Purpose

The purpose of this bulletin is to inform agencies of OSC’s automatic processing of the April 2023 UCS Salary Increases and Overtime Meal Allowance Increases and provide instructions for payments not processed automatically.

Affected Employees

Employees in the following bargaining units who meet the eligibility criteria are affected:

Background

Chapter 01 of the Laws of 2023, which implemented the various agreements between the Unified Court System of the State of New York (UCS) and the affected bargaining units (Bargaining Units DR, F8, G9, SA, SD, SG, SK, SN, SR, SY, S9, 87, 86, 88, and CT), provides for a salary increase of three percent (3.00%) effective April 1, 2023, for all eligible members.

The agreements also include the April 1, 2023 Salary Schedules.

The agreements also provide for an increase in the Overtime Meal Allowance to $9.00 effective April 1, 2023.

Effective Dates

The April 2023 Salary Increases will be paid using the following effective date and check date:

Eligibility Criteria

The following employees are eligible to receive the April 2023 Salary Increase:

• Represented and Unrepresented employees with a Comp Rate Code of ANN who are in a graded position (Grade 508-536).
• Employees with a Comp Rate Code of ANN who are in an NS position (Grade 560).
• Employees in Bargaining Unit 87 with a Comp Rate Code of HRY (Grade 560).

Note: The salaries of employees in Department 05680 (New York City’s County Clerk Current Payroll) are determined pursuant to Chapter 491 of the Laws of 2009 and are not eligible for this increase.

Control-D Reports Available Before Processing

The following Control-D report will be made available for agency use on 03/30/2023 (Administration). This will give agencies time to correct employees’ records, if necessary, prior to the automatic processing of the April 2023 Salary Increase. The report is sorted by Department ID, then alphabetically by employee name.

NHRP709 – Mass Salary Increase Exception Report

This report is a preliminary listing of employees who appear ineligible to receive the April 2023 Salary Increase based on information available as of the date the report is produced. Included on the report is one or more of the following messages which identifies the reason(s) the employee’s record will not be updated.

• Position and Job do not match – if the Position Number equals the NYS Position Number on the employee’s Job Data page but the Bargaining Unit, Salary Administration Plan or Grade on the Job Data page and Position Data page are not equal.
• Sal Below Hiring Rate – if the employee’s Comp Rate Code is ANN and Grade is equal to 508-536 but the salary is less than the Hiring Rate for the employee’s grade on the 04/01/2022 Salary Schedule.

If an employee appears on this report but is due a salary increase, the agency must submit the appropriate transaction(s) on the Job Action Requests page to correct the information on the Job Data row(s) or update the information on the Position Data page. If the information is corrected prior to or as part of processing for Administration Pay Period 1L, the automatic salary increase will be processed.

Agency Actions

The following procedures must be used by the agency when submitting transactions in Administration Pay Period 1L:

For pay changes, position changes and transfers requested on the Job Action Requests or Transfer Requests page with an effective date before 03/30/2023 (Administration):

• The agency must not include the Service Increment or the April 2023 Salary Increase, if applicable, in the salary reported in the Pay Rate field. The 04/01/2022 Salary Schedule must be used to calculate the salary.
• The agency must report the proper increment code for April 2022 in the Incr. Code field.

For pay changes, position changes and transfers requested on the Job Action Requests page with an effective date on or after 03/30/2023 (Administration):

• No automatic processing will be done by OSC provided the agency reports Increment Code 5555 in the Incr. Code field. The agency must include the April 2023 Salary Increase, if applicable, in the salary reported in the Pay Rate field.
• If the agency does not report Increment Code 5555 in the Incr. Code field, OSC will automatically apply the April 2023 Salary Increase if the employee meets the eligibility criteria.

Hourly Employees

• Agencies must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Request page using the appropriate Reason code (below) to pay the April 2023 UCS Salary increase to eligible employees in Bargaining Unit 87 with a grade equal to 560 and a Comp Rate Code of HRY.
  • Reason code SAC (Mass Salary Increase) – for transactions with an Effective Date equal to 03/30/2023.
  • Reason code CRT (Chg Rate) – for transactions with an Effective Date after 03/30/2023 where the Comp Rate Code is HRY.
  • The new rate is determined by applying 3.00% rounded up to the next cent.

OSC Actions

General Salary Increase

OSC will process the April 2023 Salary Increase for eligible employees as follows:

• If the employee meets the eligibility criteria and has a Payroll Status of Active, Leave With Pay or Leave of Absence due to a Workers’ Compensation Leave (Action/Reason code of Leave of Absence/WDL) and has an Comp Rate Code of ANN on the payment effective date, OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/30/2023 using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/SAC (Mass Salary Increase).
• If the employee meets the eligibility criteria but has a Payroll Status of Terminated, Retired or Leave of Absence (not related to a Workers’ Compensation Leave) on the payment effective date and returns to Active status in an eligible position in Administration Pay Period 1 but after the payment effective date, OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CSL (Cor Sal) if the Comp Rate Code is ANN. The row will be inserted using the same effective date of the Rehire or Return from Leave action.
• If the employee is newly hired or transfers into an eligible position in Administration Pay Period 1 but after the payment effective date, OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CSL (Cor Sal) if the Comp Rate Code is ANN. The row will be inserted using the effective date of the Hire, Position Change or Transfer action.
• OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CSL (Cor Sal) if the Comp Rate Code is ANN for all subsequent rows provided the employee remains in an eligible position.

Calculating the New Compensation Rate

The April 2023 Salary Increase on each inserted row with an Effective Date equal to or greater than 03/30/2023 will be calculated as follows:

All Bargaining Units – 3.00%

• If the employee has a Comp Rate Code of ANN and a Grade equal to 560, OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 3.00% rounded up to the next dollar.
• If the employee has a Comp Rate Code of ANN and a Grade equal to 508-536 and the salary is equal to a salary step of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/2022 Salary Schedule, OSC will automatically increase the salary to the same salary step on the 04/01/2023 Salary Schedule.
• If the employee has a Comp Rate Code of ANN and a Grade equal to 508-536 and the salary is not equal to a salary step of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/2022 Salary Schedule, OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 3.00% rounded up to the next dollar.

Overtime Meal Allowance Increase

OSC will increase the Unit/Override Amount for Earnings Code OMC from $6.00 to $9.00 effective 03/30/2023 and update the Earnings Description to “OT Meals $9.00-UCS”. Agencies must separate Overtime Meal Allowances by pay period so the earnings will not overlap the effective date of the Overtime Meal Allowance Increase.

Control-D Reports Available After Processing

The following Control-D reports will be available for agency review after the automatic increases have been processed. All reports are sorted by Department ID, then by employee name in alphabetical order.

NHRP704 – Mass Salary Increase Report

This report identifies all employees who received the automatic April 2023 Salary Increase. The report identifies all employee’s salaries that were increased in an eligible bargaining unit.

NHRP709 – Mass Salary Increase Exception Report

This report identifies all employees who did not receive the automatic April 2023 Salary Increase. Included on the report is one or more of the following messages which identifies the reason(s) the employee’s salary was not updated:

• Position and Job do not match – if the Position Number equals the NYS Position Number on the employee’s Job Data page but the Bargaining Unit, Salary Administration Plan or Grade on the Job Data page and Position Data page are not equal.
• Sal Below Hiring Rate – if the employee’s Comp Rate Code is ANN and Grade is equal to 508-536 but the salary is less than the Hiring Rate for the employee’s grade on the 04/01/2022 Salary Schedule.

Questions

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