Purpose

To inform agencies of the new procedure which will default work schedules depending upon the Pay Basis Code.

Affected Employees

All employees

Background

Each Pay Basis Code used by the PayServ system has a particular work schedule. This work schedule default is either YYYYYYY which cannot be changed or NYYYYYN which may be changed in some instances. The work schedule is used to determine the prorated daily rate of pay for all calculations of regular biweekly wages when a mid-pay period change is made.

If the employee has a mid-pay period transaction, the system will use the days of work (Y) in the schedule and determine the daily rate by dividing the number of Ys in the pay period into the biweekly earnings. This calculation will then be used to determine the wages for a specific period of time. The agency will no longer need to verify that the correct work schedule is entered when the Pay Basis Code changes; however, the agency will need to change the work schedule if the employee’s work schedule differs from the default and is needed for a mid-pay period change.

The primary purpose of the work schedule recorded in the payroll system is to ensure accurate calculation of wages for mid-pay period transactions. In many cases, the work schedule will not reflect an employee’s actual scheduled work days. For example, employees with a “CAL” Pay Basis Code will always be reported with a 7-day work schedule, even when the employee works less than seven (7) days a week. Similarly, the payroll system will not accommodate accurate reporting for ANN pay basis employees on a compressed work schedule who, for instance, report to work nine (9) days each pay period.

Effective Date(s)

January 20, 2006

OSC Actions

Starting January 20, 2006, OSC will default the appropriate work schedule into the Work Schedule field when the employee is placed in any Pay Basis Code according to the chart attached (Attachment A). PayServ will enter the default Pay Basis Code for each transaction: Hire, Rehire, Transfer, Position Change (except Change Line [CHL]), Concurrent Hire, and Update Incumbent Process.

For actions entered directly on the Job Data page such as Reinstatement from a Leave, Paid Leave of Absence and Removal, the work schedule will roll up from the prior row.

For Data Changes with the following reason codes, the work schedule from the Job Data page will default into the Request page and changes will be allowed according to Attachment A, unless the work schedule in effect on that date is invalid. If the work schedule does not match the grid, the default work schedule will be entered.

• Change Percent Full (CPF)
• Change Percentage (CPT)
• Change Standard Hours (CSH)
• Change Work Schedule (CWS)
• VRW (Vol Reduct)
• WWP (WC Works Part Time)

OSC Actions to Correct Work Schedules

For any employee who is Active, on Leave without Pay or on a Paid Leave of Absence with an incorrect work schedule on the most current effective dated row, OSC will insert a row with the Action/Reason of Data Change/Change Work Schedule (CWS) to correct the work schedule according to Attachment A. The inserted row will use the date of the most current effective date with the next sequence number. Any future dated rows will also be corrected. This process will be run on 1/19/06. A listing of employees who have had a work schedule change will be provided to the agency.

Note: Employees in Pay Basis Codes that can vary will not be changed unless the employee exceeds the maximum number of work days.

Agency Actions

Changing Work Schedules

The agency may only change the work schedule for the following Pay Basis Codes. For these Pay Basis Codes, the maximum number of work days in any week is five (5) days (Y) and two (2) pass days (N):

• 21P - Institution 21P Teachers
• ANN - Annual employees
  • Exception: Certain ANN employees in certain SUNY agencies may have a seven (7) day (Y) work schedule.
• BIW - Biweekly employees not in 04120
• HRY - Exceptional Hourly employees (Employee Type E)

The agency should continue to review the work schedule when an employee in one of the above Pay Basis Codes has a work schedule that differs from the default (NYYYYYN) or the work schedule on the Job Information Page will be impacted by a mid- pay period transaction. The system will use the work schedule to prorate the biweekly earnings.

• If the transaction is a Hire, Rehire, Concurrent Hire, or Reinstatement from a Leave, the work schedule should be changed on the effective date of the transaction. The entry should be made directly on the Job Information page in the Work Schedule field when entering the transaction.
• If the transaction is a Position Change (except CHL) or Transfer, the work schedule should be entered on the Request page. Since the system will use the default work schedule on all Position Changes (except CHL) and Transfers, if the employee is on a different schedule that should be continued, the agency must reenter the work schedule on the Request page.
• If the transaction is a Removal transaction, the work schedule must be changed on the first day of the pay period in which the transaction occurs. The agency should submit a Data Change/Change Work Schedule (CWS) effective the first day of the pay period and then submit the Removal transaction on the Job Data page with the effective date of the Removal transaction.

Note: The agency should continue to use RGO for instances in the current pay period where changing the work schedule will not calculate the earnings correctly.

Error Messages and Correcting Existing Work Schedules

The agency may receive the following error message when entering work schedules:

• Work Schedule cannot exceed 5Ys (24000, 193)

The system will only read the work schedule on the highest sequence number on any effective dated row. If the work schedule is incorrect on the highest sequenced number, the work schedule must be corrected.

When it is necessary for the agency to submit a retroactive transaction to be entered into history and there are multiple rows that must be corrected after the effective date of the pending transaction, the agency cannot correct the work schedule. The agency may submit a Data Change/Correct History, entering the comment, "according to Bulletin No 618, the work schedules must be corrected." The dates affected and the work schedule needed must be included. The PATS Team will make the corrections and the agency can then enter the needed transactions. OSC will correct any work schedules that are found during payroll processing and will notify the agency on the Agency Correction Report.

It will not be necessary to correct historic rows unless it is required to submit a retroactive transaction.

Automated Interface

The Automated Interface has been updated to accommodate this change. If the work schedule submitted on the AI file is incorrect, the transaction will not be processed and the following error message will appear in addition to the error message above.

• Work schedule must be equal to NYYYYYN (24000,196)

The transaction must be corrected and resubmitted.

Questions

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