Purpose

To inform agencies of OSC’s automatic processing and to provide instructions for reporting transactions in Pay Period 19C.

Affected Employees

Judges who are paid using the LEG Pay Basis Code

Background

Based on an agreement between the Office of the State Comptroller and the Office of Court Administration, the total amount of regular earnings actually paid to a judge for each calendar year must equal:

• the judge’s statutory salary rate; or
• the prorated statutory salary rate for judges who serve only part of the calendar year, or
• the composite salary based on the number of days actually served at each statutory salary rate for judges who incur a salary change that is effective after January 1.

To ensure that judges are paid their statutory, prorated statutory salary or composite salary (whichever is applicable), an adjustment of regular earnings is required to be paid in the final paycheck of the calendar year.

Effective Date(s)

Pay Period 19C, paychecks dated 12/24/08

Eligibility Criteria

Judges who serve the entire calendar year are eligible for a year-end adjustment, provided the statutory salary is not evenly divisible by 26.  Judges who are Active on December 31, 2008 and serve the entire calendar year at more than one (1) statutory salary rate, or judges who serve only part of the year (same or different salary rate) are eligible for a year-end adjustment to be paid in the final paycheck of the year, unless the total amount of regular earnings that will be paid in the calendar year equals the judge’s prorated statutory or composite salary, whichever is applicable.

OSC Actions

OSC will automatically calculate the year-end adjustment, provided the following conditions are met and the judge does not meet the exceptional conditions described in the "Exceptional Conditions and Agency Actions in Pay Period 19C" section. The total amount of regular earnings due in the final paycheck of the year will be processed by OSC using the Earn Code RGS.

• For judges who served the entire calendar year and did not have a status change or change in salary, the total regular earnings (RGS) to be paid in the final paycheck of the year will be calculated by determining the difference between the total amount of regular earnings received for earnings dates December 27, 2007 through December 10, 2008 and the statutory salary as reported on the Compensation page.
• For judges who served the entire calendar year and did not have a status change but had a change in their statutory salary, the composite salary will be calculated as follows: The total regular earnings (RGS) to be paid in the final paycheck of the year will be calculated by determining the difference between the composite salary and the amount of regular earnings received for earnings dates December 27, 2007 through December 10, 2008.
• For judges who were appointed after January 1, 2008 (Action of New Hire or Concurrent Hire) and are still Active on December 31, 2008 and did not have a subsequent status change, the prorated salary will be calculated as follows: The total regular earnings (RGS) to be paid in the final paycheck of the year will be calculated by determining the difference between the prorated salary calculation and the amount of regular earnings paid from the date of hire through December 10, 2008.

OSC Exception Listings and Control-D Reports

OSC will produce exception listings and Control-D reports as follows:

• Listings will be produced on December 5, 2008 (after the paychecks for December 10, 2008 are confirmed) to identify judges who will not receive an automatic year-end adjustment, based on the exceptional criteria stated below. These listings will be emailed to Kelly Flanigan.
• Control-D Report NPAY 586 (Pay Basis Code LEG Year End Adjust) will be produced on December 5, 2008 to identify judges tentatively scheduled for the automatic adjustment. The amount identified in the RGS Balance Due column is the amount of RGS that will be paid in the final paycheck of the year.
• Control-D Report NPAY 586 (Pay Basis Code LEG Year End Adjust) will be produced on December 17, 2008 after the automatic payment is processed. This report will identify the judges with an automatic adjustment.

Prorated or Composite Salary Calculation

The prorated or composite salary calculation for judges who were hired and/or had a salary change after January 1, 2008 is determined as follows:

1. Determine the number of calendar days actually served in calendar year 2008. Note: For judges who had more than one salary rate, determine the number of calendar days served during the year at each salary rate.
2. Divide the number of calendar days served at each salary rate (Step #1) by 366 and round to seven (7) decimal places.
3. Multiply the result (Step #2) by the applicable statutory salary rate and round to two (2) decimal places.
4. For judges who had more than one salary rate, add the results for each salary rate.

Exceptional Conditions and Agency Actions in Pay Period 19C

Agencies may click here for instructions to report transactions in Pay Period 19C.

Judges who meet one (1) or more of the following exceptional conditions will not have their adjustment calculated automatically by OSC. For these employees, the payroll system will calculate regular RGS earnings for the final paycheck of the year, if applicable, based on the information contained on the judge's Job record.

Exceptional Conditions

• Judges who have OVP balances for 2008.
• Non-judicial employees who were transferred into a judicial position on December 27, 2007 or later.
• Judges who were Rehired or Returned from Leave with an effective date after January 1, 2008.

For judges who meet the exceptional conditions defined above, the agency must calculate and report the year-end adjustment, if applicable, as follows:

1. Determine the amount of salary entitlement for calendar year 2008 using the calculation above.
2. Determine the amount of regular earnings paid in calendar year 2008 for earnings earned in 2008, including the amount of regular earnings (RGS) that will be calculated by the payroll system for the final paycheck of the year.
3. Subtract the amount paid as determined in Step #2 from the amount of salary entitlement as determined in Step #1.
4. Enter the resulting adjustment as determined in Step #3 above into the Time Entry page using the Earn Code JYA (Judge’s Year End Adjustment) as stated below.

Reporting the Earn Code JYA:

General Comments

An explanation of the JYA calculation must be provided.

Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice

The Earn Code RGS will be displayed on the payroll register and the earnings code description “Regular Pay Salary Employee” and amount will appear on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice.

The Earn Code JYA will be displayed on the payroll register and the earnings code description “Judges Year End Adjustment” will appear on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice, in addition to the Earn Code RGS.

If the Earn Code RGO is reported, this earn code will replace Earn Code RGS and will be displayed on the payroll register and the earnings code description “Regular Pay Override” will appear on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice.

Reporting Actions for Pay Period 20C

Agencies must not report any actions for Pay Period 20C until after the 12/24/08 paychecks have been processed.

Questions

Questions about this Bulletin may be directed to your Payroll Auditor.