Purpose:

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide instructions to agencies for processing the 2024 Discretionary $3000 SUNY M/C Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment.

Affected Employees:

Employees designated M/C in SUNY (Bargaining Unit 13) who meet the eligibility criteria and are selected by the Campus President are affected.

Background:

Per Chapter 190 of the Laws of 2023 and the 09/12/2023 Memorandum from the SUNY Board of Trustees, SUNY M/C employees in the bargaining unit listed above may be eligible for a one-time lump sum payment at the discretion of the Campus President.

The one-time lump sum payment is not pensionable and not subject to across-the-board increases, must be included in the calculation of overtime, and is payable as follows: the first half of the payment is to be paid on the first day of the payroll period following July 1, 2024, and the second half of the payment is to be paid on the first day of the payroll period following July 1, 2025. 

Effective Dates:

The Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment is effective on 04/30/2024, to be paid in the following paychecks:

Eligibility Criteria:

Employees deemed eligible by the Campus President and who meet the following criteria are entitled to at least one half of the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment:

• On 08/24/2023, employees must:
  • Be in one of the following Bargaining Units:
    • UUP (08)
    • SUNY M/C (13)
    • CSEA (02, 03, 04, 47, 97)
    • PEF (05)
    • M/C (06, 18, 46, 66, 78, 79, 96, 98)
• Have an Employee Status of Active, Leave with Pay or Leave of Absence
• On 04/30/2024, employees must:
  • Be in the following Bargaining Unit:
    • SUNY M/C (13)
  • Have an Employee Status of Active, Leave with Pay or Leave of Absence.
    • Employees with an Employee Status of Leave of Absence with an Action/Reason code of Leave of Absence/MLS (Mil Stip) will receive the lump sum payment on the Check Dates listed above.
    • Employees with an Employee Status of Leave of Absence (except with an Action/Reason code of Leave of Absence/MLS) who meet all remaining eligibility criteria are eligible for the lump sum payment if they return to the payroll by 06/30/2025.
• Employees must have continuous service as stated in Civil Service Law Section 130.3(c) from 08/24/2023 through 04/30/2024.
  • Employees with a professional obligation who separated from the payroll with an Employee Status of Retired or Terminated during the break between fall semester 2023 and spring semester 2024 but who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements shall remain eligible.

Employees in the following situations are not eligible to receive the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment:

• Employees who have an Employee Status of Retired, Terminated or Deceased between 08/24/2023 and 04/30/2024 for any length of time that doesn’t pertain to the break between fall semester 2023 and spring semester 2024.
• Employees who have service between 08/24/2023 and 04/30/2024 in a bargaining unit other than the following:
  • UUP (08)
  • SUNY M/C (13)
  • CSEA (02, 03, 04, 47, 97)
  • PEF (05)
  • M/C (06, 18, 46, 66, 78, 79, 96, 98)
• Employees who have already received a Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment (Earnings Code BNP) from CSEA (02, 03, 04, 47, 97), PEF (05), or M/C (06, 18, 46, 66, 78, 79, 96, 98) processing and who were not in a SUNY M/C (13) position on 08/24/2023.
• Employees with a Comp Rate Code of HRY on 04/30/2024 whose professional obligation is less than one day of work per week.
• Employees with a Comp Rate Code of FEE on 04/30/2024.
• Employees not determined as eligible by the Campus President.

OSC Actions

Earnings Codes

OSC has created the following Additional Pay Earnings Codes to process the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment:

In addition, OSC has created the following Time Entry Earnings Code to pay the additional overtime monies owed to hourly employees for overtime hours worked between the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment Effective Date and Payment End Date:

Automatic Processing- Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Administration Pay Period 8L:

To process the first half of the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment for eligible employees in the Check Dated 07/31/2024, OSC will create an Additional Pay record for each eligible employee as provided on SUNY System Administration’s Fiscal Year 2024-2025 roster (See Agency Actions - Roster of Eligible Employees) as follows:

Please note: At the time of processing the first half of the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment (Earnings Code BNP) in Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Administration Pay Period 8L, the Effective Date of the BNP row inserted into Additional Pay will be retroactive. The Retroactive Overtime Processing section below contains information on OSC’s processing of retroactive overtime adjustments in Checks Dated 07/31/2024.

Automatic Processing- Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Administration Pay Period 8L:

To process the second half of the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment for eligible employees in the Check Dated 07/30/2025, OSC will create an Additional Pay record for each eligible employee as provided on SUNY System Administration’s Fiscal Year 2025-2026 roster (See Agency Actions - Roster of Eligible Employees) as follows:

Please note: At the time of processing the second half of the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment (Earnings Code BN2) in Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Administration Pay Period 8L, both the Effective Date and End Date of the BN2 row inserted into Additional Pay will be retroactive. As a result, the system will not automatically pay the BN2 in the Check Dated 07/30/2025. Therefore, in Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Administration Pay Period 8L, OSC will also insert a BN2 row into Time Entry using the same effective date and amount as above. In addition, the Retroactive Overtime Processing section below contains information on OSC’s processing of retroactive overtime adjustments in Checks Dated 07/30/2025.

Agency Actions- Roster of Eligible Employees:

Fiscal Year 2024-2025
SUNY System Administration will provide a roster to OSC of eligible employees who are entitled to the first half of the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment no later than 06/28/2024. The roster must include:

1. Employee ID (Empl ID field in PayServ)
2. Employee Record (Empl Record field in PayServ)
3. Payment Effective Date (See Effective Datessection above)
4. Payment End Date (See Effective Dates section above)
5. First Half of Payment Amount (As determined in the Calculation of Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment Amount section below)

Fiscal Year 2025-2026
SUNY System Administration will provide a roster to OSC of eligible employees who are entitled to the second half of the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment no later than 06/27/2025. The roster must include:

1. Employee ID (Empl ID field in PayServ)
2. Employee Record (Empl Record field in PayServ)
3. Payment Effective Date (See Effective Datessection above)
4. Payment End Date (See Effective Dates section above)
5. Second Half of Payment Amount (As determined in the Calculation of Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment Amount section below)

Agency Actions- Calculation of Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment Amount

Employees’ Comp Rate Code and work percent on 04/30/2024 determines the methodology used to calculate the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment amount.

Please note: Campus Presidents shall determine the distribution of the lump sum payment and may determine how much, if any, is expended up to the amounts described below.

Full Payment Amount:

The following employees may receive up to the full payment amount of $3,000 ($1,500 per year):

• Employees with an Employee Status of Active or Leave With Pay whose Comp Rate Code is ANN, CAL, CYF or 21P and work percent is 100% on 04/30/2024.
• Non-Academic Employees with an Employee Status of Active or Leave With Pay whose Comp Rate Code is BIW and work percent is 100% on 04/30/2024.
• Employees with an Employee Status of Leave of Absence with an Action/Reason code of Leave of Absence/MLS (Mil Stip) whose Comp Rate Code is ANN, BIW, CAL, CYF or 21P and work percent is 100% on 04/30/2024.

Prorated Payment Amount Based on Work Percent:

The following employees may receive a prorated payment amount based on their work percent in effect on 04/30/2024 (not to exceed $1500 per year):

• Employees with an Employee Status of Active or Leave With Pay whose Comp Rate Code is ANN, CAL, CYF or 21P and work percent is less than 100% on 04/30/2024.
• Non-Academic Employees with an Employee Status of Active or Leave With Pay whose Comp Rate Code is BIW and work percent is less than 100% on 04/30/2024.

The prorated Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment that may be due each year will be determined as follows:

1. Multiply the employee’s work percent in effect on 04/30/2024 by $3,000. This is the total prorated Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment amount that the employee may be entitled to receive.
2. Divide the prorated Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment amount in half and round to the nearest cent. This is the maximum amount the employee may be entitled to receive each year, as determined by the Campus President.

Prorated Payment Amount Based on Credit Hours:

The following employees may receive a prorated payment amount based on the credit hours worked in the Spring 2024 Semester (not to exceed $1500 per year), as determined by the Campus President:

• Academic employees with an Employee Status of Active or Leave With Pay whose Comp Rate Code is BIW on 04/30/2024 and who are teaching a three or more credit hour course or course equivalent may be paid up to the following amounts:

• Academic employees with an Employee Status of Active or Leave With Pay whose Comp Rate Code is BIW on 04/30/2024 and who are not teaching a three or more credit hour course or course equivalent may be paid on a per-credit hour or credit equivalent basis of up to $125.00.
  • A campus which provides courses over numerous semesters per year may further break down the amount per course as appropriate.

Prorated Payment Amount Based on Hours Worked:

The following employees may receive a prorated payment amount based on the number of hours worked:

• Employees with an Employee Status of Active or Leave With Pay whose Comp Rate Code is HRY on 04/30/2024.

The prorated Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment amount based on hours worked must be calculated as follows:

1. Determine the Actual Hours Worked by totaling all hours with earnings dates between the begin and end dates of the Spring 2024 semester for the following earnings codes:

NOTE: In instances where the earnings dates overlap the begin date and/or end date of the Spring 2024 semester, agencies must determine the actual hours worked during the Spring 2024 semester and exclude any hours that were worked outside the semester dates.

2. Determine the Total Possible Full-Time Hours a full-time employee would have worked during the Spring 2024 semester.

3. Divide the Actual Hours Worked (amount determined in Step 1) by the Total Possible Full-Time Hours (amount determined in Step 2) and round to two decimal places. This is the employee’s Approximate Work Percentage.

4. Multiply the Approximate Work Percentage by $3,000 and round to the nearest cent. This is the Total Prorated Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment amount that the employee may be entitled to receive.

5. Divide the Total Prorated Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment amount in half and round to the nearest cent. This is the maximum amount the employee may be entitled to receive each year, as determined by the Campus President.
 

Agency Actions- Payments Not Processed Automatically:

Agencies must submit transactions to process the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment for the following employees:

• Employees provided on SUNY System Administration’s roster(s) who meet the Eligibility Criteria but have an Employee Status of Leave of Absence (except with an Action/Reason code of Leave of Absence/MLS) on 04/30/2024 and have not returned at the time of OSC’s processing in Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Administration PP8L but who return to the payroll on or before 06/30/2025.
• Employees who meet the Eligibility Criteria and who were not originally provided on SUNY System Administration’s roster(s) but were later identified as eligible by the agency and Campus President.

Submitting Payment

To process the first half of the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment to eligible employees who were not included in OSC’s processing of employees provided on SUNY System Administration’s Roster in Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Administration 8L, agencies must submit the following information on the Additional Pay page:

To process the second half of the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment to eligible employees who were not included in OSC’s processing of employees provided on SUNY System Administration’s Roster in Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Administration 8L, agencies must submit the following information on the Additional Pay page:

Agency Actions- Adjusting the Automatic Payment Amount:

Increasing the Original Payment Amount Prorated Based on Hours

Agencies must correct the payment amount for employees whose Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment was calculated based on hours and who received less than the full payment amount of $3,000 ($1,500 per year) if any of the following apply and the Campus President determines the employee is entitled to the additional earnings:

• Eligible Transactions Submitted Subsequent to Automatic Payment Processing

If subsequent to an employee receiving the automatic lump sum payment, a transaction is submitted on the Job Data page or for any of the eligible earnings codes listed above effective between the appropriate Evaluation Begin Date and Evaluation End Date in the Calculation of Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment Amount section that results in the employee receiving increased hours, the agency may correct the lump sum payment amount. Divide these additional hours by the total number of hours a full-time employee would have received in the Spring 2024 semester, round the result to two decimal places, multiply by the full payment amount of $3,000, divide by two, and round to the nearest cent.

Submitting Payment Increase

To adjust a previously paid Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment, the agency must insert a row on the Additional Pay page at the Effective Date level of Earnings Codes BNP (First Half of Payment) and/or BN2 (Second Half of Payment) and enter the following information:

Note:  If the employee is owed additional monies, the system will pay the difference between the Annual Addl Earnings and the Goal Balance.

Decreasing or Eliminating the Original Payment Amount

Agencies must decrease the payment amount for employees if the following situation occurs: 

• Eligible Transactions Submitted Subsequent to Automatic Payment Processing

If subsequent to an employee receiving the automatic lump sum payment, a transaction is submitted on the Job Data page or for any of the eligible earnings codes listed above effective between the appropriate Evaluation Begin Date and Evaluation End Date in the Calculation of Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment Amount section that results in the employee receiving decreased hours, the agency must correct the lump sum payment amount. To calculate the overpayment amount, divide these negative hours by the total number of hours a full-time employee would have received in the Spring 2024 semester, round the result to two decimal places, multiply by the full payment amount of $3,000, divide by two and round to the nearest cent.

Submitting Payment Decrease

To adjust a previously paid Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment, the agency must insert a row on the Additional Pay page at the Effective Date level of Earnings Codes BNP (First Half of Payment) and/or BN2 (Second Half of Payment) and enter the following information:

Recovering Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment Overpayments:

If an employee incorrectly received the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment or received a higher payment amount than they are eligible to receive, agencies must submit the following information on the Additional Pay page to recover the overpayment:

Goal Balance: The Goal Balance field should be left blank when entering the initial adjustment record. When adjusting the Earnings amount or Goal Amount of an existing adjustment record, the Goal Balance from the prior row should be carried up to the new row. 

Note: Overtime monies may also need to be recouped. Please refer to Recovering Overtime Monies When the Original Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment is Reduced section below.

Overtime Calculation

The Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment must be included in the calculation of overtime compensation.

Annualized Employees

The Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment will be automatically included in the calculation of overtime earned from the OT Eff Date through the End Date on the employee’s Additional Pay page for Earnings Code BNP and BN2.

Hourly and Exception Hourly Employees

The Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment for hourly and exception hourly employees will not be included automatically in the calculation of overtime. Therefore, an overtime adjustment is required for all overtime hours earned between the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment Effective Dates and Payment End Dates.

To pay the overtime adjustment to eligible hourly and exception hourly employees, agencies must submit the following information on the Time Entry page or the Time Entry Interface (NPAY502) using Earnings Code B10, B11 or BOO.

Please note: If agencies identify employees during or after Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Administration Pay Period 8L with a Comp Rate Code of HRY who are due overtime hours for the period between the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment Effective Date and Payment End Date that were not previously processed, the following actions should be taken:

1. Employees who are due both full halves of the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment ($3,000 total) should continue to be paid using Time Entry Earnings Codes B10 and B11. OSC will update the description and calculation of Earnings Codes B10 and B11 to be based on the total Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment amount ($3,000). 
2. Employees who are due less than $3,000 total should be paid using Time Entry Earnings Code BOO (Including employees who are due only one half of the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment).

Ending Overtime Eligibility

If an employee has received the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment and is appointed to a position in a bargaining unit other than CSEA (02, 03, 04, 47, 97), PEF (05), M/C (06, 18, 46, 66, 78, 79, 96, 98), SUNY M/C (13), and UUP (08), the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment cannot be included in the compensation calculation of overtime earned on or after the date of the appointment. Therefore, agencies must insert a row on the Additional Pay page at the Effective Date level of Earnings Codes BNP and/or BN2 and enter the following information:

Recovering Overtime Monies When the Original Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment is Reduced 

If an employee’s lump sum payment is reduced and the higher lump sum payment amount was used in their overtime calculation, the overtime monies paid must be reduced as follows:

Annualized Employees: The negative overtime adjustment for annualized employees will be calculated automatically when the lump sum payment (Earnings Codes BNP and/or BN2) is adjusted on the Additional Pay page. 

If the agency would like to recover the entire overtime overpayment in a single paycheck, a General Comment must be entered stating that the retroactive adjustment must be left on. 

If the entire overpayment will not be recovered in a single paycheck, a General Comment must be entered stating that the retroactive adjustment should be marked paid out. In addition, agencies must submit a negative overtime adjustment on the Time Entry page or the Time Entry Interface (NPAY502) using the following information in each pay period until the full overpayment is recovered:

*Please refer to Payroll Bulletin No. 1893 for more information on overtime adjustments.

Hourly Employees:  Since the lump sum payment was not automatically included in the original overtime calculation, agencies were required to process overtime adjustments. Therefore, the negative overtime adjustment for hourly employees will also not be calculated automatically when the lump sum payment (Earnings Codes BNP and/or BN2) is adjusted on the Additional Pay page.

To recover overtime overpayments for hourly employees, agencies must submit a negative overtime adjustment on the Time Entry page or the Time Entry Interface (NPAY502) using the following information in each pay period until the full overtime overpayment is recovered:

*Please refer to Payroll Bulletin No. 1893 for more information on overtime adjustments.

Retroactive Overtime Processing

Since the first half of the payment (Earnings Code BNP) and the second half of the payment (Earnings Code BN2) must be included in the calculation of overtime compensation and the effective dates will be retroactive at the time of processing, employees will be entitled to retroactive adjustments for any overtime earned between the Effective Date and End Date of the first and second halves of the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment.

OSC will automatically calculate retroactive adjustments for Time Entry overtime earnings that are calculated by the system based on annual salary such as OT for Annuals (Earnings Code OTA). These adjustments will be paid using the associated retroactive earnings code and will be paid in the applicable Check Dates as referenced in the Effective Dates section.

OSC will also calculate the retroactive adjustments for Time Entry Earnings Codes BOO, B10 and B11 after the processing of the second half of the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment (Earnings Code BN2) in Check Dated 07/30/2025. A retroactive adjustment for these earnings codes will be processed using Time Entry Earnings Code AOR (Adjustment for OT and RCL) for those transactions with an Earnings Begin Date on or after the Effective Date of the BN2 and with an Earnings End Date on or before the End Date of the BN2.

Control-D Report Available After Processing:

After processing of the first half of the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment in Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Administration Pay Period 8L is completed, the following Control-D report will be available for agency use:

NPAY770 – One Time Payment Report

This report identifies all employees who received the first half of the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment in the 07/31/2024 check date. 

An additional NPAY770 report will also be available in Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Administration Pay Period 8L following the processing of the second half of the Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment which will identify all employees who received a payment in the 07/30/2025 check.

Retirement and Deduction Information:

The Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment is non-pensionable and not subject to union dues. Deductions will be taken from the lump sum payment for garnishments and federal levies.

Tax Information:

The Non-Pensionable Lump Sum Payment is supplemental 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 (Earnings Code AOR) and retroactive payments (Earnings Codes 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 (1.95975% 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 retroactive 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 2024 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 – New York Retiree Indicator for further details on the New York Retiree Indicator box.

Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice:

The Earnings Code and the amount paid will be displayed on the Payroll Register. The Earnings Description and the amount paid will appear on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice. If the number of earnings codes exceeds 13, agencies should utilize Locked Query LQ_PCD_PAYCHECK_EARNINGS_BY_ID to identify a complete list of earnings.

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 submitted as a stop payment request with a reason of Exchange in PayServ. The Report of Check Exchange (AC 1476-P), Next of Kin Affidavit (AC 934-P) and original death certificate should be submitted to the Payroll Reversal and Exchange mailbox at the same time as the stop payment request. 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 this bulletin may be directed to the Payroll Earnings mailbox.

Questions regarding payment eligibility may be directed to SUNY System Administration.