Other Bulletin No. 36

Subject

April 2017 State University Construction Fund (SCF) Management and Confidential (M/C) 2% Salary Increase

Date Issued

June 2, 2017

Purpose

To inform the State University Construction Fund of OSC’s automatic processing of the April 2017 SCF M/C 2% Salary Increase and provide instructions for payments not processed automatically

Affected Employees

Employees designated management or confidential in the bargaining unit 96 who meet the eligibility criteria

Background

Chapter 8 of the Laws of 2017 provides for a salary increase of two percent (2.00%) for fiscal year 2017-2018.

The State University Construction Fund’s Board of Trustees approved Resolution includes a salary increase of two percent (2.00%) for fiscal year 2017-2018.

The Division of the Budget Bulletin D-1135 provides guidelines regarding the implementation of this payment.

Effective Date(s)

The April 2017 SCF M/C Retroactive Salary Increase will be paid using the following effective date and check date:

Pay Cycle/Pay Period Type	Payment Effective Date	Check Date
Administration Lag	04/06/2017	06/14/2017

Eligibility Criteria

The following employees are eligible to receive the April 2017 SCF M/C 2% Salary Increase:

Employees with a Pay Basis Code of HRY (Grade 600 or 800)
Employees with a Pay Basis Code of ANN who are in a traineeship (Grade 600)
Employees with a Pay Basis Code of ANN who are in an NS position (Grade 600) which is equated to a grade (Grade 603-668)

Per guidance from DOB, employees whose position is NS (grade 600) or grade 668 in any jurisdictional class, who were appointed or received a salary increase other than a parity payment or prior general salary increase effective on or after the payment effective date 04/06/17 (Administration) via a NS Salary Plan approved by the Division of the Budget (DOB) will not automatically receive the April 2017 SCF M/C 2% Salary Increase and require additional authorization by the Division of the Budget (DOB) in order to receive the increase.

OSC will provide the DOB with a list of employees who will not automatically receive this payment based on the criteria described above. DOB will review the employee records to determine if an employee is eligible and will notify OSC of those employees who should receive the April 2017 SCF M/C 2% Salary Increase.

An otherwise eligible employee who is on Leave of Absence (not related to Workers Compensation Leave) on the payment effective 04/06/17 (Administration) will receive payment upon their return to the payroll.

Employees with a Pay Basis Code of FEE are not eligible for the salary increase unless the employee is budgeted as per diem but is paid using FEE.

Control-D Report and Listing of Employees Requiring Manual Review Available Prior to Processing

The following Control-D report will be available for agency use on 05/18/17 (Administration). This will give agencies time to correct employees’ records, if necessary, prior to the automatic processing of the April 2017 SCF M/C 2% Salary Increase. The report is sorted by Department ID, then by employee name in alphabetical order.

NHRP709 – Mass Salary Increase Exception Report

This report is a preliminary listing of employees who appear ineligible to receive the April 2017 SCF M/C 2% Salary Increase based on information available as of the date the report is produced. The report does not include employees who will not automatically receive the increase for the following reason:

The employee occupied a position that is NS (grade 600) or grade 668 in any jurisdictional class, who were appointed or received a salary increase other than a parity payment or prior general salary increase effective on or after the payment effective date of 04/06/17 (Administration).

Included on the NHRP709 report is one or more of the following messages which identifies the reason(s) the employee’s record will not be updated.

NYS Position Has Both Equated Grade and NTE – if the employee’s Grade on the Position Data page (based on the NYS Position Number) is equal to 600 and a value exists in both the Equated to Grade field and the Approved Salary Rate field
Position and Job do not match – if the Position Number equals the NYS Position Number on the employee’s Job Data page but the Bargaining Unit, Salary Administration Plan or Grade on the Job Data page and the Position Data page are not equal
Increment Code Requires Manual Calculation – if the increment code on the employee’s Job Data page is 2222

If an employee appears on this report but is due a salary increase, the agency must take the following action:

Submit the appropriate transaction(s) on the Job Action Requests page to correct the information on the Job Data row(s). If the row(s) is corrected prior to or as part of Institution or Administration Pay Period 4L, the automatic salary increase will be processed.
Submit a Position Change Request to the Position Management Unit if the position information is incorrect on the Position Data page in PayServ. The position will be updated to reflect the change and the automatic salary increase will be processed.

Employees not Included on the NHRP709 who are Ineligible for Automatic Processing and who Require Review and Additional Authorization

Per guidance from DOB, employees whose position is NS (grade 600) or grade 668 in any jurisdictional class, who were appointed or received a salary increase other than a parity payment or prior general salary increase effective on or after the payment effective date 04/06/17 (Administration) via the a NS Salary Plan approved by the Division of the Budget (DOB) will not automatically receive the April 2017 SCF M/C 2% Salary Increase and require additional authorization by the Division of the Budget (DOB) in order to receive the increase.

OSC will provide the Division of the Budget with a list of employees who will not automatically receive this payment based on the criteria described above.

DOB will review the employee records to determine if an employee is eligible and will notify OSC of those employees who should receive the April 2017 SCF M/C 2% Salary Increase.

OSC will provide agencies with a list of these employees who have not been approved by DOB after Pay Period 4L is processed.

Agency Actions – Institution or Administration 4L

The following procedure must be used by the agency when submitting transactions in Institution or Administration Pay Period 4L.

For pay changes, position changes and transfers requested on the Job Action Requests or Transfer Requests page with an effective date on or after 04/06/17 (Administration):

The agency must not include the April 2017 SCF M/C 2% Salary Increase in the salary reported in the Pay Rate field. The 04/01/16 SCF M/C Salary Schedule must be used to calculate the salary.

OSC Actions

OSC will process the April 2017 SCF M/C 2% Salary Increase for all eligible employees as follows:

If the employee meets the eligibility criteria and has a Payroll Status of Active, Leave With Pay or Leave of Absence due to a Workers’ Compensation Leave (Action/Reason code of Leave of Absence/WCL, WDL, WPS or WSP) on the payment effective date, OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 04/06/17 (Administration) using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/SAC (Mass Salary Increase).
If the employee meets the eligibility criteria but has a Payroll Status of Terminated, Retired or Leave of Absence (not related to a Workers’ Compensation Leave) on the payment effective date and returns to Active status in an eligible position after the payment effective date, OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CSL (Correct Salary) if the Pay Basis Code is ANN or the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CRT (Change Rate) if the Pay Basis Code is HRY. The row will be inserted using the effective date of the Rehire or Return from Leave action.
If the employee is newly hired or transfers into an eligible position after the payment effective date and meets the above eligibility criteria, OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CSL (Correct Salary) if the Pay Basis Code is ANN or the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CRT (Change Rate) if the Pay Basis Code is HRY. The row will be inserted using the effective date of the Hire, Position Change or Transfer action.
OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CSL (Correct Salary) if the Pay Basis Code is ANN or the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CRT (Change Rate) if the Pay Basis Code is HRY for all subsequent rows provided the employee remains in an eligible position.

Calculating the New Compensation Rate

The salary on each inserted row will be calculated as follows:

If the employee has a Pay Basis Code of ANN and a Grade equal to 600 (not equated to a grade), OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 2.00% rounded to the nearest dollar.
If the employee has a Pay Basis Code of ANN and a Grade equal to 600 with an equated grade equal to 668, OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 2.00% rounded to the nearest dollar.
If the employee has a Pay Basis Code of ANN and a Grade equal to 600 with an equated grade equal to 603-667, OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 2.00% rounded to the nearest dollar.

Exceptions to Automatic Processing

OSC will process payment for employees described above if authorization is received from DOB no later than pay period 4L (05/31/17 Administration). Agencies must submit the transactions through Job Action Request to process payment manually for employees for whom authorization is received pay period 5L or later.

Employees in Composite Positions

Employees in a composite position (identified by Increment Code 2222) will not be processed automatically.

Control-D Reports Available After Processing

The following Control-D reports will be available for agency review after the automatic increases have been processed. All reports will be sorted by Department ID, then by employee name in alphabetical order.

NHRP704 – Mass Salary Increase Report

This report identifies all employees who received the automatic April 2017 SCF M/C 2% Salary Increase and includes all employees’ salaries that were increased in an eligible bargaining unit.

NHRP709 – Mass Salary Increase Exception Report

This report identifies employees who did not receive an automatic April 2017 SCF M/C 2% Salary Increase. Included on the report is one or more of the following messages which identifies the reason(s) the employee’s record was not updated. The explanation associated with each message is described above under the section Control-D Reports Available Before Processing.

NYS Position Has Both Equated Grade and NTE
Position and Job do not match
Increment Code Requires Manual Calculation

The following listing will be emailed to agency payroll officers after the automatic increase have been processed:

Listing of employees in NS positions (grade 600) or grade 668 who are ineligible for automatic processing due to the eligibility criteria stated above (see Eligibility Criteria) who were not approved by DOB in time for Pay Period 4L processing.

Agency Actions - Beginning in Institution or Administration Pay Period 4L

Employees Who Appeared on the NHRP709 – Mass Salary Increase Exception Report

Employees who appeared on the NHRP709 Mass Salary Increase Exception Report made available after processing did not automatically receive the April 2017 SCF M/C 2% Salary Increase. The agency should submit the appropriate transactions to correct the employee’s record and submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the appropriate Reason code (see below) to pay the salary increase beginning in Administration Pay Period 5L.

Employees Requiring Additional Authorization

Agencies must submit transactions through Job Action Request to pay the increase to employees in NS (grade 600) or grade 668 positions who did not receive the automatic increase for reasons described above but for whom DOB authorized payment after automatic processing was complete in Pay Period 5L (Institution and Administration).

Composite Positions

Beginning in Institution or Administration Pay Period 5L, the agency must review employees in composite positions (identified by Increment Code 2222) and submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the appropriate Reason code (see below) to pay the salary increase. Information regarding the composite position must be included on the General Comments page.

To Process Payment Manually

The following Action/Reason code(s) must be used to pay the April April 2017 SCF M/C 2% Salary Increase to eligible employees not processed automatically:

Reason code SAC (Mass Salary Increase) – for transactions effective on 04/06/17 (Administration).
Reason code CSL (Correct Salary) – for transactions effective after 04/06/17 (Administration) if the employee’s Pay Basis Code is ANN.

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 2017 SCF M/C 2% 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 5L, 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 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.

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 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:

Code	Description
410	Health Care Spending Account
420	NY Dependent Care Contribution
425	Repay State Loans/Debt
426	Higher Ed Repay State Loan
428	Dependent Care
433	Total Unemployment Ins Owed
500	Medicare Deficiency
501	Social Security Deficiency
502	NYS SS/Medicare Deficiency
GARNSH	Garnishments
HIATRG	Regular After Tax Health
HIATSP	Special After Tax Health Adj
HIBTRG	Regular Before Tax Health
HIBTSP	Special Before Tax Health Adj

Tax Information

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

Undeliverable Checks

If the agency has made an effort to deliver the check to the employee but the check has been returned and is undeliverable, the agency 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) 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. 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 this bulletin may be directed to the Payroll Earnings mailbox.

Questions regarding position information may be directed to the Position Management mailbox.

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

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