State Agencies Bulletin No. 624

Subject
$500.00 Longevity Payment for Long-Term Seasonal Employees Represented by CSEA and PEF
Date Issued
March 8, 2006

Purpose

To provide agency procedures to process Longevity Payments and adjustments for overtime payments.

Affected Employees

Certain seasonal hourly employees in the Department of Environmental Conservation (09180) and the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (49xxx) who meet the eligibility criteria and are in the following bargaining units:

  • CSEA employees in Bargaining Units 02, 03, and 04
  • PEF employees in Bargaining Unit 05

Background

Chapter 103 (CSEA) and Chapter 419 (PEF) of the Laws of 2004 provide for a $500.00 Longevity Payment for long-term seasonal employees who meet the eligibility criteria stated below. The Longevity Payment is effective the first pay period of the fiscal year. If the employee is not Active in the first pay period of the fiscal year, the Longevity Payment is effective upon the employee’s return to the payroll, provided the employee returns within the fiscal year.

Effective Dates

3/23/06 (09180) Institution Extra Lag

4/6/06 (49xxx) Administration Lag

Eligibility Criteria

Employees who were Active in Pay Period 1 of Fiscal Year 2006-07 in a CSEA (BU 02, 03, 04) or PEF (BU 05) seasonal hourly position in Agency 49xxx or 09180 and had at least 1500 hours in pay status as a seasonal employee in each of the five (5) previous calendar years in either of these agencies are eligible for a $500.00 Longevity Payment.

For seasonal employees who were not Active in Pay Period 1 but become Active in a seasonal hourly position after Pay Period 1 and before 3/31/07 and otherwise meet the eligibility criteria stated above, the payment is effective the date of the return to the payroll.

Agency Actions

Beginning in Pay Period 1L, agencies may begin submitting the 2006 Longevity Payments for eligible employees and adjustments for overtime worked since the effective date of the payment.

The agency must use the following procedure when reporting the Longevity Payment of $500.00 on the Additional Pay page:

Earnings Code: LPS
Effective Date: 3/23/06 (09180), 4/6/06 (49xxx) or the date the employee returned to the payroll
OT Effective Date: 4/6/06 – 4/4/07 for both (09180 and 49xxx) or the date the employee returns to the payroll
Annual Additional Earnings: $500.00
Earn End Date: 3/28/07 (09180) 4/4/07 (49xxx)
Goal Balance: Leave Blank

The agency must use the following procedure when reporting the Earn Code LAO (Longevity Payment Adjustment) in the Time Entry page to adjust overtime payments for the period 4/6/06 through 4/4/07.

When this code is used, the system will determine the amount of the LAO by multiplying the number of hours reported by $.38.

Earnings Begin Date: Enter the first date of overtime to be adjusted
Earnings End Date: Enter the last date of overtime to be adjusted
Earn Code: LAO
Hours: Enter the number of overtime hours

If a seasonal employee has a position change or transfer into a non-seasonal position (e.g. Pay Basis Code is ANN) after the effective date of the LAO, the employee is no longer eligible for the Longevity Payment to be included in the calculation of overtime.

Therefore, the agency must insert a row on the Additional Pay page as follows:

Earnings Code: LPS
Effective Date: Enter the last date the employee is eligible for the LPS in overtime calculation
OT Effective Date: Enter the original OT effective date
Annual Additional Earnings: LPS amount will default in this field
Earn End Date: Delete the existing Earn End Date and enter the last date the employeee is eligible for the LPS in overtime calculation
Goal Balance: Re-enter $500.00

Miscellaneous Payment Information

The payment is pensionable and must be used in the calculation of overtime worked within the fiscal year in which it became effective, provided the employee continues to remain in a seasonal position.

Payroll Register and Employee Paycheck/Advice

The Earnings Codes LPS and LAO will appear on the payroll register. The Earnings Code descriptions Longevity Payment Seasonal and Longevity Adjustment Overtime will appear on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice.

Questions

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