1. Home
  2. State Agencies
  3. Payroll Bulletins (P-Bulletins)
  4. Unified Court System
  5. Unified Court System Bulletin No. UCS-203

Unified Court System Bulletin No. UCS-203

Subject
April 2014 Unified Court System (UCS) Increments, Longevity Increments and Longevity Bonuses
Date Issued
March 28, 2014

Purpose

To inform agencies of OSC’s automatic processing of the April 2014 UCS Increments, Longevity Increments and Longevity Bonuses and provide instructions for payments not processed automatically.

Affected Employees

Employees in Bargaining Unit SR, SY, SN, SG, S9, SA, SD, G9, DR, F8, SK, 86, 87, 88 or CT who meet the eligibility criteria

Background

Section 37 of the Judiciary Law, Chapter 276 of the Laws of 2008 and the 2007-2010 Agreements between the UCS and various unions provide for payment of annual increments (increments) and additional increments (longevity increments) for eligible employees in the UCS.

Chapter 276 of the Laws of 2008 and the 2007-2010 Agreements between the UCS and various unions provide for payment of longevity bonuses for eligible employees in the UCS.

Effective Date(s)

The April 2014 UCS Increments, Longevity Increments and Longevity Bonuses will be paid using the following effective date and check date:

Pay Cycle/Pay Period Type Payment Effective Date Check Date
Administration 1 Lag 03/27/14 04/23/14

Eligibility Criteria

Increment

Employees in graded positions (Grade 501-537) are eligible for the April 2014 UCS Increment provided the employee:

  • Is in an eligible bargaining unit on the payment effective date: and
  • Has completed 120 full workdays between 04/01/13 and 03/31/14; and
  • Has a Pay Basis Code of ANN on the payment effective date; and
  • Received a performance rating of at least “Satisfactory” for service during the previous year.
Longevity Increment

Employees in graded positions (Grade 501-537) are eligible for the April 2014 UCS Longevity Increment provided the employee:

  • Is in an eligible bargaining unit on the payment effective date; and
  • Has completed four years in such grade at a salary equal to or greater than the Maximum Salary but less than Longevity Step 1 or four years in such grade at a salary equal to or greater than Longevity Step 1 but less than Longevity Step 2; and
  • Has completed 120 full workdays in each fiscal year; and
  • Has a Pay Basis Code of ANN on the payment effective date; and
  • Received a performance rating of at least “Satisfactory” for service in each fiscal year.
Longevity Bonus

Employees who have at least 20 years of continuous service in the UCS as of 03/31/14 are eligible for the April 2014 UCS Longevity Bonus provided the employee:

  • Is in an eligible bargaining unit on 04/01/14; and
  • Has completed 120 full workdays in each fiscal year; and
  • Has a Pay Basis Code of ANN or BIW (only if the employee is on a Paid Military Stipend Leave) on 04/01/14; and
  • Received a performance rating of at least “Satisfactory” for service during the previous year in each fiscal year.

Control-D Report Available Prior to Processing

The following Control-D report will be available for agency use on 03/28/14 (Administration). This will give agencies time to correct employees’ records, if necessary, prior to the automatic processing of the April 2014 UCS Increment and Longevity Increment.The report will be sorted by Department ID, then by employee name in alphabetical order.

NHRP708 – Mass Increment Payment Exception Report

This report is a preliminary listing of employees who appear ineligible to receive an April 2014 UCS Increment, Longevity Increment or Increment Code Update based on information available as of the date the report is produced. Included on the report is one or more of the following messages which identifies the reason(s) the employee’s record will not be updated.

  • Position and Job do not match
  • FIS Missing
  • FIS At or Below Current
  • FIS Below Hiring Rate
  • FIS Over Job Rate
  • Current Salary < Longevity Step 1
  • Sal At or Above Longevity Step 1
  • Sal At or Above Longevity Step 2
  • Increment Code Missing
  • Increment Code Invalid
  • Sal Below Hiring Rate
  • Sal Below Job Rate
  • Sal At or Above Job Rate

If an employee appears on this report but is due an increment, longevity increment or increment code update, the agency must 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 Administration Pay Period 1, the automatic increment, longevity increment or increment code update will be processed.

Agency Actions – Pay Period 1

The following procedures must be used by the agency when submitting transactions in Administration Pay Period 1L.

For pay changes, position changes and transfers requested on the Job Action Requests or Transfer Requests page with an effective date on or before 03/27/14 (Administration):

  • The agency must not include the increment or longevity increment in the salary reported in the Pay Rate field.
  • The agency must report the proper increment code for April 2014 in the Increment Cd field.

For pay changes requested on the Job Action Requests page with an effective date after 03/27/14 (Administration):

  • The agency must include, if applicable, the increment or longevity increment in the salary reported in the Pay Rate field.
  • The agency must report the projected increment code for April 2015 in the Increment Cd field.

For position changes and transfers requested on the Job Action Requests or Transfer Requests page with an effective date after 03/27/14 (Administration):

  • The agency must include, if applicable, the increment or longevity increment in the salary reported in the Pay Rate field.
  • No automatic processing will be done by OSC provided the agency reports Increment Code 5555.
Ineligible for Increment or Longevity Increment

Employees with an “Unsatisfactory” evaluation on their last rating date are ineligible to receive the April 2014 UCS Increment or Longevity Increment.The agency must submit a Data Chg on the Job Action Requests page effective 03/27/14 using the Reason code USP (Unsat Perf) and an increment code of 0003 in the Incr. Code field to withhold the increment or longevity increment.

Longevity Bonus

Eligible employees whose Payroll Status is Leave of Absence due to a Workers’ Compensation Leave or Unpaid Military Leave (Action/Reason code of Leave of Absence/WDL, MLL or MLS) on the payment effective date will not be processed automatically. Therefore, agencies must submit the following information on the Additional Pay page using Earnings Code JLO.

Earnings Code: JLO
Effective Date: 03/27/14
OT Eff Date: Same as Effective Date
Annual Addl Earnings: Payment Amount
End Date: 03/25/15
Ineligible for Longevity Bonus

Employees with an “Unsatisfactory” evaluation on their last rating date are ineligible to receive the April 2014 UCS Longevity Bonus. The agency must submit a list of ineligible employees to OSC to have the JLO transaction deleted.

Time Entry

To report miscellaneous earnings that are automatically calculated by the system (e.g. overtime), agencies must separate earnings by pay period so the earnings will not overlap the effective date of the Pay Change transaction.

OSC Actions

OSC will process the April 2014 UCS Increments, Longevity Increments and Increment Code Updates for those employees who meet the eligibility criteria and have 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/WDL) on the payment effective date.

In addition, OSC will update all subsequent rows on the Job Data page, except as noted above, in which the employee remains in an eligible bargaining unit regardless of Payroll Status. A row will be inserted with the same effective date as the row being evaluated using the Action/Reason code Pay Rate Change/CSL (Correct Salary).

Increment Processing

Increments will be processed for eligible employees with one of the following increment codes on the payment effective date.

  • Increment Code 0001: If the employee’s annual salary is equal to or greater than the Hiring Rate but less than the Maximum Salary of the employee’s grade on the payment effective date based on the 04/01/10 Salary Schedule, OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/27/14 (Administration) using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/INC (Increment) and will increase the employee’s salary to reflect payment of the increment. The employee’s salary will be capped at the Maximum Salary of the employee’s grade on the payment effective date based on the 04/01/10 Salary Schedule.
  • Increment Code 0004: OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/27/14 (Administration) using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CSL (Correct Salary) and increase the employee’s salary to reflect payment of a partial increment to the Maximum Salary based on the FIS (Fixed Incremented Salary) Amount provided the FIS Amount is greater than the employee’s salary on the payment effective date, equal to or greater than the Hiring Rate but less than or equal to the Maximum Salary of the employee’s grade on the payment effective date based on the 04/01/10 Salary Schedule.
  • Increment Code 0006: OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/27/14 (Administration) using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/INC (Increment) and will increase the employee’s salary to reflect payment of a partial increment based on the FIS (Fixed Incremented Salary) Amount provided the FIS Amount is greater than the employee’s salary on the payment effective date, equal to or greater than the Hiring Rate but less than or equal to the Maximum Salary of the employee’s grade on the payment effective date based on the 04/01/10 Salary Schedule.
  • Increment Code 0414: OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/27/14 (Administration) using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/379 (Jud Law 37.9) and will increase the employee’s salary to reflect the FIS (Fixed Incremented Salary) Amount provided the FIS Amount is greater than the employee’s salary on the payment effective date and equal to or greater than the Hiring Rate of the employee’s grade on the payment effective date based on the 04/01/10 Salary Schedule. The FIS Amount may exceed the Maximum Salary.
Longevity Increment Processing
  • Increment Code 2010: If the employee’s annual salary is equal to or greater than the Maximum Salary but less than the Longevity Step 1 of the employee’s grade on the payment effective date based on the 04/01/10 Salary Schedule, OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/27/14 (Administration) using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/LGP (Longevity Pay) and will increase the employee’s salary to the Longevity Step 1.
  • Increment Code 2006: If the employee’s annual salary is equal to or greater than the Longevity Step 1 but less than the Longevity Step 2 of the employee’s grade on the payment effective date based on the 04/01/10 Salary Schedule, OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/27/14 (Administration) using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/LGP (Longevity Pay) and will increase the employee’s salary to the Longevity Step 2.
  • Increment Code 0514: If the employee’s annual salary is equal to or greater than the Longevity Step 1 but less than the Longevity Step 2 of the employee’s grade on the payment effective date based on the 04/01/10 Salary Schedule, OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/27/14 (Administration) using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/373 (Jud Law 37.3) and will increase the employee’s salary to the Longevity Step 2.
Increment Code Update Processing

OSC will automatically update the increment code, as appropriate, on the inserted row for employees who receive an increment or longevity increment as follows:

Current Code Updated Code
 0001 0001 if the new salary is below the Maximum Salary
2014 if the new salary is equal to the Maximum Salary
0006 0001 if the new salary is below the Maximum Salary
2014 if the new salary is equal to the Maximum Salary

OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/27/14 (Administration) using the Action/Reason code of Data Chg/CIC (Chg IncCd/or AnnDt/or FIS Sal) and update the following increment code:

Current Code Updated Code
0003 0001 if the salary on the payment effective date is equal to or greater than the Hiring Rate but less than the Maximum Salary
Longevity Bonus (Earnings Code JLO)

OSC will process the April 2014 UCS Longevity Bonuses for those employees who meet the eligibility criteria and have a Payroll Status of Active or Leave With Pay on 04/01/14 by inserting a row on the employee’s Additional Pay page as shown below.

The payment amount is $1,900 for employees with less than 25 years of service (Anniversary Date is 04/01/1989 through 03/31/1994), $2,000 for employees with at least 25 years but less than 30 years of service (Anniversary Date is 04/01/1984 through 03/31/1989) and $2,100 for employees with at least 30 years of service (Anniversary Date is less than 04/01/1984) or a prorated amount for part-time employees.

Active employees (including employees on a Leave With Pay or Paid Military Stipend Leave) receive an amount based on the employee’s years of service and percentage in effect on 04/01/14. The full JLO payment amount based on the employee’s years of service is multiplied by the employee’s Empl Work Percent on the Job Data/Job Information page in effect on 04/01/14.

The Additional Pay page will be populated for eligible employees with the following information:

Earnings Code: JLO
Effective Date: 03/27/14
OT Eff Date: Same as Effective Date
Annual Addl Earnings: Payment Amount
End Date: 03/25/15

Control-D Reports Available After Processing

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

NHRP704 – Mass Increment Payment Report

This report identifies all employees who received the automatic April 2014 UCS Increment or Longevity Increment. The report includes the Action/Reason code used as well as the old compensation rate and new compensation rate.

NHRP708 – Mass Increment Payment Exception Report

This report identifies employees who did not receive an automatic April 2014 UCS Increment, Longevity Increment or Increment Code Update. Included on the report is one or more of the following messages which identifies the reason the employee’s record was not updated.

  • Position and Job do not match
  • FIS Missing
  • FIS At or Below Current
  • FIS Below Hiring Rate
  • FIS Over Job Rate
  • Current Salary < Longevity Step 1
  • Sal At or Above Longevity Step 1
  • Sal At or Above Longevity Step 2
  • Increment Code Missing
  • Increment Code Invalid
  • Sal Below Hiring Rate
  • Sal Below Job Rate
  • Sal At or Above Job Rate
NPAY770 – One Time Payment Report

This report identifies all employees who received the automatic April 2014 UCS Longevity Bonus.

Agency Actions – Beginning Pay Period 2

Beginning in Administration Pay Period 2L, agencies must submit transactions to make the April 2014 UCS Increment, Longevity Increment or Longevity Bonus payment to eligible employees who were not processed automatically.

Increments and Longevity Increments

Agencies must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the appropriate Reason code for eligible employees who return from a Leave of Absence (except a Workers’ Compensation Leave) and employees who are eligible for an increase but were not processed as a result of an error as identified on the NHRP708 – Mass Increment Payment Exception Report.

Agency Update of Increment Codes

Agencies must submit a Data Chg on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code CIC (Chg IncCd/or AddDt/ or FIS Sal) and update the following increment codes:

Current Code Updated Code
0414 4 digit max year of current grade or 0518 if salary is between 1st and 2nd longevity steps
0514 4 digit max year of current grade
0004 04 with 2 digit year for future application of 37.9
5555 The appropriate 2015 increment code

Any increment code of 0003 resulting from an “Unsatisfactory’ rating will be updated to 0001 and must be reviewed and updated accordingly.

Longevity Bonus

To report a Longevity Bonus for an eligible employee who did not receive an automatic payment, agencies must enter the following information on the Additional Pay page.

Earnings Code: JLO
Effective Date: 03/27/14 or date employee returns to payroll
OT Eff Date: Same as Effective Date
Annual Addl Earnings: Payment Amount
End Date: 03/25/15

Questions

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