Purpose

To inform agencies of OSC’s automatic processing of the April 2017 Salary Increase for Bargaining Units 86, 87, 88 and CT, and provide instructions for payments not processed automatically.

Affected Employees

Employees in the following bargaining units who meet the eligibility criteria:

Unrepresented Non-Judicial Employees	Bargaining Units 86, 88, CT
Civil Service Employees Association	Bargaining Unit 87

Background

Chapter 164 of the Laws of 2017, which implemented the 2017-2020 Agreement between the Unified Court System of the State of New York (UCS) and the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA – Bargaining Unit 87), provides for a salary increase of two percent (2.00%) effective April 1, 2017. In addition, consistent with prior practice, when a CSEA Agreement is reached, the negotiated changes detailed in the Labor Relations Memorandum are extended to Management/Confidential and Unrepresented employees in Bargaining Units 86, 88 and CT.

The Administrative Order of the Chief Administrative Judge of the Courts, dated 08/11/17, established the April 2017 Salary Schedule for CSEA.

The memo dated 08/28/2017 from the Chief Administrative Judge provides approved salary increases for non-graded unrepresented employees (Grade 560).The increases will be processed manually by the UCS payroll office in accordance with such memo.

Note: The salary of employees in Department 05680 (New York City County Clerks) is determined pursuant to Chapter 491 of the Laws of 2009 and is not eligible for this increase.

Effective Date(s)

The April 2017 2% Salary Increases will be paid using the following effective date and check date:

Year	Pay Cycle/Pay Period Type	Payment Effective Date	Check Date
2017	Administration 12 Lag	04/06/17	10/04/1

Eligibility Criteria

The following employees are eligible to receive the April 2017 2% Salary Increase.

• Represented employees (Bargaining Unit 87) with a Pay Basis Code of ANN and who are in a graded position (Grade 501-538) or in an ungraded position (Grade 560).
• Unrepresented employees (Bargaining Units 86, 88, CT) with a Pay Basis Code of ANN who are in a graded position (Grade 501-538).
• Represented employees with a Pay Basis Code of HRY (Grade 560) in Bargaining Unit 87 only.

Control-D Report Available Prior to Processing

The following Control-D report will be available for agency use on 09/07/17 (Administration). This will give agencies time to correct employees’ records, if necessary, prior to the automatic processing of the April 2017 Salary Increase. The report is sorted by Department ID, then alphabetically by employee name.

NHRP709 – Mass Salary Increase Exception Report

This report is a preliminary listing of employees who appear ineligible to receive the April 2017 Salary Increase 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 – 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 Position Data page are not equal.
• Sal Below Hiring Rate – if the employee’s Pay Basis Code is ANN and Grade is equal to 501-538 but the salary is less than the Hiring Rate for the employee’s grade on the 04/01/2016 Salary Schedule.

If an employee appears on this report but is due a salary increase, the agency must submit the appropriate transaction(s) on the Job Action Requests page to correct the information on the Job Data row(s) or update the information on the Position Data page. If the information is corrected prior to or as part of processing for Administration Pay Period 12L, the automatic salary increase will be processed.

Agency Actions – Administration Pay Period 12L

The following procedures must be used by the agency when submitting transactions in Administration Pay Period 12L:

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

• The agency must not include the April 2017 Salary Increase, if applicable, in the salary reported in the Pay Rate field. The 04/01/16 Salary Schedule must be used to calculate the salary.
• The agency must report the proper increment code for 2017 in the Incr. Code field.

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 Salary Increase, if applicable, in the salary reported in the Pay Rate field. The 04/01/16 Salary Schedule must be used to calculate the salary.
• The agency must report the proper increment code for 2017 in the Incr. Code field.

Salary Grade 560 – Bargaining Units 86, 88, CT

UCS must calculate and provide to OSC the salaries for Pay Basis Code ANN, unrepresented employees (Bargaining Units 86, 88, CT) in salary grade 560.

Increment Code 5555

OSC will not automatically process the April 2017 Salary Increase if Increment Code 5555 is reported in the Incr. Code field. The agency must include the April 2017 Salary Increase, if applicable, in the salary reported in the Pay Rate field.

• If the agency does not report Increment Code 5555 in the Incr. Code field, OSC will automatically apply the April 2017 Salary Increase if the employee meets the eligibility criteria.

OSC Actions

OSC will process the April 2017 Salary Increase for eligible employees in Bargaining Units 86, 87, 88 and CT as follows:

Represented

• 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/WDL) 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 (Cor Sal) if the Pay Basis Code is ANN or the Action Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CRT (Chg 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, OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CSL (Cor Sal) if the Pay Basis Code is ANN or the Action Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CRT (Chg 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 (Cor Sal) if the Pay Basis Code is ANN or the Action Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CRT (Chg Rate) if the Pay Basis Code is HRY for all subsequent rows provided the employee remains in an eligible position.

The salary on each inserted row for employees in Bargaining Units 86, 87, 88 and CT will be calculated as follows:

• If the employee has a Pay Basis Code of HRY and a grade equal to 560 (Represented, Bargaining Unit 87 only), OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 2.00% rounded up to the next cent.
• If the employee has a Pay Basis Code of ANN and a Grade equal to 538, OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 2.00% rounded up to the next dollar.
• If the employee has a Pay Basis Code of ANN and a Grade equal to 501-537, and the salary is equal to a salary step of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/16 Salary Schedule, OSC will automatically increase the salary to the same salary step on the 04/01/17 Salary Schedule.
• If the employee has a Pay Basis Code of ANN and a Grade equal to 501-537 and the salary is not equal to a salary step of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/16 Salary Schedule, OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 2.00% rounded up to the next dollar.

Unrepresented Employees (Bargaining Units 86, 88, CT) with Salary Grade 560 with Pay Basis Code ANN

Salaries for employees in Bargaining Units 86, 88, or CT, with Pay Basis Code ANN and Salary Grade 560 will not calculate automatically. UCS must provide these salaries to OSC in Administration Pay Period 12. See Agency Action section above.

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 are 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 retroactive Salary Increase. The report identifies all employee’s salaries that were increased in an eligible bargaining unit.

NHRP709 – Mass Salary Increase Exception Report

This report identifies all employees who did not receive the automatic April 2017 Salary Increase. Included on the report is one or more of the following messages which identifies the reason(s) the employee’s salary was not updated.

• 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 Position Data page are not equal.
• Sal Below Hiring Rate – if the employee’s Pay Basis Code is ANN and Grade is equal to 501-538 but the salary is less than the Hiring Rate for the employee’s grade on the 04/01/16 Salary Schedule.

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 at 1.5 (OTD) and Holiday Pay (HPA), resulting from payment of the April 2017 Salary Increases for employees in Bargaining Units 86, 87, 88 and CT.

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 agency.

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 agency of the Employee Record Number in which the payment was made.

Agency Action - 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 13L, the agency must report the adjustment amount for earnings codes such as 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 at 1.5 (OTD), 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, the agency 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 Leave Stipend

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 percentage based dues and agency shop fees and 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 subject to 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, and Retro (RXX)) are supplemental taxable income, will be included in the employee’s taxable gross subject to employment taxes and income taxes.

Federal, State, and New York City income tax withholding will be calculated using the Aggregate method. Yonkers income tax will be calculated using the Flat Rate Method. Yonkers Flat Rate is 1.61135% for Yonkers residents and 0.50% for Yonkers non-residents.

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.