Purpose

To explain OSC’s automatic processing of the SOS adjustments.

Affected Employees

Eligible employees in Negotiating Unit SY.

Background

Chapter 72 of the Laws of 2018, in conjunction with Chapter 400 of the Laws of 2014 and Chapter 98 of the Laws of 2017, which implemented the 2011-2021 Agreement between the Unified Court System of the State of New York (UCS) and the New York State Supreme Court Officers Association (Negotiating Unit SY) provides for retroactive increases to the Senior Officer Series Differential for all eligible members.

Effective Date(s)

The October 1, 2014, April 1, 2015, April 1, 2016, and April 1, 2017 Retroactive Increases of SOS Differential for Negotiating Unit SY will be paid using the following effective dates and check date:

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 earnings since 9/25/2014 will have their SOS earnings increased according to the new bargaining unit agreement.

OSC Actions

OSC will insert Additional Pay Earnings Code SOS on the effective dates of the increases dated 09/25/2014 or later for Negotiating Unit SY, according to the following effective dates and amounts:

OSC will update subsequent rows with the appropriate amounts.

Agency Actions

Agencies must submit adjustments to SOS earnings for any mid-pay period adjustments previously entered by the agency, effective 09/25/2014 or later for Negotiating Unit SY, using Earnings Code AOD (Adj Sr Off Series Diff- OCA). The current pay period Begin Date must be used for all AOD transactions.

Agencies must review SOS overpayments recovered by the overpayment earnings codes Q14, Q15, Q16 and/or Q17 and take appropriate action to adjust the overpayment.

Automatic Retroactive Processing

OSC will automatically calculate retroactive payments resulting from the retroactive SOS increases, using Earnings Code ROD (Retro Sr Off Ser Diff – OCA). Retroactive payments will be paid for any period in which the SOS was previously paid.

For eligible employees who have worked in more than one (1) agency since the effective date of the SOS 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 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 Differential Series), Grade, Salary Plan, Bargaining Unit, Part Time Percentage and Updated Max Effective Dated Amount.

Miscellaneous Payment Information

The Senior Officer Series Differential 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:

Tax Information

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

The adjustments (AOD and ROD) 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 (1.61135% for Yonkers residents and 0.50% for Yonkers non-residents).

Please see Bulletin 1575 Supplemental Wages for more information.

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), original Death Certificate 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 with the amount paid and will be displayed on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice using the appropriate Earnings Description as well as 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 directed to the Payroll Earnings mailbox.