Purpose

To explain the procedures for reporting retroactive rate increases, lump sum payments and adjustments for miscellaneous earnings to the agencies.

Affected Employees

CUNY employees in the title of Locksmith

Background

The rate increases are pursuant to a Consent Determination entered and filed on April 11, 2016 between the Comptroller of the City of New York and the District Council 37, AFSCME, AFL-CIO for retroactive increases for employees in the title of Locksmith. This determination covers the period January 1, 2008 through February 5, 2017.

The agreement provides for retroactive increases to the hourly rates effective 7/1/11, 7/1/12, 7/1/13, 7/1/14, 7/1/15 and 7/1/16.

The revised rate chart and additional information are contained in a memorandum from Carmelo Batista, Jr. dated May 9, 2016.

Effective Date(s)

Increases may be submitted in Pay Period 8C (Institution), paychecks dated July 21, 2016. Rate increases are effective January 1, 2008 through February 5, 2017.

Eligibility Criteria

$1,000 Ratification Bonus

A one-time $1,000 Ratification Bonus Payment shall be payable to employees in the Locksmith skilled trade title who were on active payroll as of the day of ratification, January 7, 2016. The $1,000 Ratification Bonus Payment shall not become part of the employee’s basic salary rate nor be added to the employee’s basic salary for the calculation of any salary base benefits, including the calculation of future collective bargaining increases. This Ratification Bonus Payment is pensionable.

Lump Sum Cash Payment for Active Employees

Employees who are active and have been continuously employed on the date of the payout shall be eligible to receive these lump sum cash payments.

The lump sum cash payments shall be paid on the following schedule:

Effective Date	Percentage to be used
07/01/15	12.5% (1/8 of the balance due as of this date)
07/01/17	12.5% (1/7 of the balance due as of this date)
07/01/18	25% (1/3 of the balance due as of this date)
07/01/19	25% (1/2 of the balance due as of this date)
07/01/20	25% (representing the remainder of the balance)

Lump Sum Cash Payment for Retired Employees

Employees who have retired from active service will be paid on the same schedule as active employees.

For purpose of lump sum payments, employees who were laid off and returned from a preferred list will be treated as “continuously employed.”

Effective Date	Percentage to be used
07/01/15	12.5% (1/8 of the balance due as of this date)
07/01/17	12.5% (1/7 of the balance due as of this date)
07/01/18	25% (1/3 of the balance due as of this date)
07/01/19	25% (1/2 of the balance due as of this date)
07/01/20	25% (representing the remainder of the balance)

Note: It is the intent of the Agreement that Retirees and Actives continuously employed as of the dates of payout and up to and including the final payment date of July 1, 2020, after having received all the lump sum payments, shall have received a total amount of lump sum cash equal to the amount they would have received if they had received 4% increases on January 1, 2008 and January 1, 2009, compounded.

Time Entry Code(s)

To pay the $1,000 Ratification Bonus agencies must use the Time Entry code RBP – Ratification Bonus Payment to those eligible employees who were on active payroll as of the day of ratification, January 7, 2016.

To pay the Lump Sum Cash Payment for Active and Retired employees agencies must use the Time Entry code CBP – CUNY Bonus Payment to those eligible employees who qualified for the benefit between July 1, 2015 and July 1, 2020.

Agency Actions

Reporting the Rate Increases

To ensure all Job Action requests are submitted for each employee, the agency should submit requests in effective date order from oldest date to current date. For example, if appropriate, submit the 7/1/11 Pay Change, followed by the 7/1/12 Pay Change.

To increase the hourly rate(s), the agency must submit the following requests regardless of the employee’s status:

• For all rate increases, request a Pay Change with the Action/Reason code of PAY/CRT (Pay Rate Change/Change Rate) on the Job Action Request page, using the effective date of the appropriate increase, and submit the new hourly rate.
• A separate request must be made for each of the rows that exist on the employee’s Job Data page.

Reporting Retroactive Adjustments for all Miscellaneous Earnings

The agency must calculate and report the retroactive adjustment for all miscellaneous earnings.

The Time Entry Code AJR must be used to report the combined retroactive adjustment for all earnings. The agency must provide an explanation of the adjustment in the General Comments page or on a separate worksheet. If the agency uses a worksheet, the worksheet must be received in OSC’s Audit Section by the agency deadline for Pay Period 6C

The Earnings Code AJR must be reported as follows:

Earnings Begin Date:	Enter the first date to be adjusted.
Earnings End Date:	Enter the last date to be adjusted.
Earnings Code:	Enter AJR.
Amount:	Enter the total amount of the adjustment.

Reporting the Lump Sum Payments:

The agency must enter the Lump Sum Payment for eligible employees through the Time Entry page as follows:

$1,000 Ratification Bonus Payment

Earnings Begin Date:	01/07/16 for employees in Active status
Earnings End Date:	Same as above
Earn Code:	RBP – Ratification Bonus Payment
Amount:	Applicable amount

Lump Sum Cash Payment

Earnings Begin Date:	7/01/2015 for employees in Active status; or the last day on the payroll on or after 01/01/09 for Retiree’s
Earnings End Date:	Same as above
Earn Code:	CBP ( CUNY Bonus Payment)
Amount:	Applicable amount

OSC Actions

Processing Automatic Retroactive Adjustments

Provided the agency appropriately submits the applicable increases, OSC will automatically process the retroactive adjustments for all regular hours, RGH and miscellaneous earnings of LT3 and AS5, paid to an employee regardless of the employee’s status. The agency should refer to the AJR procedure above to submit retroactive adjustments for all other miscellaneous earnings.

Deductions for Inactive Employees

All general deductions for employees whose Payroll Status is Terminated, Retired or Deceased will be automatically cancelled by OSC with the exception of the following:

Code	Description
406	Strike/Discip Fine
409	CUNY Disciplinary Fine
425	Repay State Loans/Debt
426	Higher Ed Repay State Loan
580	CUNY Medicare Deficiency Flat Rate
581	CUNY Social Security Deficiency Flat Rate
582	CUNY SS/Med Deficiency
GARNSH	Garnishments
603	TIAA Before Tax Arrears
604	TIAA After Tax Arrears

Tax Information

The salary increase and retroactive adjustments are taxable income, subject to all employment and income taxes. Income taxes will be calculated using the employee’s current Tax Marital Status and Withholding Allowances on the Update Employee Tax Data page.

The Ratification Bonus (Earnings Code “RBP”) is also taxable income subject to employment and income taxes and will be taxed using the Supplemental Optional Flat Rate Method.

Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice

All retroactive adjustments will be displayed on the Payroll Register using the appropriate earnings code and the associated amount. The description of each earnings code and the associated amount will appear on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice unless there are more than 13 earnings codes. For these employees, agencies should utilize Locked Query #49 to identify a complete list of all regular earnings and retroactive adjustments.

Undeliverable Checks

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. 908.

Checks issued to eligible employees who are now deceased should be returned with a completed Next of Kin Affidavit (Form AC 934-P), original death certificate and a Report of Check Exchange (Form AC 1476-P). If a Next of Kin Affidavit has been previously submitted for a deceased employee’s payroll check, OSC will accept a photocopy of this form along with a new Report of Check Exchange.

Questions

Questions regarding transactions may be emailed to the Payroll Earnings mailbox.

Questions regarding Deductions may be directed to the Payroll Deduction mailbox.

Questions regarding Taxes should be directed to the Tax and Compliance mailbox.