What is retro net offset on payroll in Ghana | What you can do about it
Retro net offset on payroll is a term that appears on the payslip of workers in Ghana. The term appears mostly on the payslip of public sector workers in the country. Managers of the public sector payroll system, the Controller and Accountant General Department (CAGD), usually use the term in their accounting or salary payment system.
Retro net offset is a term which simply implies an income that was due or that was not due to an employee in the past is now being applied to the salary of the employee.
This means that a retro net offset can be a credit to the salary of an employee or the retro net offset can be a debit to the salary of the employee.
There is an addition of an income (positive amount) to the salary of an employee whenever the retro net offset is a credit to the employee. However, there is a subtraction of an amount (negative amount) from the salary of an employee whenever the retro net offset is a debit.
Positive retro net offset means an amount that was due to an employee in the past is now being added to the current salary of the employee. The reason such an amount would now be added to the salary of the employee means such an amount was not paid to the employee in the past even though he or she deserved it.
Negative retro net offset on payroll means an employee has enjoyed an unearned income from the employer in the past. The term used by the Controller and Accountant General Department (CAGD) to describe such a deduction is the retro net offset.
Difference between retro net offset and arrears
It must be clarified that the retro net offset is different from arrears payment. Arrears usually apply to income that is due to the employee and such an income was budgeted for. In other words, the employer knows it will have to pay such an income to the employee. But due to implementation processes, the payment of such income to the worker was not effected immediately. Such delayed budgeted income is captured as arrears when it is being paid at a later time.
Also, it is hardly possible that an employer would expect and budget that its employee would own any part of the employee’s salary. Therefore, arrears only apply when an employer is making payments of over-due income to the employee.
Retro net offset on payroll, however, can capture payment of money to the employer by the employee. In such a case, the item will be captured as a retro net offset and the amount will be a negative amount (subtraction amount) from the employees’ salary.
Whenever a retro net offset appears as positive on the payroll of the employee, it means there was an income that was due to the employee but was not acknowledged in the past and was not budgeted for in the past.
See also: Retro Net On Payslip: 4 Reasons
What you can do about the retro net offset
Usually, the employee can do virtually nothing about retro net offset on payroll in Ghana, especially for workers receiving their salaries through the Controller and Accountant General Department (CAGD). Employees can not do anything about retro net offset on payroll because everything has been programmed. This means the addition of income to the employees’ salary (positive retro net offset) as well as the subtraction of income from the employees’ salary (negative retro net offset) are effected in the system of the controller just like all other items on the payment system.
Addition of income (positive retro net) and subtraction of income (negative retro net offset) will continue until the total amount expected to be added or to be removed is complete.
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