Purpose:

The purpose of this bulletin is to inform agencies of revised procedures for requesting payroll information related to garnishments and other deductions.  

Affected Employees:

Employees with questions related to their garnishment or other deductions are impacted by this bulletin.

Background:

Due to an increased number of requests for sensitive garnishment and deduction information from State employees, the following are revised procedures to protect personal privacy and safeguard the confidentiality of NYS employees’ personal data. 

Effective Dates:

This bulletin is effective immediately.

OSC Actions:

If an employee contacts the Bureau of State Payroll Services’ Deductions Section directly for garnishment or deduction information, either via email or the Deductions Customer Service Helpline, they will be referred to their agency payroll office for response.  OSC will not release any payroll information to an employee or their designated recipient without a completed, notarized Personal Privacy Protection Law Release form. 

OSC will continue to respond to direct inquiries from employees who are contacted by OSC through an outreach effort.  

Agency Actions:

If agencies are unable to answer garnishment or deduction related questions, they should contact the appropriate Bureau of State Payroll Services’ mailbox for assistance.  Detailed descriptions of all mailboxes can be found on the PayServ Bulletin Board.

Agencies can find guidance for responding to employee garnishment information requests in the Payroll Deductions: Best Practices & Valuable Resources presentation from the 2023 Office of Operations’ Fall Conference.  A pdf of the presentation is also available.

Questions:

Questions regarding this bulletin may be directed to the Deductions mailbox.