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SUNY Bulletin No. SU-228

Subject
2015 Chancellor’s Power of SUNY Performance Incentive Payment for PSNU Employees Represented by the United University Professions (UUP)
Date Issued
October 8, 2015

Purpose

To inform agencies of OSC’s automatic processing of the 2015 Chancellor’s Performance Incentive Payment and provide agency instructions for payments not processed automatically.

Affected Employees

Employees in the State University Professional Services Negotiating Unit (PSNU) – BU08 who met the eligibility criteria, except employees in the following titles:

Title Job Code
Assistant Instructor (12 Mo) 003836
Assistant Instructor (HS) 003837
Clinical Assistant Instructor (HS) 003862

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 increase to basic annual salary in 2015.

Effective Date(s)

The 2015 Chancellor’s Performance Incentive Payment will be paid using the following effective dates:

  • Pay Basis Codes ANN and CYF – 07/01/15
  • Pay Basis Codes 21P and CYP – 08/13/15
  • Pay Basis Code CAL – 09/01/15
  • Pay Basis Codes BIW, HRY, FEE – determined by campus

Automatic payments will be included in the Administration paychecks dated 11/04/15.

Eligibility Criteria

Employees who met the following criteria on 06/30/15, on the payment effective date for the employee’s pay basis code and on 10/21/15 (Administration PP15L Pay End Date) are eligible to receive the $500 increase to basic annual salary.

  • Bargaining Unit = 08
  • Salary Grade = 980
  • Pay Basis Code = ANN or CYF, 21P or CYP, CAL, BIW, HRY, FEE
  • Payroll Status = Active or Leave With Pay

In addition, employees who worked at least one semester in Bargaining Unit 08 during the twelve (12) month period beginning 07/01/14 and whose employment expired prior to 07/01/15 are eligible for the payment if they are reemployed and have a Payroll Status equal to Active or Leave With Pay in Bargaining Unit 08 on the payment effective date and on 10/21/15 (Administration PP15L Pay End Date).

OSC Actions

OSC will process the 2015 Chancellor’s Performance Incentive Payment for those employees who met the eligibility criteria on the following dates based on the employee’s pay basis code:

  • ANN and CYF – 06/30/15, 07/01/15 and 10/21/15
  • 21P and CYP – 06/30/15, 08/13/15 and 10/21/15
  • CAL – 06/30/15, 09/01/15 and 10/21/15

OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page using the appropriate payment effective date with an Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/SIC (Sal Incr) and will increase the existing salary by adding $500.

If the employee has rows on the Job Data page subsequent to the row inserted above that met the above criteria, OSC will insert a row using the same effective date as the row being evaluated with the next available sequence number with an Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CSL (Cor Sal) and increase the existing salary by adding $500.

Note: If an employee meets the eligibility criteria on each of the above dates but transfers between Pay Basis Code Groups, the employee will not be processed automatically. A listing identifying these employees will be provided to SUNY System Administration.

Agency Actions

To pay the 2015 Chancellor’s Performance Incentive Payment to eligible employees with a Pay Basis Code equal to BIW or HRY, to employees whose employment has expired and who are reemployed and to employees not processed automatically, agencies must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason Code SIC (Sal Incr) and the appropriate effective date.The Pay Rate field should be populated based on the information in the Calculation of Increase section.

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 eligible.

To pay employees with a Pay Basis Code equal to FEE, agencies must calculate the monies submitted on the Time Entry page using the increased rate beginning with the appropriate effective date. Depending on the effective date, it may be necessary to submit an adjustment for prior transactions.

Calculation of Increase

The amount of the 2015 Chancellor’s Performance Incentive Payment should be calculated as follows:

Full-Time Annually Paid Employees

Full-time employees paid on an annual basis will receive the full amount of $500 added to their basic annual salary.

Part-Time Annually Paid Employees

Part-time employees paid on an annual basis will receive the full amount of $500 added to their basic annual salary which will then be prorated based on the Employee’s Work Percent.

Hourly Employees

Hourly employees will receive $0.24 added to their hourly rate (full amount of $500 divided by the annualized hours per year of 2088).

Part-Time Academic Employees Paid on a Biweekly Basis

Part-time academic employees who teach and are paid on a biweekly basis will receive one of the following amounts per semester, not to exceed $250 per semester or $500 annually.

  • 1 course = $62.50 per semester
  • 2 courses = $125.00 per semester
  • 3 courses = $187.50 per semester
  • 4 or more courses = $250.00 per semester

A campus such as Empire State College that provides courses over numerous semesters per year may further break down the amount per course as appropriate, not to exceed $500 annually.

The sum of these amounts for the academic year (2 semesters) must be divided by the number of payroll periods over which the employee will receive the payment and the result added to the employee’s biweekly salary.

Full-Time Professional and Non-Teaching Academic Employees Paid on a Biweekly Basis

Full-time professional employees and academic employees who do not teach and are paid on a biweekly basis will receive the full amount of $500 divided by the number of payroll periods over which the employee will receive the payment and the result added to the employee’s biweekly salary.

Part-Time Professional and Non-teaching Academic Employees Paid on a Biweekly Basis

Part-time professional employees and academic employees who do not teach and are paid on a biweekly basis will receive a pro-rata share of the $500 (based on the Employee’s Work Percent) divided by the number of payroll periods over which the employee will receive the payment and the result added to the employee’s biweekly salary.

Fee for Service or Per Diem Employees

A part-time employee who is paid on a fee for service or per diem basis whose professional obligation is less than one day of work per week and is currently not considered an eligible employee for accrual purposes per Article 23 of the 2011-2016 Agreement between the State of New York and the United University Professions is not eligible for this payment.

Control-D Report Available After Processing

The following Control-D report will be available for agency review after the automatic payments have been processed. The report will be sorted by agency code, then by employee name in alphabetical order.

NHRP704 – Mass Salary Increase Report

This report identifies all employees who received the 2015 Chancellor’s Performance Incentive Payment on the payment effective date.The report includes the Action/Reason code used as well as the old compensation rate and new compensation rate.

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 2015 Chancellor’s Performance Incentive Payment.

If an employee receives a payment and has worked in more than one agency but has been paid by all agencies 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 worked in more than one agency 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, 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 met 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.

Earnings Begin Date: The first date included in the adjustment
Earnings End Date: The last date included in the adjustment
Earn Code: AJR
Amount: Amount to be adjusted
Comments: An explanation of the adjustment

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).

Tax Information

These monies are taxable income, will be included in the employee’s taxable gross and are subject to all employment taxes and income taxes. Income taxes will be calculated using the employee’s current Tax Marital Status and Withholding Allowances on the Update Employee Tax Data page.

Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice

All retroactive adjustments will be displayed on the Payroll Register using the appropriate earnings code and the associated amount. The description of each earnings code and the associated amount will appear on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice unless there are more than 13 earnings codes.For these employees, agencies should utilize Locked Query #49 to identify a complete list of all regular earnings and retroactive adjustments.

Questions

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

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