Purpose:

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide agency instructions for processing the 2023 SUNY M/C three percent (3.00%) Salary Increase and the 2023 Discretionary Salary Increase.

Affected Employees:

Employees designated Management or Confidential in SUNY (Bargaining Unit 13) who meet the eligibility criteria and are selected by the campus president are affected.

Background:

Chapter 190 of the Laws of 2023 provides for a salary increase of three percent (3.00%) for all eligible SUNY M/C employees who are included in BU13. Payment of the increases are at the discretion of the campus president and are effective 04/01/2023.

In addition, Chapter 190 of the Laws of 2023 provides for a salary increase comprised of one percent (1.00%) for all eligible SUNY M/C employees who are included in BU13. Payment of the increases are at the discretion of the campus president and are effective 07/01/2023.

These payments are authorized in the 09/12/2023 Memorandum from the SUNY Board of Trustees. SUNY System Administration will provide campuses with details regarding the calculation and funding of these payments.

Effective Dates:

The April 2023 and July 2023 SUNY M/C Salary Increases should be processed in Administration Pay Period 19L for the paycheck dated 01/03/2024 using the following effective dates:

2023 Salary Increase Eligibility Criteria:

Employees selected by the campus president who meet the following criteria are eligible for the April 2023 Salary Increase:

2023 Discretionary Salary Increase Eligibility Criteria:

Employees selected by the campus president who meet the following criteria are eligible for the July 2023 Discretionary Salary Increase:

Agency Actions:

Prior to processing the payments, agencies are required to complete a roster identifying eligible employees who will receive an April 2023 Salary Increase and/or a July 2023 Discretionary Salary Increase. The roster must include the increased salary, the amount of the increase, must be signed by the campus president, and forwarded to SUNY System Administration by 10:00 AM on 12/11/2023. In addition, a copy of this roster must be provided to OSC in Excel format.

To pay the April 2023 Salary Increase and/or the July 2023 Discretionary Salary Increase, agencies must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason Code SIC (Sal Incr) with the appropriate effective date as indicated above. The Pay Rate field should be populated based on the information on the approved roster.

Subsequent Rows

If the employee remains eligible and has rows on the Job Data page subsequent to the row inserted above, the agency must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page as follows:

• Reason Code CSL (Correct Salary) – if the employee’s Comp Rate Code is ANN or CYF
• Reason Code CRT (Change Rate) – if the employee’s Comp Rate Code is HRY or BIW

Processing Employees with a Comp Rate Code of FEE

For eligible employees with a Comp Rate Code of FEE who will receive the April 2023 Salary Increase and/or the July 2023 Discretionary Salary Increase, no pay change is required on the Job Action Requests page. However, the agency must calculate the monies the employee would have received had the increase(s) been processed timely beginning with the appropriate effective date. The agency must calculate the difference between this amount and the amount originally paid to determine the retroactive monies owed to the employee. The agency must then enter the amount owed in Time Entry using Earnings Code AJR (Adjust Raise) with the effective dates of the original FEE payments and enter a General Comment explaining the calculation used to determine these amounts.

OSC Automatic Retroactive Processing:

OSC will automatically calculate retroactive adjustments for regular earnings and Time Entry earnings that are calculated by the system based on annual salary such as OT for Annuals (Earnings Code OTA) and OT – Hourly/Biweekly (Earnings Code OTK), resulting from payment of the April 2023 Salary Increase and the July 2023 Discretionary Salary Increase.

If an employee is eligible for a retroactive increase and has been paid by multiple agencies in the same Employee Record Number since the effective date of the increase, all retroactive adjustments will be paid in the most current agency within that record number. If an employee has been paid in multiple record numbers, each record number will be evaluated separately, and retroactive payments will be processed in the record number in which the increase occurred.

Agency Actions – Retroactive Processing:

Reporting Retroactive Adjustments

Time Entry earnings codes that are submitted with an amount will not be adjusted automatically. Therefore, beginning in Administration Pay Period 20L, the agency must report the adjustment amount for earnings codes such as OT Override (Earnings Code OTO) and Regular Pay Override (Earnings Code RGO).

Correcting an Automatic Retroactive Adjustment

When certain conditions exist in an employee’s record, the automatic retroactive adjustment may be incorrect. Therefore, the agency is responsible for identifying employees who meet the following conditions and, if necessary, submitting the necessary adjustment.

• If an employee has a check returned or exchanged on an AC-230 for dates on or after the effective date of the payment, the payroll system does not consider the AC-230 when calculating the automatic retroactive adjustment.
• If earnings were previously reported using Earnings Code RGS (Regular Pay Salary Employee) and 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.
• Adjustment for earnings that are calculated automatically such as OT for Annuals (Earnings Code OTA) will be calculated incorrectly if the dates previously reported as a single entry on the Time Entry page overlap the effective date of the payment. The system will calculate an adjustment for all earnings reported in a single entry based on the salary in effect on the Earnings End Date.
• For employees who had a change reported on the Job Date page since the effective date of the payment and the action resulted in an overpayment of earnings, the automatic negative retroactive adjustment may not have been processed because the overpayment was either not recoverable or was recovered using an overpayment earnings code or an AC-230. In this case, the negative retroactive adjustment may be re-generated when the payment is processed. OSC will turn off (not process) the automatic negative adjustment for these employees since in most cases these overpayments were either not recoverable or recovered using another method.

Submitting an Adjustment

When an adjustment is needed for COVID-19 related overtime such as Covid-19 OT Override (Earnings Code CVO), Earnings Code ARC (Adjust Retro Raise for C19 OT) must be used to process the adjustment. When an adjustment is needed for non-COVID-19 related overtime or recall such as OT Override (Earnings Code OTO), Earnings Code ARO (Adj Retro Raise for OT and RCL) must be used to process the adjustment. Please refer to Payroll Bulletin No. 1893 – Reporting Adjustments to Overtime for more information. Agencies must continue to use Earnings Code AJR (Adjust Raise) for all other override Time Entry Earnings Codes requiring a manual adjustment as a result of a retro salary increase.

To process a retroactive adjustment or correct an automatic retroactive adjustment, agencies must submit the following information on the Time Entry page or the Time Entry Interface (NPAY502) using Earnings Code AJR, ARC, or ARO:

Military Leave Stipend:

OSC will recalculate the military stipend amount for employees who were placed on a Paid or Unpaid Military Stipend Leave on or after the effective date of the payment as the result of new military orders.

• If the employee received a stipend, OSC will insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective the date the employee is entitled to the increase using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/MSC (Military Stipend Change) and will increase the employee’s biweekly stipend amount. In addition, updates will be made to all subsequent rows requiring an increased biweekly stipend amount.
• If the employee did not receive a stipend but becomes eligible for a stipend as a result of the payment, OSC will insert the following in PayServ.
  • A row on the employee’s Job Data page effective the date the employee is entitled to a stipend using the Action/Reason code of Paid Leave of Absence/MLS (Mil Stip) and the new biweekly stipend amount.
  • A row on the employee’s Job Data page for each affected subsequent row using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/MSC (Military Stipend Change) and the new biweekly stipend amount.
  • A row on the Time Entry page using Earnings Code MSP (Military Stipend Payment) to pay the stipend for each pay period the employee is eligible.
• Any additional adjustment that is required due to the increased biweekly stipend amount that will not be calculated automatically will be reported by OSC on the Time Entry page using Earnings Code AMS (Adjust Military Stipend).

General Deductions:

All general deductions for employees whose Payroll Status is Terminated, Retired or Deceased will be automatically canceled by OSC with the exception of percentage-based dues and the following:

Tax Information:

These monies are taxable income subject to all employment taxes and income taxes, will be included in the employee’s taxable gross, and will be reported on the employee’s Form W-2.

The adjustments (Earnings Codes AJR, ARC, and ARO) and retroactive payments (Earnings Code RXX) are supplemental taxable income and will be included in the employee’s taxable gross subject to all employment and income taxes.

Federal, State, and New York City income tax withholding will be calculated using the Aggregate method. Yonkers income tax withholding will be calculated using the Flat Rate method (1.95975% for Yonkers residents and 0.50% for Yonkers non-residents).

Special Wage Payments for Individuals Who Filed for Retirement Social Security Benefits:

Per Internal Revenue Service Publication 957, OSC will be reporting retroactive payments made to individuals who have filed for Social Security benefits to the Social Security Administration (SSA).

As PayServ does not include this information, OSC will be mailing a Request for Special Wage Payment Report to inactive individuals who are 62 or older in the calendar year and to active employees with the New York Retiree Indicator checked in Modify a Person who receive the retroactive payment. Recipients of this mailing will be asked to fill out the request and return it to OSC for inclusion on the Special Wage Payment report to SSA. This report will be submitted to SSA after the close of the 2023 tax year.

It is important that agencies ensure the New York Retiree Indicator box is checked for rehired retirees. Please see Payroll Bulletin No. 1728 – New York Retiree Indicator for further details on the New York Retiree Indicator box.

Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice:

All retroactive adjustments will be displayed on the Payroll Register using the appropriate Earnings Code and the amount paid and will be displayed on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice using the appropriate Earnings Description and the amount paid unless the number of earnings codes exceeds 13. Agencies should utilize Locked Query LQ_PCD_PAYCHECK_EARNINGS_BY_ID to identify a complete list of regular earnings and retroactive adjustments if there are more than 13 earnings codes.

Undeliverable Checks:

When a valid payroll check is undeliverable due to the agency’s inability to locate the employee, the agency should follow the Agency Actions identified in Payroll Bulletin No. 1786 – Non-Negotiated and/or Undeliverable New York State Payroll Checks.

Checks issued to eligible employees who are now deceased should be submitted as a stop payment request with a reason of Exchange in PayServ. The Report of Check Exchange (AC 1476-P), Next of Kin Affidavit (AC 934-P) and original death certificate should be submitted to the Payroll Reversal and Exchange mailbox at the same time as the stop payment request. 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 eligibility for the salary increases may be directed to the SUNY System Administration.

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

Questions regarding military information may be directed to the Military Stipend mailbox.

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