Purpose:
The purpose of this bulletin is to provide agency instructions for processing the CUNY rate increases for Plumbers, Supervisor Plumbers, Plumber’s Helper Thermostat Repairers and Supervisor Thermostat Repairers.
Affected Employees:
CUNY employees in the titles of Plumber, Supervisor Plumber, Plumber’s Helper, Thermostat Repairer and Supervisor Thermostat Repairer are affected.
Background:
A Consent Determination was entered and filed on September 23, 2022, between the Comptroller of the City of New York and the Plumbers Local Union No. 1, U.A. for retroactive increases for employees in the titles of Plumber, Supervisor Plumber, Plumber’s Helper, Thermostat Repairer and Supervisor Thermostat Repairer. This determination provides for a retroactive increase to the hourly rates effective 01/01/2019, 01/01/2020, and 02/01/2021.
The agreement, as summarized in a memorandum from Carmelo Batista Jr. dated October 11, 2022, provides for retroactive increases to the hourly rates effective 01/01/2019, 01/01/2020, and 02/01/2021 as contained in the attached Salary Rate Chart.
Effective Dates:
The retroactive rate increases for the titles of Plumber, Supervisor Plumber, Plumber’s Helper, Thermostat Repairer or Supervisor Thermostat Repairer are effective 01/01/2019, 01/01/2020, and 02/01/2021. Transactions to process these retroactive rate increases may be entered in Institution Pay Period 18C, paychecks dated 12/15/2022.
Eligibility Criteria:
CUNY employees in the titles of Plumber, Supervisor Plumber, Plumber’s Helper, Thermostat Repairer or Supervisor Thermostat Repairer are eligible for the payment on the effective dates. Further eligibility criteria is available in the memorandum from Carmelo Batista Jr. dated October 11, 2022.
Agency Actions:
Reporting the Rate Increases
To increase the hourly rate(s) for eligible employees, the agency must submit the following job requests, regardless of the employee’s status:
- For all rate increases, request a Pay Change with the Action/Reason code of PAY/CRT (Pay Rate Change/Change Rate) on the Job Action Requests page, using the effective date of the applicable rate increase, and submit the new hourly rate.
- A separate request must be made for each subsequent row that exists on the employee’s Job Data page.
Retroactive Processing
Increases to miscellaneous earnings, such as Earnings Codes PT1 and SP1, must be manually calculated and reported by the agency using Earnings Code AJR in Time Entry.
The Time Entry Earnings Code AJR must be used to report the combined retroactive adjustment for all miscellaneous earnings, excluding overtime. When an adjustment to COVID-19 overtime such as Earnings Code CVO (Covid-19 OT Override) is needed, Earnings Code ARC must be used. When an adjustment to non-COVID-19 related overtime such as Earnings Code SL1 (OT Skilled Labor – 1.5), Earnings Code PT6 (Taping-Painter OT) and Earnings Code SP6 (Taping-Super Painter OT) is needed, Earnings Code ARO must be used. Please refer to Payroll Bulletin No. 1893 for more information. Agencies must continue to use Earnings Code AJR for all other override Time Entry Earnings Codes requiring a manual adjustment as a result of a retroactive salary increase.
Agencies must provide an explanation of the adjustment in the General Comments or Time Entry page in Payserv.
The Earnings Codes AJR, ARC, and ARO must be reported as follows:
| Earnings Begin Date: | Enter the first date to be adjusted. |
|---|---|
| Earnings End Date: | Enter the last date to be adjusted. |
| Earnings Code: | Enter AJR, ARC or ARO as appropriate. |
| Amount: | Enter the total amount of the adjustment. |
General Deductions:
All general deductions for employees with a payroll status of Terminated, Retired, or Deceased will be automatically cancelled by OSC with the exception of percentage-based dues and the following:
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| 403 | CUNY 403(b) |
| 406 | Strike/Discip Fine |
| 416 | Deferred Comp |
| 425 | Repay State Loans/Debt |
| 432 | SED Tax Deferred Annuity |
| 433 | Total Unemployment Ins Owed |
| 500 | Medicare Deficiency |
| 501 | Social Security Deficiency |
| 502 | NYS SS/Medicare Deficiency |
| 678 | CUNY Before Tax Arrears |
| 679 | CUNY After Tax Arrears |
| 680 | CUNY Suspense BTax Arrears |
| 703 | CUNY 403(b) After tax |
| GARNSH | Garnishments |
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 reported on the employee’s Form W-2.
The adjustments (Earnings Codes AJR, ARC, and ARO) 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).
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.
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.
Questions:
Questions regarding eligibility for the Plumber, Supervisor Plumber, Plumber’s Helper, Thermostat Repairer and Supervisor Thermostat Repairer rate increases may be directed to the University Manager of Payroll Systems and Operations at CUNY Central Office.
Questions regarding processing transactions for Plumber, Supervisor Plumber, Plumber’s Helper, Thermostat Repairer and Supervisor Thermostat Repairer 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.