Communication Allowance

Guidelines effective 11/1/2014

1. The President has approved the elimination of all communication allowances for all employees except exemptions approved per his directive dated 10/7/2014.
   • Exemptions to the cell phone elimination are employees who received a cell phone allowance as of 9/1/2014 with a salary less than $50,000 (grandfathered).
   • First responders or individuals who are regularly required to come to campus to deal with emergencies outside working hours may also receive a cell phone allowance.
2. Communication allowances will be centrally eliminated for all employees with 02 adlocs. The $50,000 salary grandfather exemption is excluded from the elimination process.
3. Payroll Workstations with employees having a 02 adloc and PIN other than “M” will need to eliminate their employees as directed above.
4.  Beginning November 1, 2014 employees that qualify as a first responder or individuals who are regularly required to come to campus to deal with emergencies outside working hours are eligible for the communication allowance.
5. For any changes, cancellations, or additions, a new Request Compensation Change for Communication Allowances must be completed in Workday for each individual.
6. The Biennial Communication Allowance Review requirements are available at the following website: https://payroll.tamu.edu/media/1602205/communication-allowances-sept-2019.pdf
7. No centrally allocated funds (E&G, DT, UAF, AUF, Investment Earnings and Auxiliary Assessments) or differential tuition are allowed to pay communication allowances.
8. A report will be provided to the colleges/divisions showing the individuals who are grandfathered. Colleges/divisions must review the payment source for a non-central funding account.
9. The granting of the cell phone allowances for the specific employees identified above is an annual re-certification process. All communication allowances will terminate August 31st of each year (except for the $50,000 grandfathered employees).
   • Each year, a notice will be sent to all deans/divisions regarding the termination of the communication allowance and the requirement to complete a new certification form for the new academic year for those qualifying employees.
10. Standard Administrative Procedure 25.99.09.M0.01 has been updated to reflect these changes.
11. Centrally allocated funds (E&G, DT, UAF, AUF, Investment Earnings and Auxiliary Assessments) made available by eliminating the communication allowances will be retrieved and made available for strategic allocation. No other funds will be retrieved.
12. For FY 2015, 10 months of communication allowance will be retrieved. Budgets will be adjusted for FY 2016 during the budget process.
13. The Controller’s Office will receive a monthly report to verify individuals approved for the communication allowance and the funding source.

Reimbursement of Infrequent Business Related Communication Charges

For infrequent reimbursement of business related communication charges on a personal device, the following guidelines will be used:

• A detailed copy of the communications bill with all business related charges denoted by underlining the specific business charge should be sent along with the voucher to Accounts Payable. The business purpose of the call(s) must be documented to meet IRS guidelines.
• The methodology used for calculating reimbursement will be: the total charges, including surcharges and taxes, will be prorated by percentage of business use. Only up to the actual cost of service will be reimbursed. Texas A&M University is not responsible for reimbursing equipment charges due to plan initiation, or through lost, stolen or damaged equipment.

Reimbursement may be requested on an individual reimbursement request or a travel voucher, if the employee was traveling at the time the communication expense was incurred.