Purpose

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide agency instructions for processing the July 2020 SUNY M/C Discretionary Salary Increase.

Affected Employees

Employees designated Management or Confidential in SUNY - BU13, who meet the eligibility criteria and are selected by the campus president, are affected.

Background

Chapter 337 of the Laws of 2019 provides for discretionary general salary increases for all eligible M/C members who are included in Bargaining Unit 13. Payment of the increases are at the discretion of the campus president and are effective 07/01/2020.

Per the Memorandum of the SUNY Board of Trustees dated 11/20/2019, the discretionary salary increase is comprised of two one-half percent parts. SUNY System Administration will provide campuses with details regarding the calculation and funding of these payments.

Effective Dates

The July 2020 SUNY M/C Discretionary Salary Increase should be processed in Administration Pay Period 10L, paychecks dated 09/01/2021. Rosters for Pay Period 10L are due to SUNY by 08/10/2021.

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
Comp Rate Code	ANN, BIW, HRY, FEE
Payroll Status	Active or Leave With Pay on 6/30/2020, on the effective date of 7/1/2020 and the pay end date of 8/18/2021.

Agency Actions

Prior to processing the payments, campuses are required to complete a roster identifying employees who will receive a July 2020 SUNY M/C Discretionary Salary Increase. The roster must include the increased salary, the amount of the increase 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 July 2020 SUNY M/C 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 07/01/2020 as the Effective Date. The Pay Rate field should be populated based on the information on the approved roster.

Subsequent Rows

If the employee has rows on the Job Data page subsequent to the row inserted above and remained eligible, the agency must submit a Pay Change using the Job Action Requests page as follows:

• Reason Code CSL (Correct Salary)- if the employee’s Comp Rate Code is ANN.
• Reason Code CRT (Chang Rate) - if the employee’s Comp Rate Code is HRY or BIW.

Processing FEE Employees

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

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 at 1.5 (OTA) and Lump Sum Annual (LSA), resulting from payment of the 2020 M/C Retroactive Discretionary Salary Increase for employees in Bargaining Unit 13.

If an employee receives a payment and has been paid in the same Employee Record Number since the effective date of the payment, all retroactive adjustments will be paid in the most current campus.

If an employee receives a payment 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 campus of the Employee Record Number in which the payment was made.

Agency Actions - Automatic 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 11L, the agency must report the adjustment amount for earnings codes such as: Fee (FEE), Lump Sum Payment Override (LSI), OT Override (OTO), 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 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

When an adjustment is needed for COVID-19 overtime such as CVO, ARC must be used. When an adjustment is needed for non-COVID-19 related overtime or recall such as OTT, ARO must be entered. Please refer to Payroll Bulletin No. 1893 for more information. Agencies must continue to use AJR for all other override Time Entry Earnings Codes requiring a manual adjustment as a result of a retro salary increase.

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, ARC, or ARO:

Earnings Begin Date:	The first date included in the adjustment
Earnings End Date:	The last date included in the adjustment
Earnings Code:	AJR, ARC, or ARO
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 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).

General Deductions

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:

Code	Description
406	Strike/Discip Fine
410	Health Care Spending Account
416	Deferred Comp
420	NY Dependent Care Contribution
425	Repay State Loans/Debt
426	Higher Ed Repay State Loan
428	Dependent Care
433	Total Unemployment Ins Owed
442	Pre-Tax Adoption
500	Medicare Deficiency
501	Social Security Deficiency
502	NYS SS/Medicare Deficiency
673	SUNY ORP Before Tax Arrears
674	SUNY ORP Suspense BTax Arrears
GARNSH	Garnishments
HIATRG	Regular After Tax Health
HIATSP	Special After Tax Health Adj

Tax Information

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

The adjustments (AJR, ARC, ARO, 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 (2.30815% for Yonkers residents and 0.50% for Yonkers non-residents).

Special Wage Payments for Individuals Who Filed for Retirement Social Security Benefits

Per Internal Revenue Service Publication 957, OSC will be reporting retro payments made to individuals who have filed for Social Security benefits to the Social Security Administration (SSA).

As PayServ does not include this information, OSC will be mailing a Request for Special Wage Payment Report to inactive individuals who are 62 or older in the calendar year and to active employees with the New York Retiree Indicator checked in Modify a Person who receive the retroactive payment. Recipients of this mailing will be asked to fill out the request and return it to OSC for inclusion on the Special Wage Payment report to SSA. This report will be submitted to SSA after the close of the 2021 tax year.

It is important that agencies ensure the New York Retiree Indicator box is checked for rehired retirees. Please see Payroll Bulletin No. 1728 for further details on the New York Retiree Indicator box.

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 LQ_PCD_PAYCHECK_EARNINGS_BY_ID to identify a complete list of regular earnings and retroactive adjustments if there are more than 13 earnings codes.

Undeliverable Checks

When a valid payroll check is undeliverable due to the agency’s inability to locate the employee, the agency should follow the Agency Actions identified in Payroll Bulletin No. 1786 Non-Negotiated and/or Undeliverable New York State Payroll Checks.

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.

Questions

Questions regarding eligibility for the salary increases may be directed to the 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.

Questions regarding deductions may be directed to the Payroll Deduction mailbox.