Purpose:
The purpose of this bulletin is to notify agencies of OSC’s automatic processing of the April 2022 Retroactive UCS Uniform and Equipment Allowance (Uniform Allowance payment) and Maintenance Allowance (Blazer payment) Increase and to provide agency instructions for manual processing.
Affected Employees:
Employees who received a June 2022 and/or December 2022 Uniform Allowance or Blazer payment are affected.
Background:
Chapter 1 of the Laws of 2023 and the 2021-2026 agreements between the Unified Court System of the State of New York and the following bargaining units:
- Civil Service Employee’s Association (BU 87)
- Suffolk County Court Employees Association (BU F8)
- Court Officers Benevolent Association of Nassau County (BU DR)
- New York State Court Officers Association (BU SR)
- New York State Supreme Court Officers Association (BU SY)
- New York State Court Clerks (BU S9)
Provide for a retroactive increase to either $1,520 or $1,230 to the April 2022 Uniform Allowance and a retroactive increase to $1,250 to the Blazer payments for all eligible employees and removed certain eligibility criteria relating to absences as a result of disciplinary action.
In addition, consistent with prior practice, the negotiated changes detailed in the Labor Relations memorandum are extended to Management and Confidential Employees (BU 86).
Both the Uniform Allowance and Blazer payments were paid in equal amounts in June 2022 and December 2022.
Chapter 1 of the Laws of 2023 and the negotiated agreements also change the Uniform Allowance payment to a Pensionable payment retroactive to April 2022.
Effective Dates:
The retroactive increases and pension change to the Uniform Allowance payment and the retroactive increase to the Blazer payment will be processed in a separate check dated 07/05/2023.
There is no direct deposit for these payments.
Eligibility Criteria:
Employees who received a Uniform Allowance payment or a Blazer payment with an Earnings Begin date of 05/31/2022 through 11/29/2022 are eligible for the retroactive increase for the June 2022 payment.
Employees who received a Uniform Allowance payment or a Blazer payment with an Earnings Begin date of 11/30/2022 through 5/30/2023 are eligible for the retroactive increase for the December 2022 payment.
Additionally, employees previously deemed ineligible for the Uniform Allowance or Blazer payment due to a disciplinary action may now be eligible to receive the June and/or December 2022 Uniform Allowance or Blazer payments.
OSC Actions:
Employees who Previously Received a 2022 Uniform Allowance
For employees who previously received a June 2022 and/or December 2022 Uniform Allowance payment with Earnings Code UA5 (Uniform Allowance UCS), OSC will enter the following transactions on the PayServ Time Entry Page:
| Earnings Code: | UA5 | UAU |
|---|---|---|
| Begin Date: | Begin Date of Earliest Original UA5 Payment | Begin Date of Earliest Original UA5 Payment |
| End Date: | End Date of Latest Original UA5 Payment | End Date of Latest Original UA5 Payment |
| Amount: | See chart below | See chart below |
The amount of the Earnings Codes above is determined as follows:
| Number of Original UA5 Payments in 2022 | Original UA5 Amount | New UA5 Amount (Negative Amount) | New UAU Amount (Positive Amount) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (either June or December 2022) | $730.00 | $-730.00 | $760.00 |
| 1 (either June or December 2022) | $590.00 | $-590.00 | $615.00 |
| 2 (both June and December 2022) | $730.00 per payment | $-1,460.00 | $1,520.00 |
| 2 (both June and December 2022) | $590.00 per payment | $-1,180.00 | $1,230.00 |
For illustrative purposes, an employee who received only the June 2022 Uniform Allowance payment on time in the amount of $730.00 will have two Time Entry transactions entered by OSC:
| Begin Date | End Date | Earnings Code | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5/31/2022 | 5/31/2022 | UA5 | $-730.00 |
| 5/31/2022 | 5/31/2022 | UAU | $760.00 |
An employee who received both the June 2022 and December 2022 Uniform Allowance payments on time in the amount of $730.00 per payment will have two Time Entry transactions entered by OSC:
| Begin Date | End Date | Earnings Code | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5/31/2022 | 11/30/2022 | UA5 | $-1,460.00 |
| 5/31/2022 | 11/30/2022 | UAU | $1,520.00 |
Employees who Previously Received a 2022 Blazer Payment
For employees who previously received either a June 2022 or December 2022 Blazer payment in either June 2022 or later, or December 2022 or later, with Earnings Code UBA (Uniform Allowance UCS), OSC will enter the following transactions on the PayServ Time Entry Page:
| Earnings Code: | UBA |
|---|---|
| Begin Date: | Begin Date of Earliest Original UBA Payment |
| End Date: | End Date of Latest Original UBA Payment |
| Amount: | $25.00 (if employee received 1 UBA payment in 2022) |
| $50.00 (if employee received 2 UBA payments in 2022) |
For illustrative purposes, an employee who received only the June 2022 Blazer payment on time in the amount of $600.00 will have one Time Entry transaction entered by OSC:
| Begin Date | End Date | Earnings Code | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5/31/2022 | 5/31/2022 | UBA | $25.00 |
An employee who received both the June 2022 and December 2022 Blazer payments on time in the amount of $600.00 per payment will have one Time Entry transaction entered by OSC:
| Begin Date | End Date | Earnings Code | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5/31/2022 | 11/30/2022 | UBA | $50.00 |
All transactions will be entered by OSC on Thursday, 06/22/2023. OSC will notify the UCS once processing is complete.
Employees Not Processed Automatically
OSC will not process employees in the following scenarios and will notify agencies of impacted employees.
- Employees who had multiple transactions on the Time Entry page with either Earnings Code UA5 or UBA and Earnings Begin or End Dates within the following time frames:
- 05/31/2022-11/29/2022
- 11/30/2022-05/30/2023
- Note: If an employee has one payment that falls within the 05/31/2022-11/29/2022 time frame, and two payments that fall within the 11/30/2022-05/30/2023 time frame, OSC will process the 05/31/2022-11/29/2022 payment. OSC will NOT process the 11/30/2022-05/30/2023 payment.
- Employees who had a UA5 payment or UBA payment returned via AC-230
Agency Actions:
Employees Not Processed Automatically
Agencies must review employees reported by OSC for manual review (see Employees Not Processed Automatically under OSC Actions). If the employee is eligible for a retroactive Uniform Allowance or Blazer payment increase, agencies must enter the appropriate transaction(s) on the Time Entry page as described in the Submitting Payments section below.
Newly Eligible Employees
If an employee had a June 2022 or December 2022 Uniform Allowance or Blazer Payment withheld as the result of having lost wages exceeding five days due to a disciplinary action and is now eligible to receive the applicable Uniform Allowance or Blazer Payment, agencies must enter the appropriate transaction(s) on the Time Entry page as follows:
| Payment: | Uniform Allowance | Blazer |
|---|---|---|
| Earnings Code | UAU | UBA |
| Begin Date (June 2022 Payment) | 05/31/2022 or date employee becomes eligible | 05/31/2022 or date employee becomes eligible |
| Begin Date (December 2022 Payment) | 11/30/2022 or date employee becomes eligible | 11/30/2022 or date employee becomes eligible |
| End Date (June 2022 and December 2022) | Same as Begin Date | Same as Begin Date |
| Amount: | $760.00 or $615.00 as applicable | $625.00 |
Overpayments
If an employee was overpaid a 2022 Uniform Allowance or Blazer Payment, and the overpayment was recovered using Additional Pay Earnings Code Q22 (Overpaid in 2022) or Q23 (Overpaid in 2023), agencies must review the employee’s Time Entry page after OSC processing is complete on Thursday. If the employee should not receive a retroactive adjustment, agencies must delete the entry or entries from the Time Entry page.
Submitting Payments
Payments manually entered by agencies must be entered using the same methodology as described in OSC Actions and Agency Actions.
The UCS must notify OSC once all transactions have been entered or adjusted.
Control-D Report Available After Processing:
After the automatic processing of the Retroactive 2022 UCS Uniform Allowance and Blazer payment increase is complete and agencies confirm completion of any necessary manual additions or adjustments, the following Control-D report will be available for agency use:
NPAY771 – Time Entry Payment Report
This report identifies all employees who received either the Uniform Allowance Payment or the Blazer payment increase.
Retirement and Overtime Information:
The Uniform Allowance UCS Payment (Earnings Code UA5) is not included as salary for retirement purposes and is not included in the calculation of overtime compensation.
The UCS Uniform and Equip Allow Pn (Earnings Code UAU) is included as salary for retirement purposes but is not included in the calculation of overtime compensation.
The UCS Uniform Blazer Allowance (Earnings Code UBA) is included as salary for retirement purposes but is not included in the calculation of overtime compensation.
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 |
|---|---|
| 406 | Strike/Discip Fine |
| 410 | Health Care Spending Account |
| 416 | Deferred Comp |
| 420 | NY Dependent Care Contribution |
| 425 | Repay State Loans/Debt |
| 426 | Higher Ed Repay State Loan |
| 428 | Dependent Care |
| 433 | Total Unemployment Ins Owed |
| 442 | Pre-Tax Adoption |
| 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 |
Tax Information:
The Uniform Allowance UCS (UA5), UCS Uniform and Equip Allow Pn (UAU), and Uniform Blazer Allowance (UBA) payments are supplemental taxable income, will be included in the employee’s taxable gross and are subject to all employment taxes 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 1.95975% for Yonkers residents and 0.50% for Yonkers non-residents.
Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice:
The Earnings Code UA5, UAU and/or UBA and the amount paid will be displayed on the Payroll Register. The Earnings Description Uniform Allowance UCS, UCS Uniform and Equip Allow Pn, and/or UCS Uniform Blazer Allowance and the amount paid will appear on the employee’s paycheck stub.
This payment will be made in a separate check regardless of when it is paid. The separate check will be issued with the employee’s regular paycheck or direct deposit advice, based on the information for that check date.
Undeliverable Checks:
When a valid payroll check is undeliverable due to the agency’s inability to locate the employee, the agency should follow the Agency Actions identified in Payroll Bulletin No. 1786, Non-Negotiated and/or Undeliverable New York State Payroll Checks.
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.
Questions:
Questions regarding this bulletin may be directed to the Payroll Earnings mailbox.
Questions regarding retirement may be directed to the Payroll Retirement mailbox.
Questions regarding deductions may be directed to the Payroll Deduction mailbox.