Purpose

To provide agency instructions for processing the $500 Service Award for full-time employees.

Affected Employees

Full-time employees in the State University Professional Services Negotiating Unit (PSNU) - Bargaining Unit 08 who meet the eligibility criteria

Background

Chapter 340 of the Laws of 2013, which implemented the 2011-2016 Agreement between the State of New York and the United University Professions, provides for a $500 Service Award to be processed as a one-time advance to basic annual salary.

Processing Date

Beginning Administration Pay Period 16L, paychecks dated 11/20/13

Eligibility Criteria

The following employees who have a Pay Basis Code equal to ANN, CAL, CYF, 21P, FEE, BIW or HRY are eligible to receive the one-time advance to basic annual salary of $500.

• Full-time employees who effective on or after 07/02/11 and on or before 01/01/13 have been granted a permanent or continuing appointment at the campus at which they are currently employed (Payroll Status equals Active or Leave With Pay at the time of payment).
• Full-time employees who effective on or after 07/02/11 and on or before 01/01/13 have been granted a second five-year term appointment at the campus at which they are currently employed (Payroll Status equals Active or Leave With Pay at the time of payment), under Article XI, Title A of the State University of New York Policies of the Board of Trustees.
• Employees who effective on or before 01/01/13 have completed seven consecutive years of full-time service in the title of Lecturer or in any of the titles listed in Article XI, Appendix B, Section 4 – Division III Sports or Article XI, Appendix C at the campus at which they are currently employed (Payroll Status equals Active or Leave With Pay at the time of payment).

Employees, who receive one of the above appointments or complete the required service after 01/01/13, are eligible to receive the one-time advance to basic annual salary effective the date the employee becomes eligible.

Note: Eligible employees may receive the one-time advance effective 01/01/13 regardless of their professional obligation.

Agency Actions

To pay the $500 Service Award to eligible full-time employees, agencies must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code SIC (Sal Incr) effective 01/01/13 or the date the employee becomes eligible if subsequent to 01/01/13. Include the updated salary in the Pay Rate field.

If the employee has rows on the Job Data page subsequent to the row inserted above, the agency must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code CRT (Chg Rate) (Pay Basis Codes HRY and BIW only) or CSL (Cor Sal) and the updated salary for each row, provided the employee remains in BU08.

In addition, prior to submitting the above transactions, agencies must update the Approved Salary Rate field on the Position Data page if the existing salary is less than the increased salary of the incumbent.

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 Lost Time (LT1), resulting from payment of the $500 one-time advance.

Agency Actions – Retroactive Processing

Reporting Retroactive Adjustments

Time Entry earnings codes that are submitted with an amount will not be adjusted automatically. Therefore, agencies 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 had 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 or RGH 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 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, agencies 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 order.

• 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 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).

Questions

Questions regarding eligibility for this payment should be directed to the SUNY System Administration.

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