State Agencies Bulletin No. 774

Subject
Implementation of General Salary, and Longevity Increases for Non-Arbitration Eligible Employees Represented by NYSCOPBA (BU21)
Date Issued
December 18, 2007

Purpose

To explain OSC’s automatic processing of the General Salary and Longevity Increases and to provide agencies with instructions for payments not processed automatically.

Background

Pursuant to Chapter 688 of the Laws of 2007 which implements the agreement between New York State and NYSCOPBA (BU21) and provides for salary increases and additional payments for those employees covered by the agreement.

Affected Employees

Non-arbitration eligible employees represented by NYSCOPBA in Bargaining Unit 21

Effective Date(s)

Paychecks dated 1/23/08 (Administration) and 1/31/08 (Institution)

Contract Provisions and Eligibility

April 1, 2003 Increase to Longevity Amounts and New 25 Year Longevity Step

The legislation provides for an increase in the ten (10), fifteen (15) and twenty (20) year Longevity amounts as well as the creation of a new twenty-five (25) year Longevity step.

  • Payable 3/27/03 Administration and 4/3/03 Institution.
  • Revised April 1, 2003 Salary Schedules are attached.
April 1, 2004 General Salary Increase

The legislation provides for a 2.5% Salary Increase for employees who, on or after the effective date of the increase, have a status of Active, Paid Leave, or Leave of Absence due to Workers’ Compensation or Military Leave.

  • Payable 3/25/04 Administration and 4/1/04 Institution.
  • Revised April 1, 2004 Salary Schedules are attached.
April 1, 2005 General Salary Increase

The legislation provides for a 2.75% Salary Increase for employees who, on or after the effective date of the increase, have a status of Active, Paid Leave, or Leave of Absence due to Workers’ Compensation or Military Leave.

  • Payable 3/31/05 Institution and 4/7/05 Administration.
  • Revised April 1, 2005 Salary Schedules are attached.
April 1, 2006 General Salary Increase

The legislation provides for a 3% Salary Increase for employees who, on or after the effective date of the increase, have a status of Active, Paid Leave, or Leave of Absence due to Workers’ Compensation or Military Leave.

  • Payable 3/30/06 Institution and 4/6/06 Administration.
  • Revised April 1, 2006 Salary Schedules are attached.
March 31, 2007 General Salary Increase

The legislation provides for an $800 Salary Increase for annual employees or $.38 per hour for hourly employees who, on or after the effective date of the increase, have a status of Active, Paid Leave, or Leave of Absence due to Workers’ Compensation or Military Leave.

  • Payable 3/29/07 Institution and 4/5/07 Administration.
  • Revised March 31, 2007 Salary Schedules are attached.

OSC Actions

After payroll processing for Pay Periods 20L (Administration) and 21L (Institution) is complete, OSC will automatically insert rows in the Job Data records to reflect the April 2003 Longevity Increases and the 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 Salary Increases for employees who are in Bargaining Unit 21 on or after the effective dates of the increases.

These increases will be processed in the following manner:

  • For employees in Bargaining Unit 21 who on the effective dates of the increases have a status of Active, Paid Leave (except those on Military Stipend Leave) or Leave Without Pay with a reason of WDL, WSP or WPS, OSC will insert a row on the employee’s Job record, effective the dates of the increases, using the Action/Reason codes of PAY/SAC (Pay Rate Change/Mass Salary Increase).
  • For the above employees, OSC will update all subsequent Job rows in which the employee is in Bargaining Unit 21, regardless of status, using the Action/Reason codes of PAY/CSL (Pay Rate Change/Correct Salary) for annual employees or PAY/CRT (Pay Rate Change/Change Rate) for hourly employees.
  • For employees who were not Active in Bargaining Unit 21 on the effective date of an increase (including employees who were on LOA for a reason other than WDL, WSP, or WPS, or in a bargaining unit other than 21), but who became Active in Bargaining Unit 21 after the effective date of the increase, OSC will insert a row to reflect the Salary Increase, effective the date the employee became Active. The Action/Reason codes of PAY/CSL (Pay Rate Change/Cor Sal) for annual employees or PAY/CRT (Pay Rate Change/Change Rate) for hourly employees will be used.
  • For the above employees, OSC will update subsequent Job rows, regardless of the employee’s status, using the Action/ Reason of PAY/CSL for annual employees or PAY/CRT for hourly employees.
Salary Changes to Other Bargaining Units

The salaries of employees who moved to other bargaining units after receiving any of the above increases will be recalculated by OSC to determine if any change to the salary in the new bargaining unit is necessary.

These salary changes will be processed automatically by OSC in Pay Period 22, Administration paychecks dated 2/20/08 and Institution paychecks dated 2/14/08.

OSC Actions - Recalculation of Military Stipends

The above salary increases will result in an increase to Military Stipends for employees who have received paid stipends during the raise periods. The salary increases may also result in employees becoming eligible to receive a stipend if the employee’s new NYS salary now exceeds their military salary. OSC will recalculate paid Military Stipends as well as determine whether an employee now would be eligible to receive a paid Military Stipend.

For employees who will be receiving a higher biweekly Military Stipend, OSC will insert a row in the Job Data page with the Action/Reason of Pay Rate Change/Military Stipend Change (PAY/MSC) beginning the date the employee was entitled to the increased stipend and for each affected subsequent row.

For employees who now will be eligible for a biweekly Military Stipend, OSC will insert a row on the Job Data page with an Action/Reason of Paid Leave of Absence/Military Stipend (PLA/MLS) beginning the date the employee is entitled to the stipend and insert a row in the Job Data page with the Action/ Reason of Pay Rate Change/Military Stipend Change (PAY/MSC) for each affected subsequent row.

Any Military Stipends that were paid in Time Entry with Earn Codes ADJ or MSP will be adjusted by OSC using Earn Code ADJ. OSC will also enter a General Comment explaining the adjustment.

All changes to Military Stipends and adjustments will be processed in Pay Period 20, paychecks dated 1/23/08 (Administration).

Automatic Retroactive Processing

OSC will automatically calculate retroactive payments resulting from the above increases.

For eligible employees who have worked in more than one (1) agency and have been paid by all agencies using the same Employee Record Number since the effective date of the increases, all retroactive adjustments will be paid in the most current agency.

For eligible employees who have worked in more than one (1) agency and have been paid from more than one (1) Employee Record Number since the effective date of the increases, the retroactive adjustment for earnings in each Employee Record Number will be paid in the most current agency, on the appropriate pay cycle, under each Employee Record Number.

Retroactive Adjustments for Additional Pay and Time Entry Earnings

Time Entry earn codes that are calculated based on an employee’s salary such as overtime (OTA) and holiday (HPA) will be automatically adjusted.

Pre-Shift Briefing (PS1) paid in Additional Pay also will be automatically adjusted due to the above increases.

Agency Actions for Retroactive Processing

Retroactive adjustments will be calculated automatically for regular, Additional Pay and certain miscellaneous earnings based on the salary increases.

Time Entry earnings submitted with an amount will not be retroactively adjusted. Therefore, the agency must report the adjustments when the following earn codes were used to report earnings on or after 3/27/03: RGO, OTO, LTO, PLO, SOO, OTT, ADJ, APB, LSI, PS4 and ES2.

Additional Miscellaneous Information and Procedures Regarding Retroactive Processing
  • If a check was returned on an AC 230 for dates on or after 3/27/03, the agency must review the retroactive adjustment for that employee, as the system does not always consider AC 230s when processing retroactive adjustments. Therefore, the agency may need to report an adjustment of earnings.
  • If an employee received earnings on an AC 39 (Typewritten Payroll) prepared by OSC for earnings on or after 3/27/03, the agency must submit an adjustment for all earnings paid on the typewritten payroll.
  • If RGS was previously submitted using a date range that exceeded the number of days reported, the system will calculate the adjustment of earnings based on the number of workdays within the range. Therefore, the agency must report an adjustment to reduce the automatic retroactive adjustment.

Adjustments for earnings that are calculated automatically, such as overtime, will be calculated incorrectly if the dates previously reported as a single entry on the Time Entry page overlap the effective date of a salary increase. The system will calculate an adjustment for all earnings reported in the single entry based on the salary in effect on the Earnings End Date. Therefore, the agency must submit the necessary adjustment to reduce the automatic payment.

Agency Actions for Reporting Adjustments in Time Entry

Agencies must use the Earn Code AJR (Adjust Raise) on the Time Entry page to report retroactive changes due to the implementation of the salary increases:

Earnings Code: AJR
Earns Begin Date: First date of adjustment
Earns End Date: Last date of adjustment
Amount: Amount to be adjusted
Comments: Enter explanation of adjustment

Control-D Report

The following Control-D report will be available after processing of the automatic increases:

NHRP704 Mass Salary Payment Report

This report identifies all employees who received the General Salary Increase. The report identifies all salaries that were automatically increased. Other fields on the report include the EmplID, Employee Record Number, Employee Name, Grade, Bargaining Unit, Pay Basis Code, Part-time Percentage, Action Reason, Old Comp Rate, Effective Date, Effective Sequence, and Increment Code.

Deduction Information

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
410 Health Care Spending Account
420 NY Dependent Care Contribution
425 Repay State Loans/Debt
426 Higher Ed Repay State Loan
428 Dependent Care
433 Total Unemployment Ins Owed
500 Medicare Deficiency
501 Social Security Deficiency
GARNSH Garnishments
HIATRG Regular After Tax Health
HIATSP Special After Tax Health Adj
HIBTRG Regular Before Tax Health
HIBTSP Special Before Tax Health Adj

Undeliverable Checks

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. 456.

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 a 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 of the check.

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.

Questions

Questions regarding salary may be directed to the Salary Determination mailbox.

Other questions regarding this bulletin may be directed to the Payroll Audit mailbox.