Purpose

To explain the procedures for processing summer payments for CUNY faculty who have been awarded a research grant.

Affected Employees

Full-time CUNY Instructional staff

Background

Pursuant to an agreement between the City University of New York and the CUNY Research Foundation, certain professional staff will receive payments that will be reimbursed by the CUNY Research Foundation (CUNY RF) for research work performed. The payment is processed through the Payroll System to facilitate crediting retirement service. Work may be performed in any facility, but must be paid from the college where the employee is employed on a full - time basis and must be reported using the attached Summer Research Lag Payment Schedule.

The earnings are pensionable and subject to dues.

Effective Date(s)

Refer to the CUNY RF Payment Authorization Form and the Summer Research Lag Payment Schedule (attached) for initial check date

OSC Actions

OSC has created the Earnings Code CGR (CUNY Grant Recipient) to be used for reporting these payments on the Additional Pay page. This Earnings Code will allow for earnings to be paid in a single or multiple payments.

Agency Actions

The agency must submit the CUNY RF Payment Authorization 2004 Summer Salary Awards Form prior to the submission of the payment. Any changes made after the initial award is established must be submitted to OSC on a subsequent report.

The agency must enter the Earnings Code CGR (CUNY Grant Recipient) on the Additional Pay page with the following information:

* If the submission deadline for this pay period has passed, use the first day of the next pay period to be processed.

In order to process the CGR payment, the agency must have the CUNY RF Payment Authorization Form and the Summer Research Lag Payment Schedule (Attachment).

• If the Earnings are to be paid in a single payment, the Earnings and Goal Amount must be equal.
• If the payments are to be made in multiple installments, the Goal Amount should be divided by the number of payments to be made (using the Summer Research Lag Payment Schedule) and that amount should be entered into the Earnings field. The system will pay the amount in the Earnings field until the Goal Amount is met. Each payment will be reflected in the Goal Balance and when the Goal Balance is equal to the Goal Amount, the payments will end.
• If the Earnings and/or Goal Amount change before the Goal Amount is reached, the Effective Date field of the new effective dated row should represent the first day of the pay period that corresponds with the Summer Research Lag Payment Schedule. Enter a new amount in the Earnings or Goal Amount field as required. Do not change the Goal Balance. See Example #1.
• If the Grant has been paid in full and a new Grant Payment is to be processed, enter a new effective dated row, using the Summer Research Lag Payment Schedule to determine the effective date. Enter the new Earnings and Goal Amount as required. Change the Goal Balance to 0.
• If the employee incurs an Overpayment and the employee is still Active and receiving regular wages, insert a new effective dated row in the CGR earnings and enter a minus amount in the Earnings and Goal Amount fields as needed to recover the Overpayment. The Overpayment will be recovered from the employee's regular paycheck. Change the Goal Balance to 0. See Example #2.
• If the employee is Inactive and it is determined that the employee is due a new award or an additional amount, insert a new effective dated row using the Earn Code CGR and refer to the Summer Research Lag Payment Schedule to determine the pay period effective date. Enter the required information.
• If the employee is separated from State service in the full-time record and it is determined that the employee is overpaid, enter an OVP on the full-time record to recover the Overpayment from future earnings. Exception: If the employee is Active in another record, set up an OVP in the active record.

For example: If the start date provided by the RF Payment Authorization Form is June 14, the first check will be July 22; and if the work completion date is August 14, the final check date is September 16. Since there are five paychecks between July 22 and September 16, the employee will be paid in five installments beginning with the check dated July 22. However, if the July 22 check has already been processed, the agency must determine, using the next available check date to be processed, the number of payments remaining.

Examples of Changes to Grant Payments

Changes to initial Grant Payment ( CGR):

If an employee's Grant payment is increased or reduced and there is still money to be paid, the college must insert a new effective dated row to reflect the necessary changes in the Earnings and Goal Amount.

Note: The Goal Balance field must reflect the amount already paid.

Example #1:

An employee has a $10,000 Grant which was processed to be paid over five (5) pay periods at $2,000 per pay period. After three payments have been made (Goal Balance equals $6,000), the college is notified of an additional $5,000 Grant. The agency must insert a row effective the first day of the pay period in which the new Grant becomes effective (use the Summer Research Lag Payment Schedule) and:

1. Change the Goal Amount to $15,000.
2. Confirm the Goal Balance remains $6,000.
3. Change the Earnings Amount as needed to complete the payments within the remaining pay periods. (Total Grant $15,000 - $6,000 Goal Balance = $9,000 balance to be paid over two (2) remaining pay periods ($4,500 per pay period).

Reductions to grants to Active employees and there is no Grant money left to be paid:

The college must set up a negative Grant payment to reflect the amount overpaid. This Overpayment will be deducted from the employee's full-time regular salary.

Example #2:

An employee was awarded a $10,000 Grant and has been paid $6,000. The college is subsequently notified by the RF Payment Authorization Form that the Grant has been reduced to $5,000. The college must recover the $1,000 Overpayment from the employee's full-time regular earnings as follows:

1. Insert a row effective the first day of the current pay period.
2. Insert the Earning Amount (the amount of earnings preceded by a minus sign to be recovered each pay period).
3. Insert the Goal Amount (the total amount of the Overpayment preceded by a minus sign).
4. The Goal Balance must be blank.

The system will withhold the amount stated in the Earnings field each pay period until the Goal Amount has been reached.

Note: For employees who are Inactive, an Overpayment must be established and the OVP code used.

Questions

Questions regarding this bulletin may be directed to the University Manager of Payroll Systems and Operations at CUNY Central Office.

• Attachment- Summer Research Lag Payment Schedule