Status:

Updated Qualifying Service Eligibility to include time worked at Roswell Park; Added Qualifying Service Date Correction instructions; Updated guidance on entering transactions for multiple pay periods in a single check date for Employees who have Hourly and Fee service in an Executive Branch Bargaining Unit.

This Bulletin Supersedes Payroll Bulletin No. 2313

Purpose:

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide agencies with information regarding the change from a Longevity Lump Sum Payment (Earnings Code LLS) based on years at job rate to a Longevity Service Payment (Earnings Code LGS) based on years of qualifying service for employees in an eligible bargaining unit.

Affected Employees:

Employees in the following payment eligible bargaining units who meet the eligibility criteria are affected:

Background:

The following Chapter Laws provide for a change in eligibility criteria for Performance Awards/Longevity Payments (Longevity Service Payment) for all eligible members of the Public Employees Federation (PEF), Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), District Council 37 (DC 37) and State University Construction Fund (CSEA).

• Chapter 190 of the Laws of 2023, which implemented the 2023-2026 Agreement between the State of New York and the Public Employees Federation (PEF)
• Chapter 361 of the Laws of 2022, which implemented the 2021 – 2026 Agreement between the State of New York and the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA)
• Chapter 177 of the Laws of 2024, which implemented the 2023-2026 Agreement between the State of New York and the District Council 37 (DC 37)
• The State University Construction Fund’s Board Resolution AD-8 which authorized the amended Memorandum of Understanding between the State University Construction Fund and CSEA

Effective Date:

The LGS payment based on years of qualifying service is effective April 1, 2025, for employees who meet the eligibility criteria.

Eligibility Criteria: 

Eligible employees (see Affected Employees section) must have twelve or more years of qualifying service, seventeen or more years of qualifying service, or twenty-two or more years of qualifying service in an Executive branch bargaining unit of New York State government and have been rated at least “Satisfactory.” As a result, employees in a payment eligible bargaining unit may be eligible to receive both a performance advance and an LGS payment. 

Payment Eligible Criteria

*Service in Comp Rate Code BIW counts toward qualifying service as if that service was ANN and will be included in determining an employee’s Qualifying Service Date. A Comp Rate Code of HRY and FEE also count toward qualifying years of service but will not be reflected in the Qualifying Service Date field at this time. OSC is working on developing a process to systematically account for this service.

Qualifying Service Eligibility

Service in any of the Executive Branch bargaining units below is counted as qualifying service towards LGS payment eligibility:

Civil Service Employee Association

• BU02 – Administrative Services Unit
• BU03 – Operational Services Unit
• BU04 – CSEA Institutional Services Unit
• BU47 – CSEA Division of Military and Naval Affairs Unit

Public Employees Federation (PEF)

• BU05 – Professional, Scientific and Technical Services Unit

District Council 37 (DC 37)

• BU67 – Rent Regulation Services Unit

Graduate Student Employees Union (GSEU)

• BU28 –State University Graduate Student Negotiation Unit

Council 82 (C82) 

• BU61 – Security Supervisors Unit
• BU91 – Security Supervisors Unit

New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA) 

• BU01 –Security Services Unit
• BU21 – Security Services Unit

Police Benevolent Association of the New York State (PBANYS) 

• BU31 – PBANYS Agency Police Services Unit

New York State Police Investigators Association (NYSPIA)

• BU62 – NYSPIA State Police Investigators Association

Police Benevolent Association of the New York State Troopers (PBA)

• BU07 – PBA State Police Troopers Unit
• BU17 – PBA State Police Commissioned/Non-commissioned officers

United University Professions (UUP)

• BU08 – UUP State University Professional Services Negotiating Unit
• BU68 – UUP State University Professional Services Negotiating Unit

Management/Confidential

• BU06 – Management Confidential
• BU13 – SUNY Management Confidential
• BU18 – State Police Management Confidential
• BU46 – Military and Naval Affairs Management Confidential
• BU66 – Public Employment Relations Board
• BU78 – Tug Hill Commission
• BU79 – Legislative Commissions
• BU98 – Iola Fund

State University Construction Fund

• BU97 – CSEA State University Construction Fund Unit
• BU96 – SUNY Construction Fund Management Confidential

Roswell Park*

• BU02 – Administrative Services Unit
• BU03 – Operational Services Unit
• BU04 – Institutional Services Unit
• BU05 – Professional, Scientific and Technical Services Unit

BU21 – Security Services Unit*Agencies must work directly with Roswell Park to credit affected employees as appropriate following the guidance in the Agency Actions - Qualifying Service Date Correction section.

OSC Actions:

OSC has created the following Additional Pay Earnings Code to process the LGS payment:

OSC will populate the following fields in Payserv found on the Job Labor tab of the Job Data page to store and update information relevant to the LGS payment. Agencies will have view access only and will be unable to make any updates to the fields.

• Original Eligibility Date
• Qualifying Service Date
• Processing Cycle
• Requires Recalculation
• Override 

OSC Actions – Initial Setup of Employee Data for the LGS Payment:

Original Eligibility Date 

OSC will populate the Original Eligibility Date field for all employees who have time served in an Executive branch bargaining unit (see Qualifying Service Eligibility section). The Original Eligibility Date is the first instance in a bargaining unit whose time counts towards the Qualifying Service Date or the rehire effective date when an employee has a break in service greater than one year and the REH reason is not RCM, PRF, RER or 713. Only employees who have had service in an Executive branch bargaining unit will receive an Original Eligibility Date. 

Requires Recalculation 

OSC will automatically update the Requires Recalculation field to “Y” for any employee who receive an Original Eligibility Date. Employees who receive a “Y” in the Requires Recalculation field, will be evaluated to determine if they should receive a Qualifying Service Date as described in the OSC Actions – Initial Setup of Employee Data for the Longevity Service Payment Qualifying Service Date section. After the Qualifying Service Date is determined, the Requires Recalculation field will be updated to “N” for all employees except those who have an Employee Status of Leave of Absence, and the leave was initiated by one of the following Action Reason combinations: 

• Leave of Absence due to Family Medical Leave (LOA/FML)
• Leave of Absence due to Child Care Leave (LOA/CCL)
• Leave of Absence due to Discretionary Leave Out (LOA/LOT)
• Leave of Absence due to Sick Leave (LOA/SKL)
• Leave of Absence due to Suspension (LOA/SUP)
• Leave of Absence due to Remove Pending Determination (LOA/RPD)

Employees with an Employee Status of any of the above Action/Reason codes, will have  their Requires Recalculation field remain a “Y” which indicates their Qualifying Service Date will continue to recalculate until they return from leave.

Qualifying Service Date

OSC will populate the Qualifying Service Date field for all employees in a payment eligible bargaining unit (see Affected Employees section). All job rows greater than or equal to the Original Eligibility Date will be evaluated to determine if the Qualifying Service Date requires an adjustment. An adjustment to the Qualifying Service Date is required when the employee’s payroll history reflects any of the following for one or more full pay periods:

• Bargaining unit is not in one of the Executive branches listed in the Qualifying Service Eligibility section above
• Employee status of Retired or Terminated
• Employee status of Leave of Absence and the leave was initiated by one of the following action reason combinations:
  • Leave of Absence due to Family Medical Leave (LOA/FML)
  • Leave of Absence due to Child Care Leave (LOA/CCL)
  • Leave of Absence due to Discretionary Leave Out (LOA/LOT)
  • Leave of Absence due to Sick Leave (LOA/SKL)
  • Leave of Absence due to Suspension (LOA/SUP)
  • Leave of Absence due to Remove Pending Determination (LOA/RPD)

Only those employees who are currently in a payment eligible bargaining unit will receive a Qualifying Service Date.

Processing Cycle

OSC will populate the Processing Cycle field whether the employee is established or not established on an LLS payment cycle:

• Established – an employee who has met the five years or more of continuous service at job rate criteria for an LLS payment in the last twelve months, regardless of if the employee does not receive the payment due to an unsatisfactory performance rating will have one of the following processing cycles:
  • AP (April Payment) represents employees in payment eligible bargaining units of PEF, CSEA, RRSU or SCF who are established on an April payment cycle.
  • OP (October Payment) represents employees in payment eligible bargaining units of CSEA, RRSU or SCF who are established on an October payment cycle.
• Not Established - an employee who has not met the five years or more of continuous service at job rate criteria for a LLS payment in the last twelve months will have one of the following processing cycles:
  • A (April) represents employees in PEF who are not established regardless of Qualifying Service Date.
  • A (April) represents employees in CSEA, RRSU or SCF who are not established and have a Qualifying Service Date between 10/2-4/1.
  • O (October) represents employees in CSEA, RRSU, or SCF who are not established and have a Qualifying Service Date between 4/2-10/1.

OSC Actions – Continuous Updates to Employee Data Related to LGS:

Original Eligibility Date 

For any new rows that are inserted on the Job Data page for employees in a position in an Executive branch bargaining unit (see Qualifying Service Eligibility section), the Original Eligibility Date will be populated based on the following and will become static:

• When the Action is HIR or CCH, the Original Eligibility Date will be automatically populated with the effective date of the HIR or CCH.
• When the Action is REH where a break in service is greater than one year and the Action Reason is not RCM, PRF, RER, 713, the Original Eligibility Date will be automatically populated with the effective date of the REH.
• When the Action is REH where the break in service is less than one year or the action reason is RCM, PRF, RER, 713, the Original Eligibility Date will be carried forward from the previous effective dated row.
• For all other Action rows, the Original Eligibility Date will be carried forward from the previous effective dated row.

Requires Recalculation

For any changes made on the Job Data page (including new, updated or deleted rows), the Requires Recalculation field will be updated to “Y.” OSC will evaluate employees who have a “Y” in the Requires Recalculation field weekly to determine if their Qualifying Service Date needs to be updated. Once the Qualifying Service Date is determined, the Requires Recalculation field will be updated to “N” for all employees except those who have a Payroll Status of Leave of Absence, and the leave was initiated by one of the following action reason combinations: 

• Leave of Absence due to Family Medical Leave (LOA/FML)
• Leave of Absence due to Child Care Leave (LOA/CCL)
• Leave of Absence due to Discretionary Leave Out (LOA/LOT)
• Leave of Absence due to Sick Leave (LOA/SKL)
• Leave of Absence due to Suspension (LOA/SUP)
• Leave of Absence due to Remove Pending Determination (LOA/RPD)

Employees with an Employee Status of any of the above Action/Reason codes, will have  their Requires Recalculation field remain a “Y” which indicates their Qualifying Service Date will continue to recalculate until they return from leave.

Qualifying Service Date

If the Requires Recalculation field is set to “Y” on any job data row, OSC will evaluate on a weekly basis the job history for that employee from the Original Eligibility Date forward to determine if an adjustment is needed to the Qualifying Service Date. An adjustment to the Qualifying Service Date is required when the employee’s payroll history reflects any of the following for one or more full pay periods:

• Bargaining unit is not in one of the Executive branches (see Qualifying Service Eligibility section)
• Employee status of Retired or Terminated
• Employee status of Leave of Absence and the leave was initiated by one of the following action reason combinations:
  • Leave of Absence due to Family Medical Leave (LOA/FML)
  • Leave of Absence due to Child Care Leave (LOA/CCL)
  • Leave of Absence due to Discretionary Leave Out (LOA/LOT)
  • Leave of Absence due to Sick Leave (LOA/SKL)
  • Leave of Absence due to Suspension (LOA/SUP)
  • Leave of Absence due to Remove Pending Determination (LOA/RPD)

Note: If an employee enters an ineligible bargaining unit, the Qualifying Service Date field will become blank. If the employee later returns to an eligible bargaining unit, the Qualifying Service Date will be repopulated and be adjusted accordingly.

If there is no Action/Reason that requires an adjustment to the Qualifying Service Date, the Qualifying Service Date will be carried forward from the previous effective dated row. 

Processing Cycle

OSC will evaluate all job rows where the Requires Recalculation field was set to “Y” on a weekly basis and update the Processing Cycle based on the following:

• Not Established - an employee who has not met the twelve years or more of continuous service in an Executive branch unit to be eligible for an LGS payment in the last twelve months will reflect one of the following processing cycles:
  • A (April) represents employees in PEF who are not established regardless of Qualifying Service Date.
  • A (April) represents employees in CSEA, RRSU or SCF who are not established and have a Qualifying Service Date between 10/2-4/1.
  • O (October) represents employees in payment eligible bargaining units of CSEA, RRSU, or SCF who are not established and have a Qualifying Service date between 4/2-10/1
• Established – an employee who has met the twelve years or more of continuous service in an Executive branch bargaining unit (see Qualifying Service Eligibility section) in the last twelve months, regardless of if the employee does not receive the payment due to an unsatisfactory performance rating. Once an LGS payment is processed and an employee becomes established, their processing cycle will be updated after payment processing as follows:
  • AP (April Payment) represents employees in payment eligible bargaining units of PEF, CSEA, RRSU or SCF who are established on an April payment cycle
  • OP (October Payment) represents employees in payment eligible bargaining units of CSEA, RRSU or SCF who are established on an October payment cycle 

Override

OSC will utilize this field in the event that system logic must be bypassed and a manual update to the new LGS data fields on the Job Labor tab may be required.

New Increment Codes

Employees in a payment eligible bargaining unit may receive an annual Performance Advance and an LGS payment if they meet the eligibility criteria for both payments. An employee may become ineligible or not qualify for one or both payments if: 

• An employee is eligible for both a Performance Advance and an LGS payment but is rated unsatisfactory, both payments will be withheld.
• An employee has not completed one year in grade and is not eligible for a Performance Advance but meets the criteria for an LGS payment, only the LGS payment will be paid.

In order to identify and appropriately process the scenarios as described above, OSC has implemented new increment codes in the LGS Increment Codes for Payment Withholds. OSC will identify affected employees and insert a Data Change (Action DTA) row on the Job Data page effective the anniversary date on the max effective dated job row to update history as appropriate prior to processing the April 2025 LGS payment. 

Note: Existing increment codes must continue to be utilized for employees who don’t require special processing.

Conversion from LLS payment to LGS payment: (see Conversion from LLS payment to LGS payment guide attachment)

Receiving an LLS payment and Qualify for an Equal Amount LGS payment
Eligible employees who are receiving an LLS payment in an amount based on years at job rate that is equal to the LGS payment amount based on the years of qualifying service criteria will systematically convert to the new LGS payment.

Receiving an LLS payment and qualify for a Greater Amount LGS payment
Eligible employees who are receiving an LLS payment amount that is less than the LGS payment amount based on years of qualifying service criteria will systematically convert to the new LGS payment.             

Receiving an LLS payment and Qualify for a Lesser Amount LGS payment
Eligible employees who are currently receiving an LLS payment in an amount that is greater than the new LGS payment amount they qualify for, will continue to receive their current LLS payment amount until the payment amounts become equal. Once the payment amounts become equal, the LLS payment will systematically convert to the new LGS payment.             

Receiving an LLS payment and do not qualify for an LGS payment
Employees who are currently receiving and remain eligible for an LLS payment but do not meet the qualifying service criteria for an LGS payment, will continue to receive their current LLS payment amount until they qualify for a new LGS payment at which time, they will be systematically converted.

Note: Employees who may meet the criteria for a greater LLS payment amount based on years at job rate prior to meeting the qualifying service criteria for an LGS payment, will not receive an increased LLS payment amount. 

Agency Actions beginning Pay Period 26L (Institution) and 1L (Administration):

Promotion Calculation Including LGS

There is no change to the current portability methodology. The agency must continue to follow the steps below when calculating the promotional salary for employees who receive LGS:

1. Combine any LGS that the employee may have received during the 12-month period prior to the promotion with the employee’s salary. The result is the employee’s base pay for promotion purposes.
2. Apply the appropriate percentage increase for the promotion to the base pay.
3. Compare the resulting salary to the Hiring Rate of the new grade to determine the higher salary.
4. The employee is entitled to the higher salary.
   Note: If an employee is below job rate and also receiving a Temporary Compensation Payment (Earnings Code IHP) this payment should also be added to their base salary, with any LGS they have received, prior to the promotion following the current methodology.

Employees who have received an LGS payment included in their promotion calculation and who remain in a payment eligible bargaining unit, will continue to receive an LGS payment as long as they meet the eligibility criteria.

Qualifying Service Date Correction

If the agency identifies a correction is needed to the Qualifying Service Date, the agency must submit an email request that includes the necessary changes to the Payroll Earnings mailbox, ATTN: Salary. Any changes to the qualifying service date must be completed by OSC as agencies do not have the ability to update the LGS fields.

Increment Codes

Once the April 2025 LGS payment has been processed, agencies will be responsible for updating an employee’s history as appropriate following the guidance in the LGS Increment Codes for Payment Withholds attachment (see OSC Actions – Initial Setup of Employee Data for the LGS payment - New Increment Codes section). Employees may be on differing payment cycles for a Performance Advance and LGS payment. An Unsatisfactory rating must continue to be submitted using the employee’s anniversary date even if their qualifying service date falls on a different processing cycle.

Employees who have Hourly and Fee service in an Executive Branch Bargaining Unit

Since service in an hourly or fee position counts towards qualifying service, in order to credit employees appropriately, agencies must submit payments separated by pay periods. One entry should not consist of earnings begin and end dates that span multiple pay periods. Payment for separate pay periods should be on separate lines. In addition, every effort should be made to enter payments timely in the pay period in which the work was performed. 

Questions:

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