State Agencies Bulletin No. 233

Subject
New Agency Procedures for Approving Location Pay, Inconvenience Pay Full, Inconvenience Pay Partial and Security Enforcement Differential
Date Issued
February 6, 2001

Purpose

To explain OSC and agency responsibilities, and to provide new procedures for agencies when starting or canceling the following earnings on the Additional Pay panel: Location Pay (LOC), Inconvenience Pay Full (IPF), Inconvenience Pay Partial (IPP) and Security Enforcement Differential (SED)

Background

The Bureau of State Payroll Services is reviewing its business practices to streamline operations and to move toward a greater emphasis on risk-based auditing. This effort involves analyzing how payroll transactions are audited and evaluating the allocation of responsibility and accountability for transaction accuracy between OSC and the agencies.

Affected Employees

Employees for whom LOC, IPF, IPP, or SED earnings are started or canceled by their agency

Implementation Date

Beginning on the action date of 2/14/2001, the "OK to Pay" field on the Additional Pay panel will be available for agency use when a row is inserted to start or cancel the earn codes: LOC, IPF, IPP or SED.

OSC Responsibility

All rows inserted on the Additional Pay panel for these earn codes prior to the action date of 2/14/2001 will be reviewed and approved by OSC; therefore, no new agency action is required.

Beginning 2/14/00, agencies will assume responsibility for approving these earn codes by clicking the "OK to Pay" field on the Additional Pay Panel (see Agency Responsibility below). However, OSC will continue to regularly audit these earnings for accuracy and eligibility.

Agency Responsibility

Beginning 2/14/2001, agencies are responsible for clicking the "OK to Pay" field on the Additional Pay Panel whenever a row is inserted to start or cancel Location Pay (LOC), Inconvenience Pay Full (IPF), Inconvenience Pay Partial (IPP) or Security Enforcement Differential (SED).

Exception

No agency action is required on the Additional Pay panel when an employee is terminated, retired or placed on a leave of absence without pay. When these actions are reported on the Job Data 1 panel, the system will continue to automatically put an end date on the Additional Pay panel to cancel the earnings.

Agency Procedures: Starting and Canceling LOC, IPF, IPP, SED

To Start LOC, IPF, IPP and SED earnings:
Earnings Code: Enter the earn code LOC, IPF, IPP or SED
Effective Date: Enter the applicable effective date*
Annual Addl Earnings: Enter the appropriate amount of the earnings

Click OK TO PAY
Save the Transaction

*If the effective date of the earnings is mid-period (effective date is other than the 1st day of the pay period) and there is no status change, the agency must also enter the appropriate adjustment earn code in the Additional Pay panel, since the system will pay the employee the earnings for the entire pay period. After entering the adjustment code, the agency must enter the amount of the negative adjustment in both the Earnings and the Goal Amount fields.

To Cancel LOC, IPF, IPP, and SED earnings:

When canceling earnings on the Additional Pay panel, the effective date is always the last day the employee is eligible to receive the earnings.

If the Effective Date of the Cancellation is Close of Business on the Last Day of the Pay Period:
Earnings Code: Enter LOC, IPF, IPP, or SED.
Effective Date: Enter the last day of the pay period.
Annual Addl Earnings: Enter the annual amount of the earnings.
Earn End Date: Enter the last day of the pay period.

Click OK TO PAY
Save the Transaction

Under this condition, the employee will be paid the earnings for the entire pay period, therefore no adjustment transaction is required.

If the Effective Date of the Cancellation is Mid-Period (Earn End Date is Other Than the Last Date of the Pay Period) and the Employee Has No Status Change:
Earnings Code: Enter LOC, IPF, IPP, or SED
Effective Date: Enter the applicable effective date (last date employee is eligible to receive the earnings).
Annual Addl Earnings: Enter 0 (zero)
Earn End Date: Enter the applicable end date (same as effective date)

Click OK TO PAY
Save the Transaction

Under this condition, the system will not calculate or pay the Additional Pay earnings for the pay period, therefore, the agency must also enter the appropriate adjustment code in the Additional Pay panel and enter the adjustment amount in both the Earnings and Goal Amount fields.

Ending LOC, IPF, IPP, and SED When the Employee Has a Status Change:

If the employee has a status change, that is, the employee is being removed from the payroll (e.g. termination) or is being placed on a leave of absence without pay (except workers' compensation leave), no agency action is required to end the earnings on the Additional Pay panel. The system will automatically end the earnings when the removal or LOA action is reported on the Job Data 1 panel and the earnings will be pro-rated accordingly.

Additional Information on Additional Pay Panel:

For additional information regarding the Additional Pay panel and mid-period changes, refer to Payroll Bulletins P-22, P-96 and P-170.

Agency Data Capture Files

For agencies that submit data capture files, it is necessary to enter Y in field 810 when submitting LOC, IPF, IPP, and SED earnings.

Questions

Questions regarding this bulletin may be directed to the Payroll Audit mailbox.