State Agencies Bulletin No. 861

Subject
2008 Year-End Adjustment for Members of the NYS Legislature
Date Issued
November 20, 2008

Purpose

To inform the Senate and Assembly payroll offices of OSC’s automatic processing and to provide instructions for reporting transactions in Pay Period 19C.

Affected Employees

Members of the NYS Legislature who are paid using the LEG Pay Basis Code on the following payrolls:

  • 04210 NYS Senate Members
  • 04220 NYS Assembly Members
  • 04320 NYS Assembly Special Allowance

Background

Pursuant to Section 5 of the Legislative Law, the total regular earnings received by Senate and Assembly Members each calendar year must equal the amount of their statutory salary, provided the Member serves the entire year.  The total regular earnings received by Members who serve only part of the year must equal the appropriate prorated statutory salary, based on the number of calendar days actually served in the calendar year.

In addition, if a Member on the Assembly Special Allowance payroll has an allowance change during the year, the total earnings received for the year must equal a composite salary that is based on the number of calendar days served at each statutory salary rate.

To ensure that Members are paid their statutory salary, prorated or composite salary, whichever is applicable, an adjustment of regular earnings is required to be paid in the final paycheck of the calendar year.

Effective Date(s)

Pay Period 19C, paychecks dated 12/24/08

Eligibility Criteria

04210 and 04220

Members who serve the entire calendar year are eligible for a year-end adjustment in the final paycheck of the year, since the Member’s annual salary of $79,500 is not evenly divisible by 26 (pay periods).  Members who serve only part of the year but are Active on December 31, 2008 are also eligible for a year-end adjustment in the final paycheck of the year, unless the total amount of regular earnings paid in the calendar year equals the Member's prorated statutory salary.

04320

Members on the Assembly Special Allowance payroll who serve all or part of the year and are Active on December 31, 2008 are eligible for a year-end adjustment, unless the total amount of regular earnings paid within the calendar year provides the Member with their statutory salary or the appropriate prorated or composite salary, whichever is applicable.

OSC Actions

OSC will automatically calculate the year-end adjustment, provided the following conditions are met and the Member does not meet the exceptional conditions described in the "Exceptional Criteria and Agency Actions in Pay Period 19C" section.  The total amount of regular earnings due in the final paycheck of the calendar year will be processed by OSC using the Earn Code RGS.

  • For Members who served the entire calendar year and did not have a status change or change in salary, the total regular earnings (RGS) to be paid in the final paycheck of the year will be calculated by determining the difference between the total amount of regular earnings received for earnings dates December 27, 2007 through December 10, 2008 and the statutory salary as reported on the Compensation page.
  • For Members on the Assembly Special Allowance payroll who served the entire calendar year and did not have a status change but had a change in their allowance, the composite salary will be calculated as follows:  The total regular earnings (RGS) to be paid in the final check of the year will be calculated by determining the difference between the composite salary and the amount of regular earnings received for earnings dates December 27, 2007 through December 10, 2008.
  • For Members who were appointed after January 1, 2008 (Action of New Hire or Concurrent Hire) and are still Active on December 31, 2008 and did not have a subsequent status change, the prorated salary will be calculated as follows:  The total regular earnings (RGS) to be paid in the final paycheck of the year will be calculated by determining the difference between the prorated salary calculation and the amount of regular earnings paid from the date of hire through December 10, 2008.

OSC Exception Listings and Control-D Reports

OSC will produce exception listings and Control-D reports as follows:

  • Listings will be produced on December 5, 2008 (after the paychecks for December 10, 2008 are confirmed) to identify Members who will not receive an automatic year-end adjustment based on the exceptional criteria stated below.  These listings will be emailed to the Senate and Assembly payroll offices.
  • Control-D Report NPAY 586 (Pay Basis Code LEG YearEnd Adjust) will be produced on December 5, 2008 to identify Members tentatively scheduled to receive the automatic adjustment.  The amount identified in the RGS Balance Due column is the amount of RGS that will be paid in the final paycheck of the year.
  • Control-D Report NPAY 586 (Pay Basis Code LEG YearEnd Adjust), identifying the Members who received an automatic adjustment, will be produced on December 17, 2008, after the automatic payment is processed.

Prorated or Composite Salary Calculation

The prorated or composite salary calculation for Members who were hired and/or had a salary change after January 1, 2008 is determined as follows:

  1. Determine the number of calendar days actually served in calendar year 2008. Note: For Assembly Special Allowance employees who had more than one salary rate, determine the number of calendar days served during the year at each salary rate.
  2. Divide the number of calendar days served at each salary rate (Step #1) by 366 and round to seven (7) decimal places.
  3. Multiply the result (Step #2) by the applicable statutory salary rate and round to two (2) decimal places.
  4. For Assembly Special Allowance employees, who had more than one salary rate, add the results for each salary rate.

Exceptional Criteria and Agency Actions in Pay Period 19C

Members who meet one (1) or more of the following exceptional criteria will not have their adjustment calculated automatically by OSC.

Note: For these employees, the payroll system will calculate regular RGS earnings for the final paycheck of the year.

  • Members who have OVP balances for 2008.
  • Members who are terminated, retired, deceased or placed on a Leave of Absence in Pay Period 19C.
  • Non-members of the Legislature who were transferred into a Member position on December 27, 2008 or later.
  • Members who were Rehired or Returned from Leave and the effective date was after December 27, 2007.

For Members who meet the exceptional criteria defined above, if applicable, the agency must calculate and report the year-end adjustment as follows:

  1. Determine the amount of salary entitlement for calendar year 2008 using the calculation above.
  2. Determine the amount of regular earnings paid in calendar year 2008 for earnings earned in 2008, including the amount of regular earnings (RGS) that will be calculated by the payroll system for the final paycheck of the year.
  3. Subtract the amount paid as determined in Step #2 from the amount of salary entitlement as determined in Step #1.
  4. Enter the resulting adjustment as determined in Step #3 above into the Time Entry page using the Earn Code ADJ (Adjustment), as stated below:
Earnings Begin Date: Enter 12/11/08
Earnings End Date: Enter 12/24/08
Earn Code: Enter ADJ
Amount: Enter the adjustment amount
Comments: Enter “Refer to General Comments”

An explanation of the ADJ calculation must be provided in General Comments.

Members Removed from the Payroll in Period 19C

If a Member does not serve through December 31, 2008 and the removal transaction is reported in Pay Period 19C, the agency must report the Earn Code RGO with the appropriate amount of earnings the Member is eligible to receive in the final paycheck of the year.  When this earn code is used, the Earn Code RGS will not be processed.

Agencies must not submit a transaction to remove an employee with a Pay Basis Code of LEG whose term will be ending on 12/31/08 until the paycheck of 12/24/08 has been confirmed on 12/17/08.

The year-end automatic adjustment program will not calculate the year-end adjustment for any employee who has a transaction submitted in Pay Period 19C that removes the employee from the payroll prior to 12/31/08.  Removal transactions should be submitted in Pay Period 20C.  Since employees with a Pay Basis Code of LEG will have received their statutory salary in the 12/24/08 check, the removal effective date must be 12/25/08.

Payroll Register and Employee's Paycheck/Advice

The Earn Code RGS will be displayed on the payroll register and the earnings code description “Regular Pay Salary Employee” and amount will appear on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice.

If the Earn Code ADJ is reported, the Earn Code ADJ will be displayed on the payroll register and the earnings code description “Adjustment” and amount will appear on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice.

If the Earn Code RGO is reported, this earn code will replace Earn Code RGS and the Earn Code RGO will be displayed on the payroll register and the earnings code description “Regular Pay Override” and amount will appear on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice.

Reporting Actions for Pay Period 20C

Agencies must not report any actions for Pay Period 20C until after the 12/24/08 paychecks have been processed.

Questions

Questions about this Bulletin may be directed to your Payroll Auditor.