Purpose

To inform the Division of Housing and Community Renewal of procedures for processing the April 2014 Rent Regulation Services Unit (RRSU) Salary Increase.

Affected Employees

Employees in the Rent Regulation Services Unit – BU67 in the Division of Housing and Community Renewal who meet the eligibility criteria

Background

Chapter 182 of the Laws of 2014, which implemented the 2011-2016 Agreement between the State of New York and the DC-37, provides for a salary increase of two percent (2.00%) for fiscal year 2014-2015 and includes the 2014 RRSU Salary Schedule.

Effective Date(s)

The April 2014 RRSU Salary Increase should be paid using the following effective date and check date:

Eligibility Criteria

The following employees are eligible to receive the April 2014 RRSU Salary Increase:

• Employees with a Pay Basis Code of HRY (Grade 600 or 800)
• Employees with a Pay Basis Code of ANN who are in a traineeship (Grade 800)
• Employees with a Pay Basis Code of ANN who are in an NS position (Grade 600)
• Employees with a Pay Basis Code of ANN who are in an NS position (Grade 600) which is equated to a grade (Grade 001-032)
• Employees with a Pay Basis Code of ANN who are in a graded position (Grade 001-032)

Employees with a Pay Basis Code of FEE are not eligible for the salary increase unless the employee is budgeted as per diem.

Agency Actions

The agency must process the April 2014 RRSU Salary Increase for the following employees:

• If the employee meets the eligibility criteria and has a Payroll Status of Active, Leave With Pay or Leave of Absence due to a Workers’ Compensation Leave (Action Reason code of Leave of Absence/WCL, WDL, WPS or WSP) on the payment effective date, the agency must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page effective 03/27/14 using the Reason code SAC (Mass Salary Increase).
• If the employee meets the eligibility criteria but has a Payroll Status of Terminated, Retired or Leave of Absence (not related to a Workers’ Compensation Leave) on the payment effective date and returns to Active status in an eligible position after the payment effective date, the agency must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the effective date of the Rehire or Return from Leave action and the Reason code CSL (Correct Salary) if the Pay Basis Code is ANN or the Reason code CRT (Change Rate) if the Pay Basis Code is HRY.
• If the employee is newly hired or transfers into an eligible position after the payment effective date, the agency must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the effective date of the Hire, Position Change or Transfer action and the Reason code CSL (Correct Salary) if the Pay Basis Code is ANN or the Reason code CRT (Change Rate) if the Pay Basis Code is HRY.
• If the employee has subsequent rows and remains in an eligible position, the agency must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page for each subsequent row using the effective date of the existing row and the Reason code CSL (Correct Salary) if the Pay Basis Code is ANN or the Reason code CRT (Change Rate) if the Pay Basis Code is HRY.

Calculating the New Compensation Rate

The agency must calculate the salary on each transaction submitted on the Job Action Requests page as follows:

• If the employee has a Pay Basis Code of HRY and a Grade equal to 600 or 800, apply 2.00% to the existing salary and round to the nearest cent.
• If the employee has a Pay Basis Code of ANN and a Grade equal to 600 (not equated to a grade) or 800, apply 2.00% to the existing salary and round to the nearest dollar.
• If the employee has a Pay Basis Code of ANN, a Grade equal to 001-032 or a Grade equal to 600 with an equated grade equal to 001-032 and the salary is equal to a salary step of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/10 RRSU Salary Schedule, increase the salary to the same salary step on the 04/01/14 RRSU Salary Schedule.
• If the employee has a Pay Basis Code of ANN, a Grade equal to 001-032 or a Grade equal to 600 with an equated grade equal to 001-032 and the salary is not equal to a salary step of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/10 Salary Schedule, process as follows:
  • If the salary is less than the Job Rate of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/10 RRSU Salary Schedule, apply 2.00% and round to the nearest dollar. If the resulting salary is greater than the Job Rate based on the 04/01/14 RRSU Salary Schedule, reduce the salary to the Job Rate.
  • If the salary is greater than the Job Rate of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/10 RRSU Salary Schedule, apply 2.00% and round to the nearest dollar OR increase the salary to the Job Rate based on the 04/01/14 RRSU Salary Schedule, whichever is greater.

Automatic Retroactive Processing

OSC will automatically calculate retroactive adjustments for regular earnings and Time Entry earnings that are calculated by the system based on annual salary, such as OT for Annuals (OTA) and Holiday Pay (HPA), resulting from payment of the April 2014 RRSU Salary Increase.

If an employee receives a payment and has been paid in the same Employee Record Number since the effective date of the payment, all retroactive adjustments will be paid in the most current agency.

If an employee receives a payment and has been paid in more than one Employee Record Number since the effective date of the payment, the retroactive adjustments will be paid in the most current agency of the Employee Record Number in which the payment was made.

Agency Actions – Retroactive Processing

Reporting Retroactive Adjustments

Time Entry earnings codes that are submitted with an amount will not be adjusted automatically. Therefore, beginning in Administration Pay Period 13L, the agency must report the adjustment amount for earnings codes such as OT Override (OTO) and Regular Salary Override (RGO).

Correcting an Automatic Retroactive Adjustment

When certain conditions exist in an employee’s record, the automatic retroactive adjustment may be incorrect.Therefore, the agency is responsible for identifying employees who meet the following conditions and, if necessary, submitting the necessary adjustment.

• If an employee has a check returned or exchanged on an AC-230 for dates on or after the effective date of the payment, the payroll system does not consider the AC-230 when calculating the automatic retroactive adjustment.
• If earnings were previously reported using Earnings Code RGS and a date range that exceeded the number of days reported, the system will calculate the adjustment of earnings based on the number of workdays within the range.
• Adjustments for earnings that are calculated automatically, such as OT for Annuals (OTA), will be calculated incorrectly if the dates previously reported as a single entry on the Time Entry page overlap the effective date of the payment. The system will calculate an adjustment for all earnings reported in a single entry based on the salary in effect on the Earnings End Date.
• For employees who had a change reported on the Job Data page since the effective date of the payment and the action resulted in an overpayment of earnings, the automatic negative retroactive adjustment may not have been processed because the overpayment was either not recoverable or was recovered using an overpayment earnings code or an AC-230. In this case, the negative retroactive adjustment may be re-generated when the payment is processed.OSC will turn off (not process) the automatic negative adjustment for these employees since in most cases these overpayments were either not recoverable or recovered using another method.

If an overpayment of earnings is identified after the automatic payment is processed but before the paycheck is received by the employee, the employee must be notified of the overpayment and the adjustment that will be reported in a subsequent pay period.

Submitting an Adjustment

To process a retroactive adjustment or correct an automatic retroactive adjustment, the agency must submit the following information on the Time Entry page or the Time Entry Interface (NPAY502) using the Earnings Code AJR.

Military Stipend Leave

OSC will recalculate the military stipend amount for employees who were placed on a Paid or Unpaid Military Stipend Leave on or after the effective date of the payment as the result of new military orders.

• If the employee received a stipend, OSC will insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective the date the employee is entitled to the increase using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/MSC (Military Stipend Change) and will increase the employee’s biweekly stipend amount. In addition, updates will be made to all subsequent rows requiring an increased biweekly stipend amount.
• If the employee did not receive a stipend but becomes eligible for a stipend as a result of the payment, OSC will insert the following in PayServ.
  • A row on the employee’s Job Data page effective the date the employee is entitled to a stipend using the Action/Reason code of Paid Leave of Absence/MLS (Mil Stip) and the new biweekly stipend amount.
  • A row on the employee’s Job Data page for each affected subsequent row using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/MSC (Military Stipend Change) and the new biweekly stipend amount.
  • A row on the Time Entry page using the Earnings Code MSP (Military Stipend Payment) to pay the stipend for each pay period the employee is eligible.
• Any additional adjustment that is required due to the increased biweekly stipend amount that will not be calculated automatically will be reported by OSC on the Time Entry page using the Earnings Code AMS (Adjust Military Stipend).

Deduction Information

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 amount paid and will be displayed on the employee’s paycheck stub and/or direct deposit advice using the appropriate Earnings Description and the amount paid unless the number of earnings codes exceeds 13. The agency should utilize Locked Query #49 to identify a complete list of regular earnings and retroactive adjustments if there are more than 13 earnings codes.

Undeliverable Checks

If the agency has made an effort to deliver the check to the employee but the check has been returned and is undeliverable, the agency should forward the check to the NYS Department of Tax and Finance, Division of Treasury, per instructions in Payroll Bulletin No. 908.

Checks issued to eligible employees who are now deceased should be returned with a completed Next of Kin Affidavit (Form AC 934-P) 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 this bulletin may be directed to the Payroll Earnings mailbox.

Questions regarding Military information may be directed to the Military Stipend mailbox.

Questions regarding deduction information may be directed to the Payroll Deduction mailbox.