Purpose

To provide agency instructions for processing the October 1, 2016 and October 1, 2017 Stipend Increases.

Affected Employees

Employees in the State University Graduate Student Negotiating Unit (GSNU) – BU28 who meet the eligibility criteria

Background

Chapter 166 of the Laws of 2017, which implemented the 2016-2019 Agreement between the State of New York and the Communications Workers of America/Graduate Student Employees Union, provides for an increase in stipends and an increase in the minimum stipend of two percent (2.00%) for both the 2016-2017 academic year and the 2017-2018 academic year.

Effective Date(s)

The October 1, 2016 Stipend Increase will be effective 10/6/2016 and will be paid in Administration Pay Period 14L, paychecks dated 11/1/2017

The October 1, 2017 Stipend Increase will be effective 10/5/2017 and will be paid in Administration Pay Period 14L, paychecks dated 11/1/2017

Eligibility Criteria

Employees who meet the following criteria on 9/30/2016, 10/6/2016 AND 10/18/2017 (Administration PP 14L Pay End Date) are eligible to receive the stipend increase for October 1, 2016:

• Bargaining Unit = 28
• Salary Grade = 980
• Pay Basis Code = BIW
• Payroll Status = Active or Leave with Pay

Employees who meet the following criteria on 9/30/2017, 10/5/2017 AND 10/18/2017 (Administration PP 14L Pay End Date) are eligible to receive the stipend increase for October 1, 2017:

• Bargaining Unit = 28
• Salary Grade = 980
• Pay Basis Code = BIW
• Payroll Status = Active or Leave with Pay

Agency Actions

Approved Salary Rates (Position Data Page)

Prior to processing the stipend increase, agencies must update the Approved Salary Rate field on each impacted row on the Position Data page to reflect the increased salary of the incumbent.

2016 Stipend Increase

To pay the October 1, 2016 Stipend Increase to eligible employees, agencies must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code SAC (Mass Salary Increase) and 10/6/2016 as the Effective Date. The value of the stipend increase should be determined by multiplying the salary in effect on 09/30/16 by 2.00% and rounding to the next whole dollar. This amount must be added to the salary in effect on 10/6/2016 and the result reported in the Pay Rate field.

The minimum stipend for academic year 2016-2017 is $9,573 for eligible employees on full assistantships employed at University Center campuses.

2017 Stipend Increase

To pay the October 1, 2017 Stipend Increase to eligible employees, agencies must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code SAC (Mass Salary Increase) and 10/5/2017 as the Effective Date. The value of the stipend increase should be determined by multiplying the salary in effect on 09/30/17 (using the increased salary resulting from the October 2016 Stipend Increase, if applicable) by 2.00% and rounding to the next whole dollar. This amount must be added to the salary in effect on 10/5/2017 and the result reported in the Pay Rate field.

The minimum stipend for academic year 2017-2018 is $9,764 for eligible employees on full assistantships employed at University Center campuses.

Subsequent Rows

If the employee has rows on the Job Data page subsequent to the effective date of the stipend increase, the agency must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code CSL (Cor Sal) with the effective date of the row being evaluated, the next available sequence number and the employee’s increased rate in the Pay Rate field, provided the employee remains eligible. If the employee has received a stipend increase for more than one year, the Pay Rate field should reflect the combined percentage increase for the year of the row being evaluated and each prior year.

Automatic Retroactive Processing

OSC will automatically calculate retroactive adjustments for regular earnings and Time Entry earnings that are calculated by the system based on new biweekly rates, such as Lost Time for Biweekly’s (LT6), resulting from payment of the October 2016 Retroactive Stipend Increase.

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, beginning in Administration Pay Period 15L, agencies must report the adjustment amount for earnings codes such as Adjustment (ADJ) or Lost Time Override (LTO).

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 Lost Time for Biweekly’s (LT6), 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, agencies must submit the following information on the Time Entry page or the Time Entry Interface (NPAY502) using the Earnings Code AJR.

Tax Information

These monies are taxable income subject to all employment and income taxes, will be included in the employee’s taxable gross and reported on the employee’s Form W-2.

The adjustment (AJR) is 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

All retroactive adjustments will be displayed on the Payroll Register using the appropriate Earnings Code and the amount paid and will be displayed on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice using the appropriate Earnings Description and the amount paid unless the number of earnings codes exceeds 13. Agencies should utilize Locked Query #49 to identify a complete list of regular earnings and retroactive adjustments if there are more than 13 earnings codes.

Questions

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

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