State Agencies Bulletin No. 1099

Subject
2012 SEFA (State Employees Federated Appeal) Campaign
Date Issued
November 2, 2011

Purpose

To provide instructions for processing payroll deductions for the SEFA Campaign for the 2012 calendar year.

Affected Employees

All employees

Effective Date(s)

Payroll deductions for the 2012 SEFA Campaign will begin:

Paychecks dated January 4, 2012 (Administration)
Paychecks dated January 12, 2012 (Institution)

SEFA Campaign Guidelines

  • The pre-printed Federated Fund Number which appears on the authorization card must be used as the Deduction Code. Cards that have been modified must be returned to the employee for completion of a new card.
  • The Amount of Deduction requested on the authorization card is the amount to be deducted from each paycheck in the calendar year, not the total amount of the pledge.
  • State Agencies will no longer be able to accept cash for the upcoming SEFA Campaigns. Checks made out to SEFA will be accepted. Further information is available at http://www.ogs.ny.gov/Exec/SEFAInfo.asp.

Deduction Code 851 SEFA of New York City

  • For employees choosing to contribute to SEFA OF NEW YORK CITY, deduction code 851, a new on-line enrollment process established by the authorized federated community campaign (EarthShare) can be utilized. Employees wishing to donate to deduction code 851 are encouraged to initiate the deduction with the on-line enrollment process. For employees without computer access, or who choose not to use the on-line enrollment process, paper forms are available at the agency payroll office. To initiate an on-line enrollment process for deduction code 851 employees can access http://www.sefanyc.org/.
  • On-line enrollment for deduction code 851 will not be available after Earth Share submits the transactions to OSC (December 21, 2011).
  • Questions concerning the on-line enrollment process for SEFA OF NEW YORK CITY deduction code 851 should be directed to Sheila O’Connor of EarthShare at (646) 476-0315, or by email to [email protected].

Agency Actions

  • Agencies must review the completed authorization card and verify the completeness, accuracy and legibility of the Federated Fund Number, Amount of Deduction, Employee’s Agency Code, Employee’s Social Security Number and Name.
  • Agencies are required to enter 2012 Federated Fund (SEFA) transactions into PayServ on the General Deduction Data (Agency) page, using the following instructions:
    1. After logging into PayServ, access the General Deduction Data (Agency) page.
    2. Enter the Social Security Number from the authorization card in the EmplID field of the dialog box and click Search.
    3. The employee’s General Deduction page appears. Click on View All.
    4. Determine whether the employee already has a deduction record for the specific Federated Fund Number on the authorization card by scrolling through the Deduction Codes using the scroll bar. Deduction Code - Enter the Deduction Code (Federated Fund Code) indicated on the SEFA authorization card.
      • If a record with the same Federated Fund (SEFA) Deduction Code exists, click on the + sign to add a new row in the Deduction Details page, insert a row and continue with Step 6.
      • If there is not an existing row for the Federated Fund (SEFA) Deduction Code, click on the + sign to add a new row in the General Deduction page, insert a row and continue with Step 5
    5. Deduction Code - Enter the Deduction Code (Federated Fund Code) indicated on the SEFA authorization card.
    6. Effective Date - Enter the effective date for the 2012 deduction to begin as follows:
      Administration (Lag) 12/08/11
      Institution (Lag) 12/15 /11
      Administration (Current) 12/ 22/11
      Institution (Current) 12/ 29/11
    7. Deduction Calculation Routine – Select Flat Amount from the drop down box.
    8. Deduction End Date:
      Administrative (Lag) 12/5/12
      Institution (Lag) 12/12/12
      Administration (Current) 12/19 /12
      Institution (Current) 12/ 26/12
      A deduction end date should not be entered for employees participating in the Continuous Giving Program (see Continuous Giving Program below).
    9. Flat/Addl. Amount – Enter the amount to be deducted from each biweekly paycheck.
    10. Save the transaction.

The Goal Amount field should not be used when entering SEFA transactions (see Exception below).

If an employee has a Goal Amount/Goal Balance in the existing record and the agency enters a transaction for 2012, the Goal Amount and Goal Balance will roll up on the newly inserted row unless the Goal Amount and Goal Balance are equal. Agencies must delete the Goal Amount and Goal Balance on the 2012 row and then save the transaction.

Exception:

If a participant chooses to elect other than the full year (26 pay periods), the agency must enter the total amount of the annual contribution in the Goal Amount field as well as the flat amount to be deducted biweekly. The appropriate effective and end dates must be used as outlined above.

The following SEFA regional campaigns are participating in the Continuous Giving Program:

Regional Campaign Deduction Code
SEFA of Allegany County 883
SEFA of Cln/Ex/Frk/Ham Ctnys 881
SEFA of Sullivan County 880
SEFA of Ulster County 871
SEFA of Greater Utica 872

Federated Fund (SEFA) Codes

The Federated Fund (SEFA) Code Listing is available in numeric and alphabetic order.

NOTE: Deduction Code 868 (SEFA of Schenectady County) has merged with Deduction Code 850 (SEFA of the Capital Region).

Deduction Code 859 (SEFA of Central New York), Deduction Code 863 (SEFA of Cayuga County) and Deduction Code 879 (SEFA of Oswego County Inc) has merged with Deduction Code 887 (SEFA of Central New York).

Changes

Employees who want to change a Federated Fund (SEFA) deduction may do so by completing a new authorization card. A payroll general deduction transaction should then be processed to change the deduction.

Transfers

OSC automatically continues Federated Fund (SEFA) deductions upon an employee’s transfer from one agency to another. It is necessary to obtain a new authorization card only if the employee wants to contribute to a different Federated Fund (SEFA) organization in the new agency.

Cancellations

To cancel a Federated Fund (SEFA) deduction, the agency must insert a new row using the beginning date of the pay period in which the deduction should be canceled as the effective and deduction end dates. Cancellation notices must be retained by the agency.

Questions

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