Purpose
To explain agency actions necessary to implement the SOS increases.
Affected Employees
Eligible employees in Negotiating Unit 87 who have received a SOS (Senior Officer Series) payment since 04/06/17
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 – BU 87), provides for a retroactive increase to the Senior Officer Series Differential (SOS) for all eligible members.
The revised side letter dated August 29, 2017 adjusts the rates of the retroactive Senior Officer Series Differential (SOS) to reflect the same rates as the Senior Officer Series Differential (SOS) paid to employees represented by other UCS bargaining units.
Effective Date(s)
The April 1, 2017 Senior Officer Series Differential (SOS) retroactive increase for Bargaining Unit 87 will be paid using the following effective date and check date:
| Type of Payment | Pay Cycle/Pay Period Type | Payment Effective Date | Check Date |
| Original | Administration 12 Lag | 04/06/17 | 10/04/17 |
| Revised | Administration 15 Lag | 04/06/17 | 11/15/17 |
Eligibility Criteria
Non-Judicial officers and employees who hold the position of Senior Court Officer or New York State Court Officer-Sergeant who are currently receiving or have received SOS (Senior Officer Series Differential) earnings since 04/06/2017 will have their SOS (Senior Officer Series Differential) earnings increased.
Agency Actions
To pay the retroactive April 2017 SOS (Senior Officer Series Differential) increase, agencies must submit the following information on the Additional Pay page using Earnings Code SOS – Senior Officer Series Differential:
| Earnings Code: | SOS |
| Effective Date: | 04/06/17 |
| Annual Addl Earnings: | $2,806 |
| Annual Addl Earnings: | $2,977 (revised rate) |
If the employee has an SOS row on the Additional Pay page with an effective date greater than 04/06/17, the agency must submit a Data Change/COR (Cor History) transaction on the Job Request page, asking for the 04/06/17 row be inserted. A Data Change/COR (Cor History) transaction must also be submitted to change the amount on a previously existing SOS row on the Additional Pay page with an effective date greater than 04/06/17.
Agencies must submit adjustments to SOS (Senior Officer Series Differential) earnings for any mid-pay period adjustment previously paid, effective 04/06/17 or later using Earnings Code AOD (Adjust Senior Officer Series Differential). The current pay period Begin Date must be used for all AOD transactions.
Agencies must review SOS (Senior Officer Series Differential) overpayments recovered by the overpayment earnings code Q17 and take appropriate action to adjust the overpayment.
The agency will provide OSC with a spreadsheet of all eligible employees affected by the revised side letter.
OSC Actions
In Administration PP 15 Lag, OSC will enter the new revised rate on the SOS row effective 04/06/2017, per the spreadsheet provided by the agency.
OSC Actions – Automatic Retroactive Processing
OSC will automatically calculate retroactive payments resulting from the retroactive SOS (Senior Officer Series Differential) increases, using Earnings Code ROD – Retro Sr Off Ser Diff – OCA. Retroactive payments will be paid for any period in which the SOS (Senior Officer Series Differential) was previously paid.
For eligible employees who have worked in more than one (1) agency since the effective date of the SOS (Senior Officer Series Differential) increases, all retroactive payments will be paid in the most current agency.
Retroactive Adjustments for Additional Pay and Time Entry Earnings
Time Entry earn codes that are calculated based on an employee’s additional salary factors such as overtime (OTD) and Holiday (HPA) will be automatically adjusted.
Control-D Reports Available After Processing
The following Control-D report will be available after processing of the automatic increase:
NHRP703 Mass Salary Additional Pay Report
This report identifies all employees whose SOS (Senior Officer Series Differential) earnings were updated. The report will be sorted by DeptID and then by employee name, in alphabetical order. Fields in the report include EmplID, Employee Record Number, Employee Name, Earn Code (SOS – Senior Officer Series Differential), Grade, Salary Plan, Bargaining Unit, Part Time Percentage and Updated Max effective Dated Amount.
Miscellaneous Payment Information
The Senior Officer Series Differential (SOS) is included in the calculation of overtime and is pensionable.
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 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. Yonkers Flat Rate Withholding 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 about payment processing may be emailed to the Payroll Earnings mailbox.