Purpose

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide agency instructions for processing the CUNY Retroactive Rate Increase for Carpenters and Supervisor Carpenters.

Affected Employees

CUNY employees in the titles of Carpenter and Supervisor Carpenter are affected.

Background

A Memorandum of Agreement has been filed on February 1, 2018 between the Comptroller of the City of New York and the NYC District Council of Carpenters (UBCJA), providing rate increases for employees in the titles of Carpenter and Supervisor Carpenter.  The agreement provides for an increase of hourly rates effective August 1, 2020.

The revised Rate Chart and additional information are contained in the memorandum from Carmelo Batista, Jr., dated February 25, 2019.

Effective Dates

The increases may be submitted in Pay Period 17C (Institution), pay checks dated November 19, 2020.

Eligibility Criteria

General Wage Increase

CUNY employees represented by the NYC District Council of Carpenters, UBCJA who are in the eligible title of Carpenter or Supervisor Carpenter on or after the effective date of the wage increase, August 1, 2020, are eligible for a retroactive rate increase.

OSC Actions

OSC will review the manually entered Job Action Requests and approve salary increases based on the approved salary chart.

Agency Action

Reporting the Rate Increases

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 Rate Chg/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, using the next available sequence number. 

Reporting Retroactive Adjustments for All Miscellaneous Earnings

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

The Time Entry Earnings Code AJR must be used to report the combined retroactive adjustment for all miscellaneous 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 it must be received in OSC’s Earnings Section by the agency deadline for Pay Period 17C.

The Earnings Code AJR must be reported as follows:

General Deductions

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:

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 LQ_PCD_PAYCHECK_EARNINGS_BY_ID to identify a complete list of all regular earnings and retroactive adjustments.

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 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.

Tax Information

The adjustments (AJR and Retro (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 (1.61135% for Yonkers residents and 0.50% for Yonkers non-residents).

Questions

Questions regarding eligibility for CUNY Skilled Trades Carpenter and Supervisor Carpenter pay rate increase may be directed to the University Manager of Payroll Systems and Operations at CUNY Central Office.

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

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

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