Purpose
The purpose of this bulletin is to describe new Time Entry Earns codes to be used to report and track overtime worked due to the COVID-19 health crisis.
Affected Employees
Employees of the Division of State Police in the State Police Troopers Unit – BU07, the State Police Commissioned/Non-commissioned Officers Unit (CO/NCO) – BU17, and the State Police Investigators Unit (BCI) – BU62 who work overtime due to events of the COVID-19 health crisis are affected.
Background
Pursuant to Division of the Budget (DOB) Bulletin H-0501 (Revised) agencies must track expenditures of overtime worked related to COVID-19 preparation and response activities. To facilitate tracking in PayServ, new Earns codes have been created.
Effective Date(s)
Tracking overtime related to COVID-19 preparation and response activities went into effect on 03/08/2020.
Eligibility Criteria
Employees who, on or after 03/08/2020, worked overtime related to COVID-19 preparation and response activities are eligible.
OSC Actions
OSC has created the following Earns codes in PayServ to enable agencies to track overtime related to COVID-19 preparation and response activities. The new Earns codes are to be substituted for the original Earns codes, as noted:
| New Earn Code | Description | Original Code | Associated Retro Code |
| C07 | COVID-19 OT-NU07 | OTI | RC7 |
| COI | COVID-19 OT for NU17 | O17 | RO9 |
| CTH | COVID-19 OT for NU62 | OTH | RC6 |
|
CVO |
Covid-19 OT Override |
OTO |
N/A |
Agency Actions
The agency must use the new Earns codes to report overtime worked related to COVID-19 preparation and response activities.
For overtime not related to COVID-19 preparation and response activities, agencies should continue their normal reporting procedures of using the codes that apply to the employees in their agency.
Reporting Overtime or Straight Time Using the New Earnings Codes
To report one of the new Overtime or Straight Time Earnings Codes the agency must submit the appropriate Earns Code in the Time Entry page using the following procedures:
| Earnings Begin Date: | Effective date started |
| Earnings End Date: | Effective date ended |
| Earn Code: | Enter appropriate code |
| Hours/Units/Amount: | Number of Hours/Units/Amounts, as applicable |
Overtime or Straight Time Previously Paid
The agency should make every effort to update the records of employees for whom payment for overtime or straight time directly related to COVID-19 preparation and response activities was previously processed using any of the original codes.
To update the records of employees described above, agencies must enter the following on the Time Entry page in PayServ:
- Enter the original Earns code with the original effective dates and negative hours/units/amounts, as applicable.
- Enter the COVID-19 Earns code associated with the original Earns code using the original effective dates and hours/units/amounts, as appropriate.
Tax information
These monies are taxable income, will be included in the employee’s taxable gross and are subject to all employment and income taxes.
The adjustments (Retro (RXX)) are supplemental taxable income and will be included in the employee’s taxable gross subject to all employment 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 (1.61135% for Yonkers residents and 0.50% for Yonkers non-residents).
Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice
The Earnings Codes and the amount will be displayed on the payroll register. The earnings description and the amount will be displayed on the employee’s paycheck or advice.
Questions
Questions regarding this bulletin may be directed to the Payroll Earnings mailbox.