CUNY Bulletin No. CU-556

Subject
CUNY Retroactive Rate Increases for Skilled Trade Titles of Painters and Supervisor Painters
Date Issued
October 14, 2016

Purpose

To explain the agency procedures for reporting rate increases and adjustments for miscellaneous earnings.

Affected Employees

Employees in the title of Painter and Supervisor Painter

Background

The rate increases are pursuant to a Consent Determination entered and filed on July 7, 2016 between the Comptroller of the City of New York and the Local # 1969, Civil Service Employees, I.U.P.A.T. for retroactive raises for employees in the titles of Painter and Supervisor Painter. This determination covers the period of May 3, 2008 through November 24, 2017.

The agreement provides for retroactive increases to hourly rates effective 11/03/11, 11/03/12, 11/03/13, 11/03/14, 11/03/15 and 11/03/16.

The revised rate chart and additional information are contained in a memorandum from Carmelo Batista, Jr. dated August 4, 2016.

Effective Date(s)

Increases may be submitted in Pay Period 17C (Institution), paychecks dated 11/23/2016

Eligibility Criteria

Lump Sum Cash Payment for Active Employees

Employees who are active and have been continuously employed on the date of the payout shall be eligible to receive a total amount of lump sum cash equal to the amount they would have received if they had received 4% increases on May 4, 2008 and May 4, 2009, compounded.

The lump sum cash payments shall be paid on the following schedule:

Effective Date Percentage to be used
07/01/15 12.5% (1/8 of the balance due as of this date)
07/01/17 12.5% (1/7 of the balance due as of this date)
07/01/18 25% (1/3 of the balance due as of this date)
07/01/19 25% (1/2 of the balance due as of this date)
07/01/20 25% (representing the remainder of the balance)
Lump Sum Cash Payment for Retired Employees

Employees who have retired from active service will be paid on the same schedule as active employees.

For purpose of lump sum payments, employees who were laid off and returned from a preferred list will be treated as “continuously employed.”

Effective Date Percentage to be used
07/01/15 12.5% (1/8 of the balance due as of this date)
07/01/17 12.5% (1/7 of the balance due as of this date)
07/01/18 25% (1/3 of the balance due as of this date)
07/01/19 25% (1/2 of the balance due as of this date)
07/01/20 25% (representing the remainder of the balance)

Note: It is the intent of the Agreement that Retirees and Actives continuously employed as of the dates of payout and up to and including the final payment date of July 1, 2020, after having received all the lump sum payments, shall have received a total amount of lump sum cash equal to the amount they would have received if they had received 4% increases on May 4, 2008 and May 4, 2009, compounded.

Time Entry Code(s)

To pay the Lump Sum Cash Payment for Active and Retired employees, agencies must use the Time Entry code CBP – CUNY Bonus Payment to those eligible employees who qualified for the benefit between July 1, 2015 and July 1, 2020.

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 11/03/11 Pay Change, followed by the 11/03/12 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 Rate Chg/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 16C.

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.

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 LSL, LT3 and PLB, 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.

Deduction Information for Inactive Employees

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

Code Description
406 Strike/Discip Fine
409 CUNY Disciplinary Fine
425 Repay State Loans/Debt
426 Higher Ed Repay State Loan
445 HC Flexible Spending
580 CUNY Medicare Deficiency Flat Rate
581 CUNY Social Security Deficiency Flat Rate
582 CUNY SS/Med Deficiency
GARNSH Garnishments
603 TIAA Before Tax Arrears
604 TIAA After Tax Arrears

Tax Information

These monies are taxable income, will be included in the employee’s taxable gross and are subject to all employment taxes and income taxes.

The Lump Sum Cash Payment (Earnings Code “CBP”) is taxable income subject to employment and income taxes and will be taxed using the Supplemental Optional Flat Rate Method.

The monies will be included in the employee’s taxable gross and will be reported on the employee’s Form W-2.

Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice

All retroactive adjustments will be displayed on the Payroll Register using the appropriate earnings code and the associated amount. The description of each earnings code and the associated amount will appear on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice unless there are more than 13 earnings codes. For these employees, agencies should utilize Locked Query #49 to identify a complete list of all regular earnings and retroactive adjustments.

Undeliverable Checks

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), original death certificate and a Report of Check Exchange (Form AC 1476-P). If a Next of Kin Affidavit has been previously submitted for a deceased employee’s payroll check, OSC will accept a photocopy of this form along with a new Report of Check Exchange.

Questions

Questions regarding transactions may be emailed to the Payroll Earnings mailbox.

Questions regarding Deductions may be directed to the Payroll Deduction mailbox.

Questions regarding Taxes should be directed to the Tax and Compliance mailbox.