A payroll glitch gave about 8,500 University of North Texas employees an extra paycheck in 2011 and will leave them one short in 2012.
Employees of UNT, UNT Dallas and the UNT system received their December paychecks by direct deposit on Dec. 30, rather than Jan. 2 as scheduled. That means employees, who are paid monthly, received 13 paychecks in 2011 and will receive 11 paychecks in 2012.
The error affected employees who receive their checks by direct deposit but not employees who received printed checks.
UNT officials are advising affected employees that when they prepare their 2011 income tax forms, their figures might show a higher income than they expected.
"If they have some concern with their particular tax situation, they should strongly consider using a professional tax adviser," said Carlos Hernandez, UNT's comptroller and associate vice president of finance.
He said Wells Fargo processed the paychecks early, but the reason for the error was not yet known.
Hernandez said university officials consulted with some outside experts and determined that because the income was received in 2011, it needed to be reported in 2011.
Joe Stroop, spokesman for Wells Fargo, offered a prepared statement.
"We highly value our relationship with the University of North Texas," he said. "We seriously regret any inconvenience this error has caused. We are working closely with the university leadership to mitigate any negative effects on its staff, faculty and employees."
He declined any further comment.
University officials notified employees about the error and the potential for it to affect their 2011 taxes Tuesday as they made employees' federal W-2 forms available.
On Wednesday, UNT President Lane Rawlins issued another e-mail to employees.
"I am angry and frustrated about the effects of the bank's mistake, and I know many of you share my feelings," Rawlins wrote. He said UNT continues to work with Wells Fargo to find solutions to some of the individual problems the error caused.
Those problems will be different for each person, he said.
Jean Bush, UNT's senior associate vice president of finance, said some employees have already come forward with their concerns.
"We've heard from a few already today," she said Wednesday. "I expect that when people sit down and start looking, we may hear from a few more."
UNT officials have compiled a list of frequently asked questions, which they have provided with the employees' W-2 information. For more details, visit http://bsc.untsystem.edu/2011-w-2-information.
MATTHEW ZABEL can be reached at 940-566-6884. His e-mail address is mzabel@dentonrc.com .
