Purpose

To provide an overview of Deduction processing and page changes resulting from the Payroll System upgrade.

Affected Employees

All Employees

Processing Changes:Type of Deduction

General Deductions

• When entering CUNY SRA/TDA deductions (Deduction Codes 403, 413, 414, 417, and 419), the calculation routine selected in the current system (PaySR) is ‘Deferred Comp Deduction Calc’. It has been replaced by ‘Percent of Special Earnings’ in the upgraded system (PayServ).

Direct Deposit

• The ‘Excess’ and ‘Partial Allowed’ check boxes in the current system (PaySR) have been replaced by ‘Deposit Type’ in the upgraded system (PayServ). When entering Direct Deposit information you must choose a Deposit Type.
  The choices are:
  Amount: Used for a flat dollar amount
  Balance: Used for an Excess account
  Percent: Used for a percent of less than 100%
  
  Deposit types of ‘Amount’ and ‘Percent’ are automatically partial allowed.

Deferred Compensation

• Deferred Compensation deduction information is no longer in General Deductions.
• The new path to view employee Deferred Compensation information is: Home>Compensate Employees>Administer Base Benefits>Use>Savings Plans.
• The new path to view employee Deferred Compensation catch up information is: Home>Compensate Employees>Administer Base Benefits>Use>Savings Management.
• Agencies will have ‘View’ access only to the Savings Plans page and the Savings Management page.
• In the current system (PaySR), if an employee’s net check is not sufficient to take the full calculated Deferred Compensation deduction amount no deduction is taken. In the upgraded system (PayServ), a partial deduction will be taken if the full deduction cannot be taken.

Taxes

• The priority for deducting taxes has changed in the upgraded system (PayServ). In the current system (PaySR), the priority for deducting taxes is - Federal Tax, additional Federal Tax, State Tax, additional State Tax, Local Tax and additional Local Tax. In PayServ, the priority is - Federal Tax, State Tax, Local Tax, additional Federal, additional State, and additional Local Tax. Partial additional tax deductions will be taken if the full deduction cannot be taken.
• Federal Tax Data has been compressed from the three panels in the current system (PaySR), into one page in the upgraded system (PayServ).
• State Tax Data has been compressed from two panels in the current system (PaySR), into one page in the upgraded system (PayServ).
• Local Tax Data – The LWT Marital/Tax Status field has been added in the upgraded system (PayServ) to allow the selection of Marital Status for the calculation of Local Taxes. In the current system (PaySR), Local Taxes are calculated based on the marital status entered for State Taxes. This field is required for employees who complete Form IT-2104.

NRA Taxes

The NRA Tax Treaty Exemption process has changed.

• The ‘Form 8233 Recd’ field must be populated with ‘Yes’ and the ‘8233 In Effect Date’ field must be populated with the date on the form in order for the employee to be exempt.
• A Non Resident Alien tax treaty exemption will be in effect if the form 8233 is received and the ‘8233 In Effect Date’ is before the end of the pay period.
• If the ’Form 8233 Recd’ field is populated with ‘Yes’, but there is no date in the ‘8233 In Effect Date’ field, taxes will be taken according to the employee’s W-4 form. If the ‘Form 8233 Recd’ field is populated with ‘No’, taxes will be taken at the tax rate listed in the treaty for the employee’s income code of that treaty. This rate is now identified in the Tax Rate (before form) column in the Allowable Earnings Code group box.

Retirement

• With the elimination of the ‘End Date’ field on the Retirement Plan page, a deduction will now be discontinued by using the Deduction Begin Date in combination with the ‘Terminate’ radio button.

Garnishments

• OSC will no longer calculate interest, poundage or filing fees for creditor, state tax and student loan garnishments. The serving officers will make the determination as to when the debt has been fully recovered and submit a release to OSC. All orders will remain in effect until the release is received. Serving officers will also be responsible for handling any over-deducted amounts through their refund process.
• The current system (PaySR) does not calculate disposable earnings when an employee has multiple child support orders. The calculation is done manually by OSC staff based on the wages and deductions in place at the time the orders are received and the deduction remains the same until an amended order is received. A new pro-ration rule in the upgraded system (PayServ) automatically calculates disposable earnings for every check. Some employees with multiple Child Support orders will notice a fluctuation in their Child Support deductions due to the recalculation performed for each check based on the wages being paid.
• There will be a change in the processing of full Federal Levies in the upgraded system (PayServ). All deductions in place at the time the levy is received and processed will be included in the exemption amount. As a result, some employees who have full Federal Levies will see a difference in their deduction. In most cases, the amount going to IRS will be reduced.

Pages

Copies of all Deduction pages that have been changed in the upgraded system (PayServ), along with explanations of the changes, are included as attachments to this bulletin.

Questions

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