An honorarium is a payment made in recognition of voluntary participation in a program or activity to individuals who are not employees of York University ( e.g. guest lecturer).
In order to be compliant with CRA regulations honorariums paid to individuals must be processed by Payroll. Cumulative payments in excess of $500 will be subject to statutory deductions. Honoraria should not be paid in cash by faculty or staff (and subsequently claimed on a claim for reimbursement).
Payments in cash to individuals are not normally eligible for reimbursement. It is recognized that there may be unique and rare situations where small cash payments are necessary (remote sites with guides, etc.). In these instances, the nature of the payment should be documented by including the following information in the claim for reimbursement:
- Nature of the payment, describing the service received.
- Documentation that the payment was received by the recipient (name of individual
receiving payment and signature of individual acknowledging receipt) - Reason why this payment could not have been processed through payroll.