Purpose: 

The purpose of this bulletin is to inform agencies of OSC’s automatic processing of the April 2024 Location Pay, Location Pay Mid-Hudson and Senior Officer Series Differential Increases.

Affected Employees: 

Eligible employees in the following bargaining units who meet the eligibility criteria are affected:

Background: 

Chapter 1 of the Laws of 2023, which implemented the various agreements between the Unified Court System of the State of New York and the affected bargaining units (DR, F8, G9, SA, SD, SG, SK, SN, SR, SY, S9 and 87) provides for an increase in Location Pay effective April 1, 2024 for employees located in the City of New York and the Counties of Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk, Westchester, Dutchess, Putnam or Orange. A side letter to the CSEA Agreement provides for an increase in the Senior Officer Series Differential effective April 1, 2024 for eligible employees.

In addition, consistent with prior practice, when a CSEA Agreement is reached, the negotiated changes detailed in the Labor Relations Memorandum are extended to the Management Confidential and Unrepresented employees (BUs 86, 88, CT).

Effective Dates: 

The April 2024 Location Pay, Location-Mid Hudson and Senior Officer Series Differential Increases will be paid using the following effective date and check date:

Eligibility Criteria:  

Employees with an active Additional Pay record for any of the following earnings codes on or after 03/28/2024 and while in an eligible Bargaining Unit are eligible to receive the 2024 Increase to Location Pay, Location-Mid Hudson Pay or Senior Officer Series Differential, provided the employee has a Payroll Status of Active or Leave With Pay or Leave of Absence with Reason Code WDL on or after the payment effective date.

Agency Actions:

Eligible employees who have a Payroll Status as described below on the payment effective date will not be processed automatically. Therefore, agencies must submit the following information on the Additional Pay page using the applicable Earnings Code. The payment amount should be calculated as explained in OSC Actions – Automatic Processing.

Leave of Absence due to a Workers’ Compensation Leave or Unpaid Military Leave (Action/Reason code of Leave of Absence/WDL, MLL or MLS):  Transactions should be submitted in Administration Pay Period 1L.

Leave of Absence on 04/01/2024:  An employee who otherwise qualifies for the April 2024 SOS, LOC or LMH payment but is on an approved Leave of Absence (other than Workers’ Compensation Leave or Unpaid Military Leave) on 04/01/2024 becomes eligible if they return to the payroll between 04/01/2024 and 03/31/2025. Transactions should be submitted in the pay period they return from leave; the effective date of the SOS, LOC or LMH should be the same as the return from leave date.

Please note: The agency must submit the Location Pay Increases for the 5 NYC County Clerks located in 05680.

OSC Actions: 

OSC will automatically insert a row for eligible employees on the Additional Pay page effective 03/28/2024 if a row does not already exist with the effective date, and update the Annual Addl Earnings amount for the following earnings codes with the April 2024 rate. If a row with an effective date of 03/28/2024 already exists, or if there is a row(s) with an effective date that is greater than 03/28/2024, the Annual Addl Earnings amount for the following earnings codes will be updated on the existing row with the April 2024 rate provided the employee remains eligible.

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), LOC (Location Pay) and/or LMH (Location Mid-Hudson) 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, Grade, Salary Plan, Bargaining Unit, Part Time Percentage and Updated Max Effective Dated Amount.

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.

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.

Questions: 

Questions about payment processing should be directed to the Payroll Earnings mailbox.