CUNY Bulletin No. CU-430

Subject
Retroactive Rate Increases and Lump Sum Payment for Locksmiths
Date Issued
August 31, 2011

Purpose

To inform agencies of a new Time Entry code and to explain the agency procedures for reporting rate increases, lump sum payments and adjustments for "miscellaneous earnings.

Affected Employees

CUNY employees in the title of Locksmith

Effective Date(s)

Increases were submitted in Pay Period 7C (Institution), paychecks dated 7/14/2011. Rate increases are effective 7/1/03, 7/1/04, 7/1/05, 7/1/06, 1/1/07 and 12/31/07

Lump Sum Payments may be submitted in Pay Period 8C (Institution), paychecks dated 7/28/2011.

Background

The rate increases are pursuant to the New York City Comptroller’s Consent Determination dated 4/13/2011.

The revised rate chart and additional information are contained in a revised memorandum dated 5/24/2011 from Carmelo Batista, Jr.

Eligibility Criteria for Lump Sum Payment

A onetime $1,000 pensionable lump sum payment shall be made to employees who meet one of the following eligibility criteria:

  • Active pay status on or before 3/4/11
  • Worked the full period from 7/1/02 through 6/30/03 and retired on or after 6/30/03
  • Had at least 1 year of service and had been in service during the period of 7/1/02 through 6/30/03, and who were laid off or terminated for economic reasons
  • On active Military duty pursuant to “Operation Enduring Freedom.”
  • In pay status on or before 3/4/2011. If on approved leave without pay, will receive the applicable lump sum payment upon their return to work.
  • Employees terminated for cause or resigned are not eligible for the lump sum payment.

This payment may be prorated.

New Time Entry Code

OSC has created a new Time Entry earnings code to pay the CUNY Bonus lump sum payment to those eligible employees who qualified for the benefit between 6/30/03 and 7/11/2011.

CBP – CUNY Bonus Payment

Agency Actions

Reporting the Rate Increases

To ensure all Job Action requests are submitted for each employee, the agency should submit requests in effective date order from oldest date to current date. For example, if appropriate, submit the 7/1/03 Pay Change, followed by the 7/1/04 Pay Change.

To increase the hourly rate(s), the agency must submit the following requests regardless of the employee’s status:

  • For all rate increases, request a Pay Change with the Action/Reason code of PAY/CRT (Pay Rate Change/Change Rate) on the Job Action Request page, using the effective date of the appropriate increase, and submit the new hourly rate.
  • A separate request must be made for each of the rows that exist on the employee’s Job Data page.
Reporting Retroactive Adjustments for All Miscellaneous Earnings

The agency must calculate and report the retroactive adjustment for all "miscellaneous earnings."

The Time Entry Earnings Code AJR must be used to report the combined retroactive adjustment for all earnings. The agency must provide an explanation of the adjustment in the General Comments page or on a separate worksheet. If the agency uses a worksheet, the worksheet must be received in OSC’s Audit Section by the agency deadline for Pay Period 7C.

The Earnings Code AJR must be reported as follows:

Earnings Begin Date: Enter the first date to be adjusted.
Earnings End Date: Enter the last date to be adjusted.
Earnings Code: Enter AJR.
Amount: Enter the total amount of the adjustment.
Reporting the Lump Sum Payment

The agency must enter the Lump Sum payment for eligible employees through the Time Entry page as follows:

Earnings Begin Date: 7/11/2011 for employees in Active status; or the last day on the payroll on or after 6/30/2003
Earnings End Date: Same as above
Earn Code: CBP (CUNY Bonus Payment)
Amount: Applicable amount

OSC Actions

Processing Automatic Retroactive Adjustments

Provided the agency appropriately submits the applicable increases, OSC will automatically process the retroactive adjustments for all “regular hours,” RGH, and “miscellaneous earnings” of LT3 and AS5, paid to an employee regardless of the employee’s status. The agency should refer to the AJR procedure above to submit retroactive adjustments for all other “miscellaneous earnings.”

Deductions for Inactive Employees

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
406 Strike/Discip Fine
409 CUNY Disciplinary Fine
425 Repay State Loans/Debt
426 Higher Ed Repay State Loan
445 HC Flexible Spending
582 CUNY SS/Med Deficiency
GARNSH Garnishment
603 TIAA Before Tax Arrears
604 TIAA After Tax Arrears

Undeliverable Paychecks

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. 908.

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 the Next of Kin Affidavit and Report of Check Exchange forms have been submitted, OSC will accept a photocopy of these forms to process the exchange.

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 statement.

Questions

Questions may be directed to the Payroll Earnings mailbox.