State Agencies Bulletin No. 30

Subject
Additional Payroll Procedures
Date Issued
July 16, 1998

Purpose

This Bulletin provides additional payroll procedures under PaySR, supplementing Bulletin No. 22.

It is being sent to all Payroll Officers and Agency Liaisons, as well as to coaches for agencies in Conversion Groups 1 and 2.

Additional Payroll Procedures

Reminder: All PaySR transactions are effective beginning of business.

Position Management

Vacant Positions
  • Vacant positions that were converted into PaySR have default values which must be corrected when an employee is hired into the vacant position.
  • Agencies that do not control their position information should contact Debbie Brewer at OSC at (518) 473-7382 to have this position information updated to the accurate attributes. Please have the following information available when you call to change a position number:
    • Position number from NYSTEP
    • Effective Date
    • Job Code (or Title Code)
    • Position Pool ID
    • Line Item Number
    • PBC and Grade
    • JC
  • Agencies that control their position information should refer to the Online Help procedure Modify Existing Position Information.
Creating a New Position
  • When an agency needs to add an approved budgeted position to PaySR (a vacant position was not created prior to conversion and a CC form exists) agencies that do not control their positions should send a copy of the approved CC form to OSC so the position can be established in PaySR.
  • Agencies that control their position information, should refer to the Online Help procedure Create a New Position.
Extra Service Positions
  •  Job records for employees who were converted to PaySR as extra service, or who are hired as extra service, should have position attributes indicating an extra service position in order for extra service payments to be made in PaySR.
  • Agencies should verify that a position number is for extra service by checking the eight digit position number. It should begin with 61.
  • If the position number does not begin with 61, contact Debbie Brewer at OSC at (518) 473-7382 to establish an extra service position number.
Trainee Positions
  • All trainee positions should be entered in the NYS Position field and should begin with 62.

Appointments and Removals

Adding Employees

Adding Extra Service
  • If an employee is being hired as extra service in PaySR from an agency that has not been converted into PaySR, the transaction must be submitted as a Hire. Concurrent Hire can only be used when both agencies have been converted to PaySR.

Additional Pay Procedures

Inactive Employees

All additional pay earnings for inactive employees are being converted with the "okay to pay" check box checked. When these employees return to work, agencies should verify all additional earnings. If the employee is no longer eligible for an earning and it is not stopped, it will be paid out.

Salary Withholding
  • An end date was entered at conversion for hourly employees that are currently in the salary withholding process so that salary withholding will stop at the appropriate time.
  • For hourly employees that started the salary withholding process and are transferring into PaySR a report will be sent to the agencies. It will be the agencies responsibility to note how many hours the employee was lagged prior to their conversion into PaySR.
Effective Dates
  • Employees can not have an additional pay with an effective date prior to the effective date of their job. For example, if the employee is converted with a job effective date June 1, 1998, then the additional pay effective date cannot be prior to June 1, 1998.
  • If the additional pay needs to be effective prior to the job effective date, an adjustment for the amount due prior to the effective date of the job should be submitted through time entry with an explanation entered into comments.

Setting Up Taxes

Agencies Sending Transaction Files

For agencies sending files, refer to the Online Help procedure for Appointments and Removals for agency users, Setting up Taxes, Maintain an Employee's Tax Distribution when one of the following special circumstances exist:

  1. an employee works in both New York City and Yonkers,  
  2. an employee works less than 100% in New York City and is not a New York City resident,  
  3.  an employee works less than 100% in Yonkers and is not a Yonkers resident.
  • Agencies cannot process an Earned Income Credit by submitting a file, this must be done online in PaySR. Insert a new effective-dated row on the Federal Tax Data 1 panel. Go to Federal Tax Data 2 and check the appropriate radio button for the Earned Income Credit and save the panel.

Deductions

Deduction Processing
  • For deduction processing, enter the actual dates within the Payroll Period you are processing that the deduction should start or stop. (Be sure not to use the default system date, as this could be an inaccurate date.)
  • For example: Consider the pay period of 7 Lag (June 25 - July 8, 1998) for checks dated July 22. If an agency wants to start or stop an employee's deduction for that paycheck, enter the effective date as June 25. To stop a deduction in that pay period, enter an Effective Date of June 25 through July 8. To start or stop a deduction for the next payroll period, 8 Lag for example, enter an Effective Date or Deduction End Date of July 9 through July 22.

Maintaining Employee Records

Position Change
  • When using the action of Position change on the Job Action Request panel, with a reason of Chg Line, a salary must also be entered.

Payments and Adjustments

Retroactive Adjustments
  • PaySR will only automatically calculate an adjustment for employees from the time they are converted into PaySR.
  • Agencies should manually calculate all adjustments for periods prior to conversion.
  • These adjustments should be submitted through time entry using the earn code of ADJ (adjustment).
Changing Part-Time Percentage
  • When changing a part-time percentage on the job data panels (other than for sick leave) the Full/Part-Time indicator on Job Data 2 must be changed.
  • For employees with a pay basis code of biweekly, in addition to changing the part-time percentage on the job data panels, agencies must also submit a job action request for a pay rate change reflecting the change in the compensation rate.
Time Entry Access
  • When an employee is assigned to a new position ( ie: Hire, Position Change or Transfer), the agency will not be able to enter data on the time entry panel for that employee until the following day.

General

Dialog-Box Names
  • When searching for a record using the employee's last name and the name has a suffix, such as Jr. or Sr., users must include the suffix in order to retrieve the appropriate record.
Job Effective Date
  • The effective date of an employee's job record in PaySR is based upon the last transaction code and last transaction code date in the employee's record prior to conversion. Along with employee status changes, any salary changes that were made to an employee's record starting February 1998 updated the employee's last transaction code fields. This includes additional salary factors and changes to the employee's annual rate.

Questions on this Bulletin?

If you have questions about this bulletin, call the Help Desk at (518) 486-6745.