Purpose:

The purpose of this bulletin is to inform the Division of Housing and Community Renewal of OSC’s automatic processing of the April 2024 DC 37 Rent Regulation Services Unit (RRSU) Performance Advances and provide instructions for payments not processed automatically.

Affected Employees:

Employees in the DC 37 Rent Regulation Services Unit – BU67 in the Division of Housing and Community Renewal who meet the eligibility criteria are affected.

Background:

Chapter 60 of the Laws of 2022, which implemented the 2021-2023 Agreement between the State of New York and DC 37, provides for payment of performance advances on April 1 to eligible DC 37 RRSU employees based on the 2022 Salary Schedule (currently in effect).

Effective Dates:

The April 2024 DC 37 RRSU Performance Advances will be paid using the following effective date and check date: 

Eligibility Criteria:

Performance Advance

Employees in graded positions (Grade 001-032) and NS positions (Grade 600) which are equated to a grade (Grade 001-032) and whose annual salary is below the Job Rate of the employee’s grade on the payment effective date based on the 04/01/2022 Salary Schedule (currently in effect) are eligible for the April 2024 DC 37 RRSU Performance Advance provided the employee:

•  Is in a BU67 position on the payment effective date; and

•  Has completed one (1) year of service in such grade by 04/01/2024; and

•  Has a Comp Rate Code of ANN on the payment effective date; and

•  Was rated at least “Satisfactory” or its equivalent on their last rating date; and

•  Did not receive a performance advance in October 2023.

Promotion Recalculation

Employees who would have been eligible to receive the April 2024 DC 37 RRSU Performance Advance but were promoted to a higher grade in any bargaining unit prior to April 2024, may be eligible for a revised promotion salary (promotion recalculation) provided the employee is not eligible for a performance advance in the higher grade in April 2024.

Ineligible for Performance Advance

Employees with an “Unsatisfactory” evaluation on their last rating date are ineligible to receive the April 2024 DC 37 RRSU Performance Advance. The agency must submit a Data Chg on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code USP (Unsat Perf) and an increment code of 0003 in the Incr. Code field to withhold the performance advance.  The effective date should be the employee’s last rating date. This transaction should be submitted as soon as practicable following the employee’s rating date and must be submitted prior to the automatic processing of the April 2024 DC 37 RRSU Performance Advances.

Increment Code 0003 is also used to identify employees who have not completed one (1) year of service in their grade on the payment effective date and to prevent these employees from receiving the April 2024 DC 37 RRSU Performance Advance.

If Increment Code 0003 appears in an employee’s record at the time of processing the April 2024 DC 37 RRSU Performance Advance, the increment code will be updated automatically to indicate the employee’s eligibility for the next performance advance (see OSC Actions).

Control-D Report Available Prior to Processing

The following Control-D report will be available for agency use on 03/28/2024 (Administration). This will give agencies time to correct employees’ records, if necessary, prior to the automatic processing of the April 2024 DC 37 RRSU Performance Advances. The report will be sorted by Department ID, then by employee name in alphabetical order.

NHRP708 – Mass Increment Payment Exception Report

This report is a preliminary listing of employees who appear ineligible to receive the April 2024 Performance Advance, Promotion Recalculation or Increment Code Update 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 the Position Data page are not equal.
• FIS Missing – if the increment code on the employee’s Job Data page is 0004 and the FIS Amount field is blank.
• FIS At or Below Current – if the increment code on the employee’s Job Data page is 0004 and the value in the FIS Amount field is less than or equal to the employee’s current salary.
• FIS Below Hiring Rate – if the increment code on the employee’s Job Data page is 0004 and the value in the FIS Amount field is less than the Hiring Rate for the employee’s grade on the 04/01/2022 Salary Schedule.
• Increment Code Missing – if the increment code on the employee’s Job Data page is blank or ‘0000.’
• Increment Code Invalid – if the increment code on the employee’s Job Data page is other than 0001, 0003, 0004, 1000, 1001, 1003, 1004, 2222, 7777, 19XX, 20XX, XX10.
• Inc Code Req Review – if the increment code on the employee’s Job Data page is 2222.
• Inc Code not in Anniv Dt range – if the increment code on the employee’s Job Data page is 0001 or 0003 and the employee’s Anniversary Date is between 04/02/XXXX and 10/01/XXXX.
• Sal Below Hiring Rate – if the increment code on the employee’s Job Data page is 0001, 0003 or 0004 and the employee’s salary is less than the Hiring Rate for the employee’s grade on the 04/01/2022 Salary Schedule.
• Sal At or Above Job Rate – if the increment code on the employee’s Job Data page is 0001, 0003 or 0004 and the employee’s salary is equal to or greater than the Job Rate for the employee’s grade on the 04/01/2022 Salary Schedule.

If an employee appears on this report but is due a performance advance, promotion recalculation or increment code update, the agency must take the following action:

• Submit the appropriate transaction(s) on the Job Action Requests page to correct the information on the Job Data row(s). If the row(s) is corrected prior to Administration Pay Period 1L, the automatic performance advance, promotion recalculation or increment code update will be processed.
• Submit a Position Change Request to the Position Management Unit if the position information is incorrect on the Position Data page in PayServ but is correct in NYSTEP. The position will be updated to reflect the change and the automatic performance advance, promotion recalculation or increment code update will be processed provided the agency’s position request contains the same information as the position information in NYSTEP.

OSC Actions:

OSC will process the April 2024 DC 37 RRSU Performance Advances, Promotion Recalculations and Increment Code Updates for those employees who meet the eligibility criteria and have a Payroll Status of Active, Leave With Pay, or Leave of Absence due to a Workers’ Compensation Leave on the payment effective date with the following exceptions:

• Eligible employees in a composite position (identified by Increment Code 2222) on the payment effective date.
• Eligible employees with a Payroll Status of Leave With Pay and an Action/Reason code of Paid Leave of Absence/SKL (Sick Lv) on the payment effective date.

Performance Advance Processing

Performance advances will be processed for eligible employees with Increment Code 0001 and an Anniversary Date between 10/02/xx and 04/01/xx on the payment effective date. OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/28/2024 (Administration) using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/PAV (Perf Adv) and will increase the employee’s salary to reflect payment of the performance advance. The employee’s salary will be capped at the Job Rate of the employee’s grade on the payment effective date based on the 04/01/2022 Salary Schedule (currently in effect).

Promotion Recalculation Processing

Promotion recalculations will be processed for eligible employees with Increment Code 0004 on the payment effective date who are entitled to a revised promotion salary based on the FIS (Fixed Incremented Salary) Amount on the Job Data/Compensation page. The FIS Amount:

• Must be equal to or greater than the Hiring Rate of the employee’s grade on the payment effective date based on the 04/01/2022 Salary Schedule; and
• Must be greater than the employee’s salary on the payment effective date; and
• May exceed the Job Rate of the employee’s grade on the payment effective date based on the 04/01/2022 Salary Schedule.

OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/28/2024 (Administration) using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/PMR (Prom Recal) and will update the employee’s salary to reflect the FIS Amount.

Increment Code Update Processing

OSC will automatically update the increment code on the inserted row for employees who receive a performance advance or promotion recalculation as follows: 

OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/28/2024 (Administration) using the Action/Reason code of Data Chg/CIC (Chg IncCd/or AnnDt/or FIS Sal) and update the following increment code: 

Workers’ Compensation

For employees who are receiving Workers’ Compensation under the DC 37 RRSU Medical Evaluation Program, the supplement will be recalculated by OSC when processing payments for disability dates beginning on 03/28/2024 (Administration).

Transactions processed automatically will appear on the NHRP520 Daily Outbound Transaction file.

Control-D Reports Available After Processing

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

NHRP704 – Mass Increment Payment Report

This report identifies all employees who received the automatic April 2024 Performance Advance or Promotion Recalculation on the payment effective date. The report includes the Action/Reason code used as well as the old compensation rate and new compensation rate.

NHRP708 – Mass Increment Payment Exception Report

This report identifies employees who did not receive an automatic April 2024 Performance Advance, Promotion Recalculation, or Increment Code Update. Included on the report is one or more of the following messages which identifies the reason(s) the employee’s record was not updated:

• Position and Job do not match
• FIS Missing
• FIS At or Below Current
• FIS Below Hiring Rate
• Increment Code Missing
• Increment Code Invalid
• Inc Code Req Review
• Inc Code not in Anniv Dt range
• Sal Below Hiring Rate
• Sal At or Above Job Rate

See Control-D Report Available Prior to Processing for an explanation of these messages.

Agency Actions:

Beginning Administration Pay Period 1L:

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 on or before 03/28/2024 (Administration):

• The agency must not include the performance advance in the salary reported in the Pay Rate field.
• The agency must report the proper increment code for April 2024 in the Incr. Code field.

For pay changes, position changes and transfers requested on the Job Action Requests or Transfer Requests page with an effective date after 03/28/2024 (Administration):

• The agency must include, if applicable, the performance advance in the salary reported in the Pay Rate field.
• The agency must report the projected increment code based on the employee’s next performance advance cycle in the Incr. Code field.

Time Entry

To report miscellaneous earnings that are automatically calculated by the system (e.g. overtime), agencies must separate earnings by pay period so the earnings will not overlap the effective date of the Pay Change transaction.

Beginning Administration Pay Period 2L:

Employees Not Processed Automatically

Beginning in Administration Pay Period 2L, agencies may submit the appropriate transaction(s) for the following employees who are eligible on the payment effective date but will not be processed automatically. Refer to the appropriate instructions described below.

• Eligible employees who are in a composite position (identified by Increment Code 2222) on the payment effective date.
• Eligible employees with a Payroll Status of Leave With Pay and an Action/Reason code of Paid Leave of Absence/SKL (Sick Lv) on the payment effective date.
• Eligible employees who are on a Paid or Unpaid Military Stipend Leave or a Military Leave on the payment effective date.
• Eligible employees who are Inactive or on a Leave of Absence not related to a Workers’ Compensation Leave on the payment effective date. 

1. Increment Code 2222

   Eligible employees who are in a composite position on the payment effective date may receive the April 2024 DC 37 RRSU Performance Advance or Promotion Recalculation. Agencies must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code PAV (Perf Adv) or PMR (Prom Recal) effective 03/28/2024 (Administration). Information regarding the composite position must be included on the General Comments page. 

2. Paid Sick Leave

   Eligible employees with a Payroll Status of Leave With Pay and an Action/Reason code of Paid Leave of Absence/SKL (Sick Lv) on the payment effective date who completed one (1) year of service in their grade prior to the effective date of the Paid Sick Leave may receive the April 2024 DC 37 RRSU Performance Advance or Promotion Recalculation.  Agencies must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code PAV (Perf Adv) or PMR (Prom Recal) effective 03/28/2024 (Administration). 

3. Military Stipend Leave or Military Leave

   Eligible employees who are on a Paid or Unpaid Military Stipend Leave or a Military Leave on the payment effective date may receive the April 2024 DC 37 RRSU Performance Advance or Promotion Recalculation when they return to the payroll. 

   If the effective date of the return from leave transaction is on or before 03/28/2024 (Administration), in addition to entering the Return from Leave on the Job Data page, the agency must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code PAV (Perf Adv) or PMR (Prom Recal) effective 03/28/2024 (Administration).

   If the effective date of the return from leave transaction is after 03/28/2024 (Administration), in addition to entering the Return from Leave on the Job Data page, the agency must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code CSL (Cor Sal) and the effective date of the Return from Leave with the next available sequence number. 

4. Inactive or Leave of Absence (not related to a Workers’ Compensation Leave)

   Eligible employees who are Inactive or have a Payroll Status of Leave of Absence not related to a Workers’ Compensation Leave on the payment effective date and who completed one (1) year of service in their grade prior to becoming inactive or being placed on a leave of absence may receive the April 2024 DC 37 RRSU Performance Advance or Promotion Recalculation when they return to the payroll. In addition, an employee who is Inactive must be rehired within one year to be eligible for the payment.

   If the effective date of the rehire or return from leave transaction is on or before 03/28/2024 (Administration), in addition to processing the transaction(s) related to the rehire or return from leave, the agency must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code PAV (Perf Adv) or PMR (Prom Recal) or a Data Chg on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code CIC (Chg IncCd/or AnnDt/or FIS Sal) effective 03/28/2024 (Administration).

   If the effective date of the rehire or return from leave transaction is after 03/28/2024 (Administration), in addition to processing the transaction(s) related to the rehire or return from leave, the agency must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code CSL (Cor Sal) or a Data Chg on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code CIC (Chg IncCd/or AnnDt/or FIS Sal) and the effective date of the Rehire or Return from Leave with the next available sequence number.

Determining Adjusted Performance Advance Cycle

When processing a transaction that may affect performance advance eligibility, such as but not limited to a return from leave transaction, the agency must determine if the employee will remain on the performance advance cycle on record and if necessary, update the employee’s increment code and anniversary date.

Reinstating Prior Job Rate Increment Code

Upward Reallocation:  An employee occupying a position that was previously upward reallocated, whose salary at the time of the reallocation was equal to or greater than the Job Rate of the lower graded position and whose salary upon application of the April 2024 DC 37 RRSU Performance Advance is equal to the Job Rate of the reallocated position (based on the 04/01/2022 Schedule) is entitled to the job rate credit for service in the lower grade.

• The increment code of an employee receiving the April 2024 DC 37 RRSU Performance Advance that results in a salary equal to the Job Rate of the reallocated position will be automatically updated from 0001 to 2024.
• The agency must evaluate the employee’s Payroll Status beginning from the time of reallocation through the date of the performance advance to determine if the increment code must be updated.
  • If the Payroll Status remained Active, Leave With Pay or Leave of Absence due to a Workers’ Compensation Leave or Military Leave during this period, the employee is entitled to have the increment code of the lower grade reinstated.
  • If the Payroll Status was Leave of Absence not related to a Workers’ Compensation Leave or Military Leave any time during this period, the increment code of the lower grade must be evaluated to determine the appropriate increment code adjustment.
• If the increment code must be updated, the agency must submit a Data Chg on the Job Action Requests page using the same effective date as the performance advance, the Reason code CIC (Chg IncCd/or AnnDt/or FIS Sal) and an increment code reflecting the appropriate job rate credit in the Incr. Code field.

Lateral Position Change from a Non-DC 37 RRSU Position Where the Employee’s Salary was Equal to or Greater Than Job Rate to an DC 37 RRSU Position with a Higher Job Rate: 

An employee with a salary equal to or greater than the Job Rate of their salary grade, who had a lateral position change to an DC 37 RRSU position with a higher Job Rate, and whose salary upon application of the April 2024 DC 37 RRSU Performance Advance is equal to the Job Rate in the DC 37 RRSU position is entitled to job rate credit for service in the non-DC 37 RRSU position.

• The increment code of an employee receiving the April 2024 DC 37 RRSU Performance Advance that results in a salary equal to the Job Rate of the DC 37 RRSU position will be automatically updated from 0001 to 2024.
• The agency must evaluate the employee’s Payroll Status beginning from the time of lateral position change through the date of the performance advance to determine if the increment code must be updated.
  • If the Payroll Status remained Active, Leave With Pay or Leave of Absence due to a Workers’ Compensation Leave or Military Leave during this period, the employee is entitled to have the increment code of the lower grade reinstated.
  • If the Payroll Status was Leave of Absence not related to a Workers’ Compensation Leave or Military Leave any time during this period, the increment code of the lower grade must be evaluated to determine the appropriate increment code adjustment.
• If the increment code must be updated, the agency must submit a Data Chg on the Job Action Requests page using the same effective date as the performance advance, the Reason code CIC (Chg IncCd/or AnnDt/or FIS Sal) and an increment code reflecting the appropriate job rate credit in the Incr. Code field.

Tax Information:

These monies are taxable income, will be included in the employee’s taxable gross, and are subject to all employment taxes and income taxes.

Questions:

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

Questions regarding position change requests may be directed to the Position Management mailbox.