Purpose

To explain the eligibility criteria and automatic processing of the Lump Sum Bonus Payments for RRSU-represented employees and to provide instructions to agencies for processing or correcting payments.

Affected Employees

RRSU-represented employees in Bargaining Unit 67 who meet the eligibility criteria defined below

Effective Date(s)

Paychecks dated 5/18/05, Administration (Lag)

Background

Chapter 9 of the Laws of 2005, which implements the agreement between the State of New York and the Rent Regulation Services Unit, provides for a Lump Sum Bonus Payment for RRSU-represented employees.

Eligibility Criteria

Employees must have been hired on or prior to 10/1/03 and meet the following additional eligibility criteria:

1. Employees in Bargaining Unit 67 who, on 3/31/04, are full-time or on voluntary reduction with a Pay Basis Code of ANN, have a status of Active, Paid Leave, or Leave of Absence with a Reason of Workers’ Compensation or Military Leave and have six (6) or more months of continuous service as defined by Section 130.3 of the Civil Service Law prior to 3/31/04 are eligible for an $800.00 Bonus Payment.
2. Employees in Bargaining Unit 67 who, on 3/31/04, are part-time with a Pay Basis Code of ANN, have a status of Active, Paid Leave or Leave of Absence with a Reason of Workers’ Compensation or Military Leave, and were in pay status (i.e. Active, Paid Leave, or Leave of Absence with a reason of Workers’ Compensation or Military Leave) for at least six (6) months (i.e. 13 pay periods) within Fiscal Year 2003-04 are eligible for a prorated Bonus Payment as described below.
3. Employees in Bargaining Unit 67 who, on 3/31/04, are full-or part-time and meet the eligibility criteria in #1 or #2 above and are on Leave Without Pay for a reason other than Workers’ Compensation or Military Leave, are eligible for the Bonus Payment, if they returned to the payroll within Fiscal Year 2004-05.

Calculation of Bonus Payment for Part-Time Employees and Payment Amount

Part-Time Employees

For part-time employees who meet the eligibility criteria in #2 or #3 above, the Bonus Payment is based on the total number of FTE days of service in the first thirteen (13) cumulative pay periods in which the employee was in pay status, counting back from and including Pay Period 26 and calculating the total number of FTE days actually worked, charged to accruals or on Workers’ Compensation or Military Leave. All Extra Time and Overtime paid at straight time rate is included. If thirteen (13) pay periods of paid service cannot be accumulated by and including Pay Period 1 of Fiscal Year 2003-04, the employee is not eligible for the Bonus Payment. Based on the total number of FTE days, the payment chart below is used to determine the Bonus Payment amount:

Days of Service in the Qualifying Period		Lump Sum Bonus Payment Amount
130 or more		$800
97 but less than 130		$600
65 but less than 97		$400
32 but less than 65		$200

OSC Automatic Processing

After the close of business on April 28, 2005, OSC will automatically insert a row in the Additional Pay page to process the Lump Sum Bonus Payment for full and part-time employees as described below.

The following information will be inserted:

Earnings Code:	BON
Effective Date:	3/31/04
OT Effective Date:	4/21/05
Earn End Date:	4/19/06
Annual Addl Earnings:	Bonus amount

Eligibility Criteria and Payment Calculation Used in Automatic Processing

• For Annual salaried employees (Pay Basis Code is ANN) who, on March 31, 2004, were in full-time employment status (full/part time indicator is F or V), and were Active or Paid Leave status, and were hired on or prior to 10/1/03, and had thirteen (13) paychecks in which regular earnings were paid (RGS and RGO) and did not have a twelve (12) month consecutive break in service before the thirteen (13) paychecks were accumulated, the system will apply an $800.00 Bonus Payment.
• For Annual salaried employees (Pay Basis Code is ANN) who, on March 31, 2004, were in part-time employment status (full/part-time indicator is P) and were Active or Paid Leave status and were hired on or prior to 10/1/03, the automatic payment will be calculated as described below.

Automatic Payment Calculation for Part-time Employees

• Starting with, and including the Pay Period 26 check date of April 7, 2004 for Administration and counting back, RGS and RGO hours will be totaled until a total of thirteen (13) paychecks have been accumulated. The system will not count prior to Pay Period 1 in 2003 to accumulate the paychecks.
• From these hours, all OTB, LT1, LTO, and EXT earnings will be added or subtracted.
• The total number of hours accumulated in the thirteen (13) paychecks will be divided by 8 hours to determine the number of FTE days the employee was actually paid.
• Using the number of days determined, the following chart will be used to determine the amount of the Bonus Payment:

Days of Service in the Qualifying Period		Lump Sum Bonus Payment Amount
130 or more		$800
97 but less than 130		$600
65 but less than 97		$400
32 but less than 65		$200

Overtime and Retirement Information

The Lump Sum Bonus Payment is included as salary for retirement purposes.

The Lump Sum Bonus Payment is included in the calculation of overtime compensation provided the employee, from April 21, 2005 through April 19, 2006, remains in a bargaining unit eligible for the Bonus Payment.

Overpayment Recovery for Inactive Employees

For employees Inactive at the time of payment, the Lump Sum Bonus Payment will be applied to any Overpayment set up in Additional Pay that has a Goal Amount and Goal Balance that are not equal. The payroll system will recover as much of the Overpayment as possible.

Control-D Reports Prior to Automatic Processing and Agency Responsibility

Control-D Reports will be available for agency review on 4/15/05. These reports will be available in Control-D for 35 days from the date issued and will be archived for an additional 95 days.

Control-D Report, NPAY769 BON Info Lists

This report will contain the following listings. Employees may appear on more than one listing.

Workers’ Comp Leave, Military Leave, or Military Leave With Pay on 3/31/04

• This list identifies RRSU-represented employees who will not receive an automatic Bonus Payment, but who, on 3/31/04, were on LOA with a Reason of WDL, WPS, WSP, MLL, MLS, MTS or a Paid Leave of Absence with a Reason of MLS and were hired on or prior to 10/1/03. These employees may be eligible for the Bonus Payment.
• For employees appearing on this list, the agency must use the eligibility criteria and payment calculation described on pages 1 & 2 of this Bulletin to determine whether the employee is eligible for the Bonus Payment, considering that the Workers’ Compensation and Military Leave are counted as time worked.
• The Bonus Payment for eligible employees may be submitted immediately.

Leave Without Pay Other than Workers' Comp Leave or Military Leave on 03/31/04

• This list identifies RRSU-represented employees who will not receive the automatic Bonus Payment, but who, on 3/31/04, were on a Leave of Absence Without Pay for reasons other than Workers’ Compensation and Military Leave and have a hire date on or prior to 10/1/03. These employees may be eligible for the Bonus Payment.
• For employees identified on this list who have returned to work since 3/31/2004 (currently Active or Inactive), the agency must determine if the employee is eligible for the Bonus Payment based on the employee’s full or part-time status prior to being placed on leave and the eligibility criteria and payment calculation information provided on pages 1 & 2 of this Bulletin. The agency may submit the Bonus Payment for eligible employees immediately.
• Employees identified on this list who did not return to work in Fiscal Year 2004-05 are not eligible to be considered for a Bonus Payment.

Active Part-time or Part-time Paid Leave on 3/31/04 With Workers' Comp Leave, Military Leave or Paid Sick Leave in FY 2003-2004

• This list identifies employees who were Active part-time or part-time Paid Leave employees on 3/31/04, were on a Paid Sick Leave, Workers’ Compensation or Military Leave during Fiscal Year 2003-04 and will receive the automatic Bonus Payment.
• For employees appearing on this list, the agency must review each employee’s Job Data record to determine whether the employee was on Workers’ Compensation, Military or Paid Sick Leave within the thirteen (13) qualifying pay periods, starting with Pay Period 26 and counting back. If the Workers’ Compensation, Military or Paid Sick Leave was prior to the qualifying period, the employee’s automatic Bonus Payment is correct. If the employee was on Workers’ Compensation, Military, or Paid Sick Leave within the thirteen (13) qualifying pay periods, the employee may be entitled to an additional Bonus Payment amount.
• For employees who were on Workers’ Compensation, Military or Sick Leave with ½ pay within the thirteen (13) qualifying pay periods, the agency must calculate the appropriate Bonus Payment amount by determining the number of service days the employee would have accumulated in the thirteen (13) pay periods had the employee been in pay status and not on Workers’ Compensation, Military or Sick Leave at ½ pay. The service chart then must be used to determine the appropriate Bonus Payment amount.

Control-D Report, NPAY770 One Time Payment Report

• This report identifies all employees who will receive the automatic Bonus Payment and the amount of the payment.
• The employee will appear on the report of the agency in which the employee was employed on 3/31/04.
• Agencies may wish to review this report prior to the Bonus Payment being processed, especially for part-time employees, to determine that the automatic payment amount is accurate.

Control-D Report After Automatic Processing

NPAY770 One Time Payment Report

This report will be available after the automatic Bonus Payment is processed. The report identifies all employees receiving the automatic Bonus Payment in the agency in which they were employed on 3/31/04.

Additional Agency Responsibility

Agencies are responsible for identifying employees who did not receive an automatic Bonus Payment and would fall into the following category. The agency must determine whether the employee is eligible for the Bonus Payment using the eligibility criteria and payment calculation information described on pages 1 & 2 of this Bulletin.

• Employees who are annual, are Active or on paid leave on 3/31/04, have a hire date on or prior to 10/1/03, did not receive an automatic Bonus Payment, and did not appear on the Control-D Report NPAY769.

Agency Actions/Adding the Bonus Payment

Agencies must add the Bonus (BON) Earnings Code on the Additional Pay page for eligible employees who did not receive the automatic Bonus Payment. The information needed is as follows:

Earnings Code:	BON
Effective Date:	Enter 3/31/04 or the date the employee became eligible for the Bonus.
OT Effective Date:	The OT effective date will default in this field (4/21/05). If the effective date is prior to April 21, 2005 for Administration, use the default dates. If the effective date is after April 21, 2005 for Administration, use the effective date.
Earn End Date:	4/19/06
Annual Addl Earnings:	Enter Bonus amount
Goal Balance:	Leave Blank

Ending Overtime Eligibility

Agencies must end the Bonus overtime eligibility when an employee becomes ineligible to have the Bonus amount added to the overtime calculation. This will occur when the employee moves into a position with a bargaining unit that does not provide for the Bonus Payment (i.e. employee is transferred or has a position change into a position that is not RRSU, PEF, CSEA, or Management/Confidential).

To end the overtime eligibility calculation, the agency must insert a row on the Additional Pay page as follows:

Earnings Code:	BON
Effective Date:	Enter the last date the employee is eligible for the Bonus in overtime calculation.
OT Effective Date:	Enter the original OT effective date.
Earn End Date:	Delete the existing Earn End Date and enter the last date the employee is eligible for the Bonus in overtime calculation.
Annual Addl Earnings:	Bonus Amount will default in this field.
Goal Balance:	Enter the Bonus amount previously paid.

Correcting the Automatic Bonus Payment

If the Bonus Payment amount is incorrect and the agency is processing the correction in the same pay period the automatic Bonus Payment is being processed, the agency must submit a Job Action Request of Data Change/Cor Hist on the Job Action Request page, and report the appropriate amount of the Bonus Payment in the Status Reason block. OSC will correct the Additional Pay page, if appropriate, and the Bonus Payment will be adjusted accordingly.

Changes Reported in Pay Periods After the Automatic Bonus Payment Has Been Processed

Beginning with the pay period after the automatic Bonus Payment is processed, the agency must submit corrections to the Bonus Payment previously paid using the following procedures.

If the employee was overpaid:

• The agency must submit a Data Change/Correct History on the Job Request page requesting that OSC correct the data on the Additional Pay page.
• The agency must recover the Overpayment according to Overpayment Recovery Rules in Payroll Bulletin No. 470 and set up an Overpayment to recover the money, if necessary.

If the employee was underpaid:

• The agency must enter an effective dated row for the Earnings Code BON on the Additional Pay page as follows. The payroll system will pay the difference between what was paid in the Goal Balance and the new Bonus amount.

Earnings Code:	BON
Effective Date:	Enter the first date of the pay period being processed.
OT Effective Date:	The effective date will default in this field. Change to the original OT effective date.
Earn End Date:	Enter the last date the employee is eligible for the Bonus in overtime calculation.
Annual Addl Earnings:	Enter the new total amount of the Bonus.
Goal Balance:	Enter the Bonus amount previously paid.

Payroll Register and Employee Paycheck/Advice

The Earnings Code BON and amount will be displayed on the payroll register and the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice.

Questions

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