective dates and New Jersey Register citations as published. 2 recorded changes.

  1. AmendedR.2017 d.100
    48 N.J.R. 2653(a); 49 N.J.R. 1182(a)
  2. AmendedR.1989 d.570
    21 N.J.R. 2429(a); 21 N.J.R. 3451(a)

How this rule has been applied

26 decisions have cited N.J.A.C. 4A:3-4.21. The list below is citations to those decisions, not the decisions. We have not written summaries for this section. A citation with no summary is deliberate: we do not paraphrase a decision we have not read. Nothing here is legal advice.

Civil Service Commission final determinations (26)

Commission decisions citing 4A:3-4.21

21 decisions of the Civil Service Commission since January 16, 2019 cite this section (denied 16, granted 3, granted in part 2, as the minutes record the outcome). The newest:

All 21 decisions

Rules that point here

Elsewhere in Compensation