Purpose
To provide agency procedures and new Earnings Codes to process Longevity Payments and adjustments for overtime payments.
Affected Employees
Certain seasonal hourly employees in the Department of Environmental Conservation (09180) and the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (49XXX) who meet the eligibility criteria and are in the following bargaining units:
- CSEA employees in Bargaining Units 02, 03, and 04
- PEF employees in Bargaining Unit 05
Effective Date(s)
Effective 3/25/04 for seasonal employees in Agency 49XXX and 4/1/04 for seasonal employees in Agency 09180.
Checks dated December 29, 2004 (49XXX) and January 6, 2005 (09180).
Background
Chapter 103 of the Laws of 2004 (CSEA) and Chapter 419 of the Laws of 2004 (PEF) provide for a $500.00 Longevity Payment for Long-Term Seasonal employees who meet the eligibility criteria stated below. The Longevity Payment is effective the first pay period of the fiscal year. If the employee is not Active in the first pay period of the fiscal year, the Longevity Payment is effective upon the employee’s return to the payroll, provided the employee returns within the fiscal year.
Eligibility Criteria
Employees who were Active in Pay Period 1 of Fiscal Year 2004-2005 in a CSEA (BU 02, 03, 04) or PEF (BU 05) seasonal hourly position in Agency 49XXX or 09180 and had at least 1500 hours in pay status as a seasonal employee in each of the five (5) previous “calendar” years in either of these agencies are eligible for a $500.00 Longevity Payment.
For seasonal employees who were not Active in Pay Period 1 but become active in a seasonal hourly position after Pay Period 1 and before 3/24/05 (49XXX) or 3/31/05 (09180) and otherwise meet the eligibility criteria stated above, the payment is effective the date of the return to the payroll.
New Earnings Codes and Agency Actions
Beginning in Pay Period 19L, agencies may begin submitting the 2004 Longevity Payments for eligible employees and adjustments for overtime worked since the effective date of the payment.OSC has created two new Earnings Codes to be used as follows.
- The Earnings Code LPS (Longevity Payment Seasonal) must be used to report the $500.00 Longevity Payment on the Additional Pay page.
- Since employees who receive LPS are eligible to receive an additional $.38 per hour for all overtime worked since the effective date of the LPS, the Earn Code LAO (Longevity Adjustment Overtime) must be used in the Time Entry page to adjust overtime payments previously paid to seasonal hourly employees since the effective date of the LPS.
- Beginning Pay Period 19, the Earn Code LAO should also be used in addition to the Earnings Code OTK and, if applicable, in addition to the Earnings Codes BO1, BO2, BO3, or BO4 when reporting overtime payments for seasonal employees who performed overtime work through 3/23/05 (49XXX) or 3/30/05 (09180).
The agency must use the following procedure when reporting the Longevity Payment of $500.00 on the Additional Pay page:
| Earnings Code: | LPS |
| Effective Date: | 3/25/04 (49XXX) 4/01/04 (09180) or date employee returned to payroll |
| OT Effective Date: | Same as Effective Date |
| Annual Additional Earnings: | $500.00 |
| Earns End Date: | 3/23/05 (49XXX) 3/30/05 (09180) |
| Goal Balance: | Leave Blank |
The agency must use the following procedure when reporting the Earn Code LAO (Longevity Payment Adjustment) in the Time Entry page to adjust previous and future overtime payments for the period 3/25/04 through 3/23/05 (49XXX) or 4/1/04 through 3/30/05 (09180).
When this code is used, the system will determine the amount of the LAO by multiplying the number of hours reported by $.38.
| Earnings Begin Date: | Enter the first date of overtime to be adjusted |
| Earnings End Date: | Enter the last date of overtime to be adjusted |
| Earn Code: | Enter LAO |
| Hours: | Enter the number of overtime hours |
If a seasonal employee has a position change or transfer into a non-seasonal position (e.g. Pay Basis Code is ANN) after the effective date of the LAO, the employee is no longer eligible for the Longevity Payment to be included in the calculation of overtime. Therefore, the agency must insert a row on the Additional Pay page as follows:
| Earnings Code: | LPS |
| Effective Date: | Enter the last date the employee is eligible for the LPS in overtime calculation |
| OT Effective Date: | Enter the original OT effective date |
| Earn End Date: | Delete the existing Earn End Date and enter the last date the employee is eligible for the LPS in overtime calculation |
| Annual Addl Earnings: | LPS Amount will default in this field. |
| Goal Balance: | Enter $500 |
Miscellaneous Payment Information
The payment is pensionable and must be used in the calculation of overtime worked within the fiscal year in which it became effective, provided the employee continues to remain in a seasonal position.
Check Information
The Earnings Code LPS and Earn Code LAO will appear on the payroll register. The Earnings Code description “Longevity Payment Seasonal” and Earn Code description “Longevity Adjustment Overtime” will appear on the employee’s pay stub.
Questions
Questions about this Bulletin may be directed to your OSC Payroll Auditor.