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  5. State Agencies Bulletin No. 659

State Agencies Bulletin No. 659

Subject
Arbitration Award Implementation of General Salary Increases for Employees Represented by NYSCOPBA (BU01) for 2003–2006
Date Issued
October 2, 2006

Purpose

To explain OSC’s automatic processing of the General Salary Increases and the automatic recovery of the Cash Advance Payment and to provide agencies with instructions for payments not processed automatically.

Affected Employees

Arbitration-eligible Department of Corrections employees represented by NYSCOPBA (BU01) in the following titles:

  • Correction Officer
  • Correction Officer Spanish Language
  • Correction Officer Trainee*
  • Correction Officer Trainee Spanish Language*
  • Correction Sergeant
  • Community Correctional Center Assistant
  • Institution Safety Officer

* Correction Officer Trainees are not eligible for Salary Increases during the period of time spent in the training academy (Agency 10410). Correction Officer Trainees will receive the salary increases when they transfer to a correctional facility.

Background

Pursuant to Chapter 113 of the Laws of 2006 which implements the Arbitration Award between New York State and the New York State Correctional Officers Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA) and provides salary increases and increases to other payments for those employees covered by the award.

This bulletin covers the processing of retroactive General Salary Increases and the recovery of the Cash Advance Payment.

Effective Date

Retroactive General Salary Increases and the recovery of the Cash Advance Payment will be processed in Pay Period 14L, paychecks dated 10/26/06 (Institution) and 11/1/06 (Administration).

Contract Provisions and Eligibility

April 1, 2003 General Salary Increase

The legislation provides for a 2.25% Salary Increase for employees who, on or after the effective date of the increase, have a status of Active, Paid Leave, or Leave of Absence due to Workers’ Compensation or Military Leave, and are in graded or trainee (SG 800) positions (outside of Agency 10410).

  • Payable 3/27/03 Administration and 4/3/03 Institution.
  • Revised April 1, 2003 Salary Schedules are attached.
April 1, 2004 General Salary Increase

The legislation provides for a 2.75% Salary Increase for employees who, on or after the effective date of the increase, have a status of Active, Paid Leave, or Leave of Absence due to Workers’ Compensation or Military Leave, and are in graded or trainee (SG 800) positions (other than Agency 10410).

  • Payable 3/25/04 Administration and 4/1/04 Institution.
  • Revised April 1, 2004 Salary Schedules are attached.
April 1, 2005 General Salary Increase

The legislation provides for a 3% Salary Increase for employees who, on or after the effective date of the increase, have a status of Active, Paid Leave, or Leave of Absence due to Workers’ Compensation or Military Leave, and are in graded or trainee (SG 800) positions (other than Agency 10410).

  • Payable 4/7/05 Administration and 3/31/05 Institution.
  • Revised April 1, 2005 Salary Schedules are attached.
April 1, 2006 General Salary Increase

The legislation provides for a 3% Salary Increase for employees who, on or after the effective date of the increase, have a status of Active, Paid Leave, or Leave of Absence due to Workers’ Compensation or Military Leave, and are in graded or trainee (SG 800) positions (other than Agency 10410).

  • Payable 4/6/06 Administration and 3/30/06 Institution.
  • Revised April 1, 2006 Salary Schedules are attached.

The retroactive earnings generated by the above salary increases will be offset by the Cash Advance Payments that were paid in Pay Period 10L, paychecks dated 8/31/06 (Institution) and 9/6/06 (Administration).

Calculation of Salaries for Employees Who Change Bargaining Units

Whenever an employee has movement within a fiscal year between different bargaining units, the salary must be reconstructed as if the employee has been in the new bargaining unit as of the beginning of the fiscal year in which the employee moved.

A future bulletin will be issued to further explain this process.

OSC Actions

After payroll processing for Pay Period 14L (Institution and Administration) is completed, OSC will automatically insert rows in the Job Data records to reflect the April 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 Salary Increases for employees who are in Bargaining Unit 01 on or after the effective dates of the increases. These increases will be processed in the following manner:

  • For employees in Bargaining Unit 01 who, on the effective dates of the increases have a status of Active, Paid Leave (except those on Military Stipend Leave) or Leave Without Pay with a reason of WDL, WSP or WPS, OSC will insert a row on the employee’s Job record, effective the dates of the increases, using the Action/Reason codes of PAY/SAC (Pay Rate Change/Mass Salary Increase).
  • For the above employees, OSC will update all subsequent Job rows in which the employee is in Bargaining Unit 01, regardless of status, using the Action/Reason codes of PAY/CSL (Pay Rate Change/Correct Salary).
  • For employees who were not Active in Bargaining Unit 01 on the effective date of an increase (including employees who were on LOA for a reason other than WDL, WSP, or WPS, or in a bargaining unit other than 01) but who became Active in Bargaining Unit 01 after the effective date of the increase, OSC will insert a row to reflect the Salary Increase, effective the date the employee became Active. The Action/Reason codes of PAY/CSL (Pay Rate Change/Cor Sal) will be used.
  • For the above employees, OSC will update subsequent Job rows, regardless of the employee’s status, using the Action/ Reason of PAY/CSL.

Exception: If the information on the employee’s Job and Position Data records is different, using the position information for the number stated in the NYS position field on the employee’s Job record, the salary increase will not be processed automatically.

Recalculation of Military Stipends

The above salary increases will result in an increase to Military Stipends for employees who have received paid stipends during the raise periods. The salary increases may also result in employees becoming eligible to receive a stipend if their new State salary now exceeds their military salary. OSC will recalculate paid Military Stipends as well as determine whether an employee would be eligible to receive a paid Military Stipend.

For employees who will be receiving a higher biweekly Military Stipend, OSC will insert a row in the Job Data page with the Action/Reason of Pay Rate Change/ Military Stipend Change (PAY/MSC) beginning the date the employee was entitled to the increased stipend and for each affected subsequent row.

For employees who will become eligible for a biweekly Military Stipend, OSC will insert a row on the Job Data page with an Action/Reason of Paid Leave of Absence/ Military Stipend (PLA/MLS) beginning the date the employee is entitled to the stipend. OSC also will insert a row in the Job Data page with the Action/Reason of Pay Rate Change/Military Stipend Change (PAY/MSC) for each affected subsequent row.

Any Military Stipends that were paid in Time Entry with Earn Codes ADJ or MSP will be adjusted by OSC using Earn Code ADJ. OSC will also enter a General Comment explaining the adjustment.

All changes and adjustments to Military Stipends will be processed in Pay Period 14L, paychecks dated 10/26/06 (Institution) and 11/1/06 (Administration).

Recovery of Cash Advance Payment

OSC will automatically recover the Cash Advance Payment (CAP) previously paid to each employee. OSC will insert a CAP row on the Time Entry page using the same effective dates, Department and a negative amount of the Cash Advance Payment paid in Pay Period 10L.

Automatic Retroactive Processing

OSC will automatically calculate retroactive payments resulting from the above increases.

For eligible employees who have worked in more than one (1) agency and have been paid by all agencies using the same Employee Record Number since the effective date of the increases, all retroactive adjustments will be paid in the most current agency.

For eligible employees who have worked in more than one (1)

agency and have been paid from more than one (1) Employee Record Number since the effective date of the increases, the retroactive adjustment for earnings in each Employee Record Number will be paid in the most current agency, on the appropriate pay cycle, under each Employee Record Number.

Retroactive Adjustments for Additional Pay and Time Entry Earnings

Time Entry earn codes that are calculated based on an employee’s additional salary factors such as overtime (OTA) and holiday (HPA) will be automatically adjusted.

Pre-Shift Briefing (PS1) paid in Additional Pay will also be automatically adjusted due to the above increases.

Agency Actions for Retroactive Processing

Retroactive adjustments will be calculated automatically for regular, Additional Pay and certain miscellaneous earnings based on the salary increases.

Time Entry earnings submitted with an amount will not be retroactively adjusted. Therefore, the agency must report the adjustments when the following earn codes were used to report earnings on or after 3/27/03: RGO, OTO, LTO, PLO, SOO, OTT, ADJ and ES2.

Additional Miscellaneous Information and Procedures Regarding Retroactive Processing
  • If a check was returned on an AC 230 for dates on or after 3/27/03, the agency must review the retroactive adjustment for that employee, as the system does not always consider AC 230s when processing retroactive adjustments. Therefore, the agency may need to report an adjustment of earnings.
  • If an employee received earnings on an AC 39 (Typewritten Payroll) prepared by OSC for earnings on or after 3/27/03, the agency must submit an adjustment for all earnings paid on the typewritten payroll.
  • If RGS was previously submitted using a date range that exceeded the number of days reported, the system will calculate the adjustment of earnings based on the number of workdays within the range. Therefore, the agency must report an adjustment to reduce the automatic retroactive adjustment.
  • Adjustments for earnings that are calculated automatically, such as overtime, will be calculated incorrectly if the dates previously reported as a single entry on the Time Entry page overlap the effective date of a salary increase. The system will calculate an adjustment for all earnings reported in the single entry based on the salary in effect on the Earnings End Date. Therefore, the agency must submit the necessary adjustment to reduce the automatic payment.

Agency Actions for Reporting Adjustments in Time Entry

Agencies must use the Earn Code AJR (Adjust Raise) on the Time Entry page to report the retroactive changes due to the implementation of the salary increases.

Earnings Code: AJR
Earns Begin Date: First date of adjustment
Earns End Date: Last date of adjustment
Amount: Amount to be adjusted
Comments: Enter explanation of adjustment

Agency Actions Regarding Control-D Reports

For employees identified on the Mass Salary Increase Exception Report (NHRP709), agencies must submit Pay Rate Changes on the Job Action Request page for eligible employees. Pay changes that are subsequent to the effective dates of the General Salary Increases are required for all rows on the employee’s Job Data page.

Salary Below Minimum

Agencies must review the Job Data records of these employees to determine the appropriate action. The employees may be in incorrect positions. If so, a position change also may be required.

Position Data and Job Data do not match

Agencies must review the Job Data records of these employees and contact the Position Management Unit to determine the appropriate action. After the Position and the Job Data records are reconciled, the agency must submit the appropriate pay changes on the Job Action Request page.

Control-D Reports

The following Control-D report will be available before processing of the automatic increases:

NHRP709 Mass Salary Increase Exception Report

This report identifies employees who did not receive an automatic General Salary Increase. Fields on the report include EmplID, Employee Record Number, Employee Name, Grade, Bargaining Unit, Pay Basis Code, Part-time Percentage and Salary. The report identifies the reason the employee’s salary was not increased with one of the following messages:

  • Salary Below Minimum
  • Position and Job do not match

The following Control-D reports will be available after processing of the automatic increases:

NHRP704 Mass Salary Payment Report

This report identifies all employees who received the General Salary Increase. The report identifies the employee’s last salary that was automatically increased in an eligible bargaining unit. Other fields on the report include the EmplID, Employee Record Number, Employee Name, Grade, Bargaining Unit, Pay Basis Code, Part-time Percentage, Action Reason and Increment Code.

NHRP709 Mass Salary Increase Exception Report

This report identifies employees who did not receive an automatic General Salary Increase. Fields on the report include EmplID, Employee Record Number, Employee Name, Grade, Bargaining Unit, Pay Basis Code, Part-time Percentage and FTA Salary. The report identifies the reason the employee’s salary was not increased with one of the following messages:

  • Salary Below Minimum
  • Position and Job do not match

Deduction Information

All general deductions for employees whose status is Terminated, Retired or Deceased will be automatically cancelled by OSC with the exception of the following:

Code Narrative
410 Health Care Spending Account
420 NY Dependent Care Contribution
425 Repay State Loans/Debt
426 Higher Ed Repay State Loan
428 Dependent Care
433 Total Unemployment Ins Owed
500 Medicare Deficiency
501 Social Security Deficiency
GARNSH Garnishments
HIATRG Regular After Tax Health
HIATSP Special After Tax Health Adj
HIBTRG Regular Before Tax Health
HIBTSP Special Before Tax Health Adj

Undeliverable Checks

Inactive employees may be eligible for a payment as a result of the salary adjustment. If the agency has made an effort to deliver the check to the employee but the check has been returned and is undeliverable, the agency should forward the check to the NYS Department of Tax and Finance, Division of Treasury, per instructions in Payroll Bulletin No. 456.

Checks issued to eligible employees who are now deceased should be returned with a completed Next of Kin Affidavit (Form AC 934-P) and a Report of Check Exchange (Form AC 1476-P).

For recipients of a previously deceased employee's payroll checks where a Next of Kin Affidavit and Report of Check Exchange form have been submitted, OSC will accept a photocopy of these forms to process the exchange of the check.

Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice

All retroactive adjustments will be displayed on the payroll register and the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice.

The Earn Code CAP and its description and a negative amount will also appear on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice.

Questions

Questions regarding this bulletin may be directed to the Payroll Audit mailbox.