Purpose

To inform the Division of Housing and Community Renewal of new earnings codes and procedures for processing the third phase of the RRSU Deficit Reduction Plan.

Affected Employees

Employees in the Rent Regulation Services Unit (RRSU) – BU67 in the Division of Housing and Community Renewal who meet the eligibility criteria.

Excludes hourly employees with an hourly rate less than $8.93 between 03/12/15 and 12/30/15 and an hourly rate less than $9.19 between 12/31/15 and 02/24/16.

Background

Pursuant to Section 7 of Part A of Chapter 491 of the Laws of 2011 and the Division of the Budget Bulletin B-1213 issued July 7, 2014, a plan has been established to temporarily reduce the compensation of any employee within the purview of the Agreement between the State of New York and DC-37.

Effective Date(s)

The third phase of the RRSU Deficit Reduction Plan will commence Administration Pay Period 26L (2015) and will continue through Administration Pay Period 24L (2016).

The reductions made during this period shall be repaid to the employee. Repayment information will be provided in a subsequent payroll bulletin.

New Earnings Codes

OSC has created new earnings codes to process the third phase of the RRSU Deficit Reduction Plan.

Agency Actions – Manual Set Up of the Additional Pay Record

Currently Eligible Employees

In Administration Pay Period 26L, the agency must create the Additional Pay record for those employees who are in Bargaining Unit 67 with a Payroll Status of Active, Leave With Pay or Leave of Absence on 03/25/15 (Administration Pay Period 26L End date).

The Additional Pay record should be set up as follows:

Newly Eligible Employees

The agency is also responsible for creating the Additional Pay record for employees who are hired, rehired, concurrently hired or transferred into Bargaining Unit 67 with a Payroll Status of Active or Leave With Pay beginning in Administration Pay Period 1L (2015) through Administration Pay Period 24L (2016). The agency must also create or restart the Additional Pay record if an employee returns from a Leave of Absence to Bargaining Unit 67 with a Payroll Status of Active or Leave With Pay during the third phase of the RRSU Deficit Reduction Plan.

The Additional Pay record should be set up as follows:

Exception

The Additional Pay record should only be created for employees in a composite position (identified by the Increment Code 2222) if all positions making up the composite position are in Bargaining Unit 67. Otherwise, the agency should submit the deficit reduction amount each pay period using the appropriate RRSU Deficit Reduction Time Entry Earnings Code (see Processing Adjustments in Time Entry section).

Calculating the Deficit Reduction Amount (Additional Pay)

Each pay period, the system will calculate the deficit reduction amount for employees with a D4R record that was active any time during the pay period being processed regardless of whether the employee was in Bargaining Unit 67. The system will total all monies for the following earnings codes where the earnings end date falls within the pay period dates being processed and multiply the result by -.02063.

As with other Additional Pay Earnings Codes, it may be necessary to submit an adjustment in order to calculate the correct deficit reduction amount.

Employees No Longer Subject to the RRSU Deficit Reduction Plan

If an employee transfers into a position where the bargaining unit is not 67, the agency must insert a row on the Additional Pay page for Earnings Code D4R and insert an End Date equal to the last date the employee is in Bargaining Unit 67.

If the End Date must equal the original Effective Date or if the subsequent row(s) exists for the existing Additional Pay Earnings Code, the agency must submit a Data Chg on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code COR (Cor History) and request that OSC enter the End Date on the existing row or insert a new row.

If the End Date is retroactive and is other than the last day of a pay period, the employee is likely due a refund of a portion of the monies withheld in that pay period and all subsequent pay periods. Retroactive processing , however, will not pay back monies taken for the pay period in which the End Date falls; therefore, the agency must submit a positive adjustment (see Processing Adjustments in Time Entry section). Retroactive processing will refund any monies taken in a subsequent pay period using the same earnings code.

Processing Adjustments in Time Entry

If an employee is in both a position with Bargaining Unit 67 and a position with a different bargaining unit during a pay period and has a D4R record active any time during the same pay period, the system will calculate the deficit reduction amount on all eligible earnings (see Calculating the Deficit Reduction Amount section) where the earnings end date falls within the pay period dates being processed. It is the agency’s responsibility to determine those monies that should not have been included in the calculation of the deficit reduction amount, calculate the adjustment amount and submit a positive adjustment using Earnings Code D5R.

In addition, the system will not include any monies paid using one of the eligible earnings codes listed above for earnings in Bargaining Unit 67 where the earnings end date is prior to the pay period begin date for the pay period being processed. It is the agency’s responsibility to determine those monies that should have been included in the calculation of the deficit reduction amount, calculate the adjustment and submit a negative adjustment using Earnings Code D5R.

As mentioned above, an Additional Pay record using Earnings Code D4R should not be created for an employee in a composite position (identified by Increment Code 2222) if the bargaining unit of each position making up the composite position is not 67. Therefore, it is the agency’s responsibility to total the portion of monies paid each pay period using any of the eligible earnings codes (see Calculating the Deficit Reduction Amount section) that are earned during the deficit reduction period in Bargaining Unit 67, calculate the deficit reduction amount and submit a transaction using Earnings Code D5R.

A Time Entry transaction should be submitted as follows:

Processing Retroactive Changes in Time Entry

The system will not calculate a retroactive deficit reduction adjustment when a retroactive increase or decrease is processed for any of the eligible earnings codes (see Calculating the Deficit Reduction Amount section). Therefore, it is the agency’s responsibility to calculate the retroactive deficit reduction adjustment associated with the retroactive increase or decrease in earnings using any of the eligible earnings codes listed above and submit a positive or negative adjustment using Earnings Code D5R.

A retroactive deficit reduction adjustment must not be submitted for any retroactive increase resulting from the two percent (2.00%) salary increase provided for in the 2011-2016 Agreement between the State of New York and DC-37.

A Time Entry transaction should be submitted as follows:

Processing Deficit Reduction in Time Entry

Monies earned during the third phase of the RRSU Deficit Reduction Plan Period while in Bargaining Unit 67 using any of the earnings codes listed below are also subject to the deficit reduction but will not be calculated automatically.

Therefore, it is the agency’s responsibility to total monies paid each pay period for any of these earnings codes that are earned during the deficit reduction period while in Bargaining Unit 67, calculate the deficit reduction amount and submit a Time Entry transaction as follows:

If the agency subsequently reduces the monies earned for any of the earnings codes listed above during the deficit reduction period, a corresponding Deficit Reduction Time Entry transaction must also be submitted to reduce the deficit reduction amount. The amount would be calculated by multiplying the adjustment to the earnings amount by +.02063.

Note: Monies earned using Earnings Code BAS, BJS, BPA, BPO, BPS, FAS, FJS, FPA, FPO, FPS or S3G and monies earned using one of the adjustment codes should be handled on a case by case basis depending on whether the monies were earned during the deficit reduction period.

Earnings Not Subject to the Deficit Reduction

Monies earned during the deficit reduction period while in Bargaining Unit 67 in any of the following categories are not subject to the deficit reduction.

Bonus Pay
DRP Repayments
Fringe Benefits
Health Insurance Buy Out
Holiday Pay
Longevity Payments
Lost Time
Lump sum Payments for Accruals
Over 40 Cash Out
Overtime Pay
Overtime Meals
Retention Payment
Salary Withholding Payouts
Statutory Workers’ Compensation Benefits
Unpaid Leave

Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice

Where appropriate, the following earnings codes and the associated amounts will be displayed on the payroll register. The earnings code description and amount will be displayed on the employee’s paycheck stub and/or direct deposit advice.

Questions

Questions regarding the third phase of the RRSU Deficit Reduction Plan should be directed to the applicable budget examiner at the Division of the Budget.

Questions regarding the payroll processing of the third phase of the RRSU Deficit Reduction Plan should be directed to the Payroll Earnings mailbox.

Questions regarding the impact on taxes or deductions as it relates to the third phase of the RRSU Deficit Reduction Plan should be directed to the Payroll Deduction mailbox.