Purpose

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide agency instructions for processing the April 2019 SUNY M/C Retroactive Discretionary Salary Increase.

Affected Employees

Employees designated management or confidential in the State University of New York - BU13 who meet the eligibility criteria and are selected by the campus president will be affected.

Background

All eligible M/C members who are included in Bargaining Unit 13 may be eligible to receive a retroactive general salary increase for 2019. This is in accordance with Chapter 24 of the Laws of 2019, which provides for a salary increase of two percent (2.00%) effective 04/01/2019 at the discretion of the campus president.

Effective Date(s)

The April 2019 SUNY M/C Retroactive Discretionary Salary Increase should be processed in Administration Pay Period 14L, paychecks dated 10/30/2019, OR Administration Pay Period 15L, paychecks dated 11/13/2019.

Eligibility Criteria

Employees selected by the campus president who meet the criteria listed below are eligible for the following increases:

• Bargaining Unit = 13
• Salary Grade = 980
• Pay Basis Code = ANN, BIW, HRY, FEE
• Payroll Status = Active or Leave With Pay on 03/31/2019, the payment effective date of 04/04/2019 and on the pay period end date of 10/16/2019 (for payments made in PP14L) or 10/30/2019 (for payments made in PP15L)

Agency Actions

Prior to processing, agencies must complete a roster identifying employees who will receive an April 2019 SUNY M/C Retroactive Discretionary Salary Increase. The roster must include the increased salary and must be signed by the campus president and forwarded to SUNY System Administration. A copy of this roster will be provided to OSC in Excel format.

To pay the April 2019 SUNY M/C Retroactive Discretionary Salary Increase to eligible employees, agencies must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code SIC (Sal Incr) and 04/04/2019 as the Effective Date. The Pay Rate field should be populated based on the information on the approved roster.

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). If the Pay Basis Code is HRY or BIW or the Reason code CSL (Cor Sal) if the Pay Basis Code is ANN, and the updated salary for each row, provided the employee remains eligible.

To pay employees with a Pay Basis Code of FEE, agencies must calculate the monies submitted on the Time Entry page using the increased rate beginning with the appropriate effective date.

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 Holiday Pay (HPA), resulting from payment of the April 2019 SUNY M/C Retroactive Discretionary Salary Increase.

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 (if payments made in PP14L) or Administration Pay Period 16L (if payments made in PP15L), agencies must report the adjustment amount for earnings codes such as 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 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 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 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(Adjust Raise):

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 orders:

• 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 the stipend 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).

Deduction Information

All general deductions for employees whose Payroll Status is Terminated, Retired or Deceased will be automatically cancelled by OSC with the exception of the following:

Tax Information

The adjustments (AJR and 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).

Undeliverable Checks

If the campus has made an effort to deliver the check to the employee but the check has been returned and is undeliverable, the campus should forward the check to the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, Division of Treasury, per instructions in Payroll Bulletin No. 908.

Checks issued to eligible employees who are now deceased should be returned with a completed Next of Kin Affidavit (Form AC 934-P), original Death Certificate and a Report of Check Exchange (Form AC 1476-P). If a Next of Kin Affidavit has been previously submitted for a deceased employee’s payroll check, OSC will accept a photocopy of this form along with a new Report of Check Exchange.

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. Campuses should utilize Locked Query LQ_049_ARCHIVED_EE_PAYSTUB 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 may be directed to SUNY System Administration.

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

Questions regarding military information may be directed to the Military Stipend mailbox.