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Policies and Procedures

APPM

1.3.3 Honoraria Payment Requests (1-27-2025)

Administrative Responsibility:   Associate Director of Disbursements, reporting to the AVP for Business Services

PURPOSE

This policy provides information on how to request an Honorarium payment.  An honorarium may be paid to a non-employee as an expression of gratitude for a personal service provided by the individual on behalf of the University. Such services typically involve a one-time or short-term service, such a guest lecture or other speaking engagement performed on a voluntary basis. The payment of an honorarium is entirely at the discretion of the University, which is not obligated, legally or by tradition, to make such payments. Payments for more than nominal amounts or for services performed over an extended period of time should be treated as services that the University would be required to pay as an independent contractor fee for service. Any payment made pursuant to a verbal or written agreement which obligates the University to pay for services is not an honorarium.

SCOPE

This Policy applies to all WSU employees and any non-employees (students, etc.) involved in the payment of an Honorarium on behalf of Wayne State, whether as an administrator within a Department or Unit, or as the individual who makes the decision to award an Honorarium.

DEFINITIONS

Honorarium - A gratuitous payment for which fees are not legally required, such as a guest speaker or lecturer. 

Honorarium Payment Requests (HPRs) - The online WayneBuy Requisition form generated by a department to request payment to individual specifically associated with the payment of an Honorarium.

POLICY

The Honorarium Payment Request is used for individuals when the payment is not a payment obligation of the University, but instead is a payment meeting the criteria outlined below.  Like the DPR, an HPR request is not intended as a method to bypass University Procurement Policies, found in APPM 2.1 - General Procurement Guidelines.  An honorarium payment may be authorized to acknowledge a gratuitous, short-term University service performed by an individual with a scholarly or professional standing. The payment of an honorarium should be infrequent (i.e., the same individual should not receive an honorarium on a regular basis) and for activities where the University is under no obligation to make the payment.

Please Note:

  1. An HPR does not represent a legal obligation of the University to pay an individual.
  2. Recurring purchases for goods and services purchases are not permitted by use of the HPR Payments process.  As a rule of thumb, 3 payments in a 12-month rolling year should be considered a recurring payment.
  3. Procurement is not responsible for processing HPR's. The responsibility for initiating the transaction is strictly that of the department initiating the HPR. The department should upload an Honoraria/Award Data Form or other pertinent documents to the HPR in WayneBuy.
  4. The vendor should never be given the HPR PO number.  HPR PO numbers are for internal reference only.
  5. The description of the item(s) or service(s) leading to the decision to give an honorarium should be clear and complete enough so that approvers may readily ascertain that payment constitutes an appropriate university expense.
  6. An Honorarium can only be paid to an individual.   If the individual requests WSU to pay the honorarium to their Institution, we cannot oblige and should advise that once they receive payment, they can remit anywhere they chose.

The following is the only Category of payment processed on an HPR instead of a regular Requisition / PO or DPR.

Categories

 

Honorarium

A gratuitous payment for which fees are not legally or traditionally required, such as a guest speaker or lecturer.

  • Such payments should not be made to University employees.  Any non-reimbursement payment to employees should be processed through the Payroll Department, •      
  • All payments to currently enrolled students must be reported to the Office of Student Financial Aid (OSFA).  Information on reporting requirements can be found at https://wayne.edu/scholarships/management/policy. 
  • Payments in excess of $5,000 require a contract and should be processed on a Purchase Order. 
  • Honorariums cannot be a stipend (see APPM section 1.3.4, Fellowship Payments), and cannot be used to pay on a personal service contract (see APPM section 2.5, Personal Service Contract).

Key attributes of an Honorarium include:

  • Paying for something where payment is not contractually obligated.  The types of activities for which an honorarium may be paid include, but are not limited to, the following:
    • A lecture or short series of lectures.
    • Participation in a seminar or workshop as a guest speaker or panelist.
    • Participation in a University-sponsored program review.
    • Conducting a peer review.
    • Performing a music recital or other creative activity.
    • Appraising an article or manuscript to be submitted for publication.
  • There is no written contractual agreement with a stipulated amount owed to the payee
  • Non-recurring payments to the same individual
  • Nominal / token amount (separate from any travel reimbursement to be paid)
  • The professional services must be provided in a period not to exceed five consecutive days or ten days in a rolling year.
  • An Honoraria/Award Data Form is required.
  • Honorarium payments represent taxable income.  The University may issue the recipient a 1099, based on IRS guidelines. 
  • Like cash payments, in kind payments (exchange of books, waiver of fees, etc.) represent taxable obligations of the recipient, and the fair market value should be reported to the Tax Manager in Fiscal Operations.

Non-Honorarium Activities

Honorariums do not include payments made for the following activities covered under other University policies:

  • Employee merit and service awards.
  • Employee compensation for overload and secondary job assignments.
  • Independent contractor and consultant payments, including payments to speakers and entertainers.
  • Non-cash gifts, awards, and incentives provided to employees and non-employees.

PROCEDURE

 

Responsibility

Action

Department
  1. Verify the Honorarium Recipient is an Active Payee in WayneBuy.  If the Recipient is not found, refer to the WayneBuy tile “New Supplier / Payee Process” for instructions on establishing the individual in WayneBuy.
  2. A payment request for honorariums, prizes and awards requires completion of the online Honoraria/Award Data Form.  Attach to the HPR the Honoraria/Award Data Form and any other supporting documentation.
  3. Complete a WayneBuy HPR Requisition by following the integrated form instructions, or online Job Aids.  Job Aids are found on the Procurement website under WayneBuy.
  4. Verify budget balance available. 
    1. If balance is not available, the honorarium is not permitted.
    2. If balance is available, complete the WayneBuy requisition.

 

  1. Payments to currently enrolled students must be reported to the Office of Student Financial Aid (OSFA).  Information on reporting requirements can be found at https://wayne.edu/scholarships/management/policy
  2. The system will automatically route the online HPR Requisition to the individual/unit identified in the approval queue.  HPR forms will follow the same routing as regular DPRs.


Please Note: Approval queues are established and maintained by Computing & Information Services.  Departments must identify all individuals to be added or deleted in their approval queues, and the dollar amount each person can approve.  The form to establish or maintain approval queues is available on the PASS website at http://procurement.wayne.edu/docs/rappapprovalqueuerequestform.doc.

 

Dean/Director
  1. Review the online WayneBuy HPR Requisition for appropriateness of the purchase and for budget availability.

 

  1. Verify budget balance availability. If budget is available, approve the Requisition using the online WayneBuy approval option.
  2. If budget is not available, the honoraria is not permitted.  Select the “Return” or “Reject” option on the Requisition in WayneBuy.  This action systemically returns the Requisition to the originator or effectively cancels it.
  3. If the honoraria is inappropriate, disapprove the Requisition in WayneBuy using the “Reject” function.  This action cancels the Requisition.

 

  1. The system will automatically route the Requisition to all required approvers.  After all Departmental approvals are complete, the system will route to Disbursements. 

 
   

Disbursements
  1. Review and approve or reject the online WayneBuy HPR Requisition.
  2. Once approved, WayneBuy will systemically generate a PO through the Banner ERP, will automatically create a WayneBuy invoice, and will route the invoice through Disbursements according to established approval queues.
  3. The Banner ERP will issue a payment according to the HPR due date established on the HPR form.

APPENDICES

None

RELATED UNIVERSITY/BOARD POLICIES

 

  1. APPM 1.3.1 - Expense Guideline
  2. APPM 2.1 General Procurement Guidelines.

Effective Date: 1/27/2025

Revised Date: 1/27/2025

Reviewed Date: 1/27/20253

To be reviewed, at minimum, every three years and/or revised as needed by:  Associate Vice President Procurement and Strategic Sourcing

Next Review By Date: 1/31/2028

SUPERSEDES POLICY

N/A

HISTORICAL DATES

1/27/2025