Purpose

To inform agencies of OSC’s processing of the October 2016, April 2017 and October 2017 DC37 LLS payment for newly eligible employees

Affected Employees

Employees in the Rent Regulation Services Unit – BU67 with an increment code of 0610, 0710, 1110, 1210, 2007 or 2012 who meet the eligibility criteria

Background

Due to the expiration of the previous agreement (2011-2016), Longevity Lump Sum payments were not paid in October 2016, April 2017 and October 2017 to employees in BU67 who became eligible for a five (5) year payment for the first time after March 31, 2016. Employees who became eligible for a ten (10) year payment for the first time after March 31, 2016 continued to receive the five (5) year amount.

The ratified 2016-2021 Agreement between the State of New York and DC37 provides for these employees to be paid the October 2016, April 2017 and/or October 2017 Longevity Lump Sum (LLS) payments.

Effective Date(s)

Payments will be processed in a separate check dated 04/04/18 (Administration Pay Period 26L). There is no direct deposit for this payment.

Eligibility Criteria

Employees in graded positions (Grade 001-032) and NS positions (Grade 600) which are equated to a grade (Grade 001-032) are eligible for the October 2016, April 2017 or October 2017 RRSU LLS payment provided the employee:

• Is Active, on a Leave With Pay or on an Unpaid Military Stipend Leave in a BU67 position on the appropriate payment eligibility date (09/30/16 (October), 3/31/2017 (April) or 09/30/17 (October)); and
• Has a Pay Basis Code of ANN or BIW (only if the employee is on a Paid Military Stipend Leave) on the appropriate payment eligibility date (09/30/16 (October), 3/31/2017 (April) or 09/30/17 (October)); and
• Has five (5) or more years or ten (10) or more years of continuous service* at a base annual salary equal to or greater than the Job Rate of the employee’s grade (based on the 04/01/15 Salary Schedule) as of the appropriate payment eligibility date (09/30/16 (October), 3/31/2017 (April) or 09/30/17 (October)); and
• Did not receive an “Unsatisfactory” evaluation on their last rating date.  Employees who were not rated or not reported as “Unsatisfactory” in PayServ during the period will receive the payment.

*Continuous service, as used in determining eligibility for the LLS payment, is paid service (including part-time annual salaried service, Paid Military Leave and Sick Leave at Half Pay) or time on Workers’ Compensation Leave or Unpaid Military Leave.

OSC Report and Agency Actions Prior to Processing

OSC will provide a preliminary listing of employees who appear to be eligible for the five (5) year or ten (10) year LLS payment as of September 30, 2016, March 31, 2017 or September 30, 2017.

The agency should review the listing carefully paying particular attention to the following:

• Employees who appear on the listing but are ineligible due to an “Unsatisfactory” evaluation on their last rating date.

Corrections to the preliminary listing should be submitted on the Correction Sheet. (The form may be duplicated if additional copies are needed.) This form must be used to:

• Add employees who do not appear on the listing, such as:
  • Eligible employees in NS positions where the equated grade does not appear on the Position Data page. Agencies must submit documentation of the salary equation with the Correction Sheet.
  • Eligible employees who are in composite positions (identified by Increment Code 2222).
  • Eligible employees who received a downward reallocation (identified by Increment Code 0069).
• Delete employees who should not appear on the listing, such as:
  • Employees with an “Unsatisfactory” evaluation during the period stated above. In addition, in order to prevent the payment, the agency must submit a Data Chg on the Job Action Requests page using the employee’s last rating date as the effective date, the Reason code USP (Unsat Perf) and an increment code of 7777 in the Incr. Code field.
• Identify employees appearing on the listing who have incorrect information appearing in PayServ affecting their eligibility for the LLS payment. In addition, the agency must submit the appropriate transaction to correct the information.

Corrections should be submitted as soon as possible and must be received no later than 03/27/2018. Please fax corrections to (518) 474-2601 and send an email to the Payroll Earnings mailbox including the Department ID and ‘LLS Correction Sheet’ in the Subject line to inform OSC that a correction has been faxed.

OSC Actions

For employees with an Increment Code of 1110, 1210 or 2012

OSC will process the October 2016, April 2017 and October 2017 LLS payment(s) for those employees who meet the eligibility criteria by inserting a row on the employee’s Additional Pay page to make the payment using the Earnings Code LLS provided the employee did not already receive an October 2016, April 2017 or October 2017 LLS payment. The payment amount is $1,250 or a prorated amount, as described below:

• Employees who were on a Voluntary Reduction in Work Schedule (VRWS) on the payment eligibility date (09/30/16 (October), 3/31/2017 (April) or 09/30/17 (October)) receive the full LLS payment amount based on the employee’s increment code. Agencies must verify that the Full/Part field on the Job Data/Job Information page is ‘Voluntary’.
• Employees who were on a Leave With Pay with an Action/Reason code of Paid Leave of Absence/SKL (Sick Lv) on the payment eligibility date (09/30/16 (October), 3/31/2017 (April) or 09/30/17 (October)) receive an amount based on the employee’s increment code and percentage. The full LLS payment amount based on the employee’s increment code is multiplied by the employee’s Empl Work Percent on the Job Data/Job Information page prior to the leave.
• All other employees (including employees on a Leave With Pay, Paid Military Stipend Leave and Unpaid Military Stipend Leave) receive an amount based on the employee’s increment code and percentage in effect on the payment eligibility date (09/30/16 (October), 3/31/2017 (April) or 09/30/17 (October)). The full LLS payment amount based on the employee’s increment code is multiplied by the employee’s Empl Work Percent on the Job Data/Job Information page in effect on the payment eligibility date.

The Additional Pay page will be populated for eligible employees with the following:

For employees with an Increment Code of0610, 0710 or 2007

If an October 2016, April 2017 or October 2017 LLS row already exists on the employee’s Additional Pay page and the amount in the Annual Additional Earnings field is less than or equal to $1,250, OSC will automatically double the earnings amount and pay the difference between the new Annual Additional Earnings and the existing Goal Balance.

The existing Additional Pay page will be updated for eligible employees with the following:

Overtime Calculation Information

The LLS payment is included in the calculation of overtime compensation (refer to the Online Payroll Manual accessed from the PayServ Bulletin Board – Payroll Manual > Earnings Manual > Payments\Withholdings > Overtime Compensation). October 2016, April 2017 and October 2017 LLS payment(s) will be included in the calculation of overtime earned from the OT Eff Date through the End Date on the employee’s Additional Pay page for Earnings Code LLS.

If an employee is appointed to an ineligible position (including a position which results in a salary below the Job Rate of the grade of the new position) after the effective date of the October 2016, April 2017 or October 2017 LLS payment(s), the payment(s) cannot be included in the compensation calculation of any overtime earned after the date of the appointment. Therefore, if an eligible employee was appointed to an ineligible position prior to or in Administration Pay Period 26L, OSC will update the End Date of those transactions processed automatically to reflect the last date the employee was in an eligible position. If the appointment is made after Administration Pay Period 1L, the agency is responsible for inserting a row on the Additional pay page at the Effective Date level of Earnings Code LLS and entering the following information.

The transaction should be submitted in the same pay period in which the position change is processed.

Retroactive Adjustment

OSC will automatically calculate retroactive adjustments for overtime earned on or after the OT Eff Date associated with the October 2016, April 2017 and October 2017 LLS payment(s).

Agency Actions - Retroactive Processing

Time Entry earnings codes that are submitted with an amount will not be adjusted automatically. Therefore, beginning in Pay Period 1L, the agency must report the adjustment amount for earnings codes such as Extra Time Override (EXO) 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.

Retirement and Deduction Information

The LLS payment is included as salary for retirement purposes. Deductions will be taken from the LLS payment for normal retirement contributions, garnishments and federal levies.

Tax Information

The LLS payment is supplemental taxable income subject to employment taxes 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. Yonkers Flat Rate Withholding is 1.61135% for Yonkers residents and 0.50% for Yonkers non-residents.

NOTE** We are researching whether additional amounts in taxes are being consistently withheld from Supplemental Wages in separate checks. We will communicate the results of our research once we have more information.

Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice

The Earnings Code LLS and the amount paid will be displayed on the Payroll Register. The Earnings Description Longevity LSP and the amount paid will appear on the employee’s paycheck stub and direct deposit advice (if applicable).

This payment will be made in a separate check regardless of when it is paid. The separate check will be issued with the employee’s regular paycheck or direct deposit advice based on information for that check date. The agency should verify the employee’s mailing address is up-to-date if the agency intends to mail the separate check to the employee. There is no direct deposit for this payment.

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 Taxation 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), 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 and payment information may be directed to the Payroll Earnings mailbox.

Questions regarding deductions and retirement may be directed to the Payroll Deduction mailbox.

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