Speaker Fee and Honorarium Payment Requirements under Ohio Senate Bill 1 (SB1)

Under Senate Bill 1, Ohio’s public colleges and universities have to be more open about money they pay to honorariums and outside speakers. Specifically,

• If the university pays someone more than $500 in speaker fees, honoraria, or similar payments for a university-sponsored event, the speaker information must be listed publicly (Ohio University will publish this on a quarterly basis on the website).
• The list has to be easy to find on the university’s website, with no more than a three clicks to reach this information.
• It must also be searchable and available to anyone without having to log in or register.

Key Reminders on How to Comply Speaker Fee and Honorarium Payment Requirements under SB 1

• Formal Agreements and Compliance:
  A written agreement outlining the speaker fee/honorarium amount, what is being provided, and terms of payment is mandatory. Therefore, you must use one of the forms below in order to remain in compliance with SB1.
  • To assist in this process, the university has two forms available to process these types of payments.
    1. Short Form Services Agreement – any payments associated with a speaker, that is not an honorarium, should be made via this form and includes any speaker, panelist, or presenter at a workshop or conference. You MUST use object code 721560 – GUEST SPEAKERS AND PRESENTERS for this category. We are using the object code as the mechanism for reporting this information to remain in compliance.
    2. Honorarium Form – any payments that meet the following criteria. An honorarium represents a token of appreciation and is not an equivalent value of professional charges. You MUST use object code 719310 – HONORARIUMS:
       • Amount does not exceed $1500 excluding travel.
       • Recipient is not an employee or does not have an existing consultant obligation to the university.
       • Services are voluntary and payment is not required.
       • Recipient does not perform the service for a living.
       • Honorarium Recipient is for a One Time Payment Only. If you plan to use the supplier in the future, please use the Short Form Services Agreement instead.
       • If you are paying a foreign national, you must also ensure you have also included the Honorarium and Travel Reimbursement Affidavit for Foreign National Visitors, if needed. This helps ensure the university handles any tax withholding properly for non-resident aliens.
    3. All forms can be found on the Finance Forms webpage at Finance Forms | Ohio University

Tax and Reporting Obligations
As a reminder, the university is required to collect proper tax documentation for any speaker or honorarium payments and report those in accordance with IRS requirements.

How This Affects Event Planning

If you are planning an event and wish to invite a paid speaker or pay an honorarium, please coordinate with your planning unit CFAO well in advance to ensure you are following these requirements.

Responsibility of the CFAO

Because arrangements involving speakers and honorariums is a decentralized process, it is the responsibility of the CFAO for each planning unit to ensure they have proper processes in place to comply with SB1 speaker/honorarium fees disclosure requirements.

Contact Information

For questions related to your planning unit processes please contact the CFAO of your planning unit.

For any questions related to the university process, forms, or disclosure requirements, please contact financecustomercare@ohio.edu