State Agencies Bulletin No. 1496

Subject
April 2015 Public Employees Federation (PEF) Retroactive Salary Increase
Date Issued
July 26, 2016

Purpose

To inform agencies of OSC’s automatic processing of the retroactive April 2015 PEF Salary Increase and provide instructions for payments not processed automatically.

Affected Employees

Employees in the Professional, Scientific and Technical Services Unit - BU 05 who meet the eligibility criteria

Background

Chapter 233 of the Laws of 2016, which implemented the 2015-2016 Agreement between the State of New York and PEF, provides for an April 2015 salary increase of two percent (2.00%) and includes the April 1, 2015 Salary Schedule.

Effective Date(s)

The April 2015 PEF Salary Increase will be paid using the following effective dates and check dates:

Pay Cycle/Pay Period Type Payment Effective Date Check Date
Administration Lag 03/26/2015 08/24/2016
Institution Extra Lag 03/26/2015 09/01/2016
Institution Lag 04/02/2015 09/01/2016
Administration Extra Lag 04/02/2015 08/24/2016

Eligibility Criteria

The following employees are eligible to receive the April 2015 PEF Salary Increase:

  • Employees with a Pay Basis Code of HRY (Grade 600 or 800)
  • Employees with a Pay Basis Code of ANN, 21P or CAL who are in a traineeship (Grade 800)
  • Employees with a Pay Basis Code of ANN, 21P or CAL who are in an NS position (Grade 600)
  • Employees with a Pay Basis Code of ANN, 21P or CAL who are in an NS position (Grade 600) which is equated to a grade (Grade 001-038)
  • Employees with a Pay Basis Code of ANN, 21P or CAL who are in a graded position (Grade 001-038)

Employees with a Pay Basis Code of FEE are not eligible for the salary increase unless the employee is budgeted as per diem but is paid using FEE.

OSC Actions - Automatic Processing

OSC will process the April 2015 PEF Salary Increase for the following employees:

  • If the employee meets the eligibility criteria and has a Payroll Status of Active, Leave With Pay or Leave of Absence due to a Workers’ Compensation Leave (Action/Reason code of Leave of Absence/WCL, WDL, WPS or WSP) on the payment effective date, OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/26/15 (Administration) or 04/02/15 (Institution) using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/SAC (Mass Salary Increase).
  • If the employee meets the eligibility criteria but has a Payroll Status of Terminated, Retired or Leave of Absence (not related to a Workers’ Compensation Leave) on the payment effective date and returns to Active status in an eligible position in Administration or Institution Pay Period 1 but after the payment effective date, OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CSL (Correct Salary) if the Pay Basis Code is ANN, 21P or CAL or the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CRT (Change Rate) if the Pay Basis Code is HRY.  The row will be inserted using the effective date of the Rehire or Return from Leave action.
  • If the employee is newly hired or transfers into an eligible position in Administration or Institution Pay Period 1 but after the payment effective date, OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CSL (Correct Salary) if the Pay Basis Code is ANN, 21P or CAL or the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CRT (Change Rate) if the Pay Basis Code is HRY. The row will be inserted using the effective date of the Hire, Position Change or Transfer action.
  • OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CSL (Correct Salary) if the Pay Basis Code is ANN, 21P or CAL or the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CRT (Change Rate) if the Pay Basis Code is HRY for all subsequent rows provided the employee remains in an eligible position.
Calculating the New Compensation Rate

The salary on each inserted row will be calculated as follows:

  • If the employee has a Pay Basis Code of HRY and a Grade equal to 600 or 800, OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 2.00% rounded to the nearest cent.
  • If the employee has a Pay Basis Code of ANN, 21P or CAL and a Grade equal to 038, 600 (not equated to a grade) or 800, OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 2.00% rounded to the nearest dollar.
  • If the employee has a Pay Basis Code of ANN, 21P or CAL and a Grade equal to 600 with an equated grade equal to 038, OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 2.00% rounded to the nearest dollar.
  • If the employee has a Pay Basis Code of ANN, 21P or CAL, a Grade equal to 600 with an equated grade equal to 001-037 and Increment Code 0069, OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 2.00% rounded to the nearest dollar.
  • If the employee has a Pay Basis Code of ANN, 21P or CAL, a Grade equal to 001-037 and Increment Code 0069, OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 2.00% rounded to the nearest dollar.
  • If the employee has a Pay Basis Code of ANN, 21P or CAL, a Grade equal to 600 with an equated grade equal to 001-037 and an increment code other than 0069 or 2222 and the salary is equal to a salary step of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/14 Salary Schedule, OSC will automatically increase the salary to the same salary step on the 04/01/15 Salary Schedule.
  • If the employee has a Pay Basis Code of ANN, 21P or CAL, a Grade equal to 600 with an equated grade equal to 001-037 and an increment code other than 0069 or 2222 and the salary is not equal to a salary step of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/14 Salary Schedule, OSC will process as follows:
    • If the salary is less than the Job Rate of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/14 Salary Schedule, OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 2.00% rounded to the nearest dollar. If the resulting salary is greater than the Job Rate based on the 04/01/15 Salary Schedule, OSC will reduce the salary to the Job Rate.
    • If the salary is greater than the Job Rate of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/14 Salary Schedule, OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 2.00% rounded to the nearest dollar OR increase the salary to the Job Rate based on the 04/01/15 Salary Schedule, whichever is greater.
  • If the employee has a Pay Basis Code of ANN, 21P or CAL, a Grade equal to 001-037 and an increment code other than 0069 or 2222 and the salary is equal to a salary step of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/14 Salary Schedule, OSC will automatically increase the salary to the same salary step on the 04/01/15 Salary Schedule.
  • If the employee has a Pay Basis Code of ANN, 21P or CAL, a Grade equal to 001-037 and an increment code other than 0069 or 2222 and the salary is not equal to a salary step of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/14 Salary Schedule, OSC will process as follows:
    • If the salary is less than the Job Rate of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/14 Salary Schedule, OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 2.00% rounded to the nearest dollar.  If the resulting salary is greater than the Job Rate based on the 04/01/15 Salary Schedule, OSC will reduce the salary to the Job Rate.
    • If the salary is greater than the Job Rate of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/14 Salary Schedule, OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 2.00% rounded to the nearest dollar OR increase the salary to the Job Rate based on the 04/01/15 Salary Schedule, whichever is greater.
Exceptions

Employees in a composite position (identified by Increment Code 2222) will not be processed automatically.

Employees Who Switch Cycles

Employees who are on the Administration cycle on the payment effective date but are on the Institution cycle on the processing date will have the Administration rows inserted when the program runs for the Administration cycle and the Institution rows inserted when the program runs for the Institution cycle. All retroactive adjustments will be paid in the Institution check dated 09/01/16.

Employees who are on the Institution cycle on the payment effective date but are on the Administration cycle on the processing date will have the Administration rows inserted when the program runs for the Administration cycle and the Institution rows inserted when the program runs for the Institution cycle.

Retroactive adjustments generated as a result of rows inserted for the Institution cycle will be paid in the Administration check dated 8/24/16. Retroactive adjustments generated as a result of rows inserted for the Institution cycle will be paid in the Administration check dated 09/07/16.

Control-D Report Available Prior to Processing

The following Control-D report was made available for agency use on 07/22/16. This will give agencies time to correct employees’ records, if necessary, prior to the automatic processing of the April 2015 PEF Salary Increase. The report will be sorted by Department ID, then by employee name in alphabetical order.

NHRP709 – Mass Salary Increase Exception Report

This report is a preliminary listing of employees who appear ineligible to receive the April 2015 Salary Increase based on information available as of the date the report is produced. Included on the report is one or more of the following messages which identifies the reason(s) the employee’s record will not be updated.

  • NYS Position Has Both Equated Grade and NTE – if the employee’s Grade on the Position Data page (based on the NYS Position Number) is equal to 600 and a value exists in both the Equated to Grade field and the Approved Salary Rate field
  • Position and Job do not match - if the Position Number equals the NYS Position Number on the employee’s Job Data page but the Bargaining Unit, Salary Administration Plan or Grade on the Job Data page and the Position Data page are not equal
  • Increment Code Missing – if the Grade on the Position Data page (based on the NYS Position Number) is equal to 001-037 or 600 with a value of 001-037 in the Equated to Grade field, and the Pay Basis Code is ANN and the increment code on the employee’s Job Data page is blank or ‘0000’
  • Increment Code Invalid – if the Grade on the Position Data page (based on the NYS Position Number) is equal to 001-025 or 600 with a value of 001-025 in the Equated to Grade field, and the Pay Basis Code is ANN and the increment code on the employee’s Job Data page is other than 0001, 0003, 0004, 1001, 1003, 1004, 0069, 2222, 7777, 19XX, 20XX, XX10
  • Increment Code Requires Manual Calculation – if the increment code on the employee’s Job Data page is 2222

Sal Below Hiring Rate – if the Grade on the Position Data page (based on the NYS Position Number) is equal to 001-037 or 600 with a value of 001-037 in the Equated to Grade field, and the Pay Basis Code is ANN and the employee’s salary on any of the Job Data rows being evaluated is less than the Hiring Rate for the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/14 Salary Schedule

If an employee appears on this report but is due a salary increase, the agency must take the following action:

  • Submit the appropriate transaction(s) on the Job Action Requests page to correct the information on the Job Data row(s). If the row(s) is corrected prior to Administration Pay Period 9L or Institution Pay Period 10L, the automatic salary increase will be processed.
  • Submit a Position Change Request to the Position Management Unit if the position information is incorrect on the Position Data page in PayServ but is correct in NYSTEP. The position will be updated to reflect the change and the automatic salary increase will be processed provided the agency’s position request contains the same information as the position information in NYSTEP.

Employees who appear on the report but whose record was not corrected prior to automatic processing will not automatically receive the April 2016 PEF Salary Increase. Agencies should submit the appropriate transactions to correct the employee’s record and to pay the increase in Administration Pay Period 10L or Institution Pay Period 11L.

Agency Actions - Administration Pay Period 9L or Institution 10L

The following procedures must be used by the agency when submitting transactions in Administration Pay Period 9L or Institution Pay Period 10L:

For pay changes, positions changes and transfers requested on the Job Action Requests or Transfer Requests page with an effective date on or after 03/26/15 (Administration) or 04/02/15 (Institution):

  • The agency must not include the April 2015 PEF Salary Increase in the salary reported in the Pay Rate field. The 04/01/14 Salary Schedule must be used to calculate the salary.
Institution Agencies Only

New Hire transactions submitted in Institution Pay Period 10L must use the Hiring Rate of the employee’s grade on the effective date from the 04/01/14 PEF Salary Schedule.Since the 04/01/15 Salary Schedule is loaded in PayServ as part of processing for the Administration cycle, the agency will receive the automatic validation salary warning message, “Requested salary rate must be at the hiring rate when Action of PAY and Reason of NEW is used”. Please ignore this warning message.

Control-D Reports Available After Processing

The following Control-D reports will be available for agency review after the automatic increases have been processed. All reports will be sorted by Department ID, then by employee name in alphabetical order.

NHRP704 – Mass Salary Increase Report

This report identifies all employees who received the automatic April 2015 Salary Increase. The report identifies all employees’ salaries that were increased in an eligible bargaining unit.

NHRP709 – Mass Salary Increase Exception Report

This report identifies employees who did not receive an automatic April 2015 Salary Increase. Included on the report is one or more of the following messages which identifies the reason(s) the employee’s record was not updated The explanation associated with each message is described above under the section Control-D Reports Available Before Processing.

  • NYS Position Has Both Equated Grade and NTE
  • Position and Job do not match
  • Increment Code Missing
  • Increment Code Invalid
  • Increment Code Requires Manual Calculation
  • Sal Below Hiring Rate

Agency Actions - Beginning in Administration Pay Period 10L or Institution 11L

Employees Who Receive an Increased Hiring Rate Effective on or After the Payment Effective Date

Employees who receive an Increased Hiring Rate on or after the payment effective date (03/26/2015 Administration or 04/02/2015 Institution) may not be entitled to have the increase applied to their entire salary. OSC will manually update the salaries after the automatic increase is applied. If any additional corrections are needed, agencies should submit transactions as soon as possible in order to avoid an overpayment to the employee.

Composite Positions

Beginning in Administration Pay Period 10L or Institution Pay Period 11L, agencies must review employees in composite positions (identified by Increment Code 2222) and submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the appropriate Reason code (see below) to pay the salary increase. Information regarding the composite position must be included on the General Comments page.

  • Reason code SAC (Mass Salary Increase) – for transactions effective on 03/26/15 (Administration) or 04/02/15 (Institution).
  • Reason code CSL (Correct Salary) – for transactions effective after 03/26/2015 (Administration) or 04/02/2015 (Institution).

Automatic Retroactive Processing

OSC will automatically calculate retroactive adjustments for regular earnings and Time Entry earnings that are calculated by the system based on annual salary, such as OT for Annuals (OTA) and Holiday Pay (HPA), resulting from payment of the April 2015 PEF Salary Increase.

If an employee receives a payment and has worked in more than one agency but has been paid by all agencies in the same Employee Record Number since the effective date of the payment, all retroactive adjustments will be paid in the most current agency.

If the employee has received a payment and has worked in more than one agency and has been paid in more than on Employee Record Number since the effective date of the payment, the retroactive adjustments will be paid in the most current agency of the Employee Record Number in which the payment was made.

Agency Actions - Retroactive Processing

Reporting Retroactive Adjustments

Time Entry earnings codes that are submitted with an amount will not be adjusted automatically. Therefore, beginning in Administration Pay Period 10L or Institution Pay Period 11L, agencies must report the adjustment amount for earnings codes such as Extra Time Override (EXO) and Regular Salary Override (RGO).

Correcting an Automatic Retroactive Adjustment

When certain conditions exist in an employee’s record, the automatic retroactive adjustment may be incorrect. Therefore, the agency is responsible for identifying employees who meet the following conditions and, if necessary, submitting the necessary adjustment.

  • If an employee has a check returned or exchanged on an AC-230 for dates on or after the effective date of the payment, the payroll system does not consider the AC-230 when calculating the automatic retroactive adjustment.
  • If earnings were previously reported using Earnings Code RGS and a date range that exceeded the number of days reported, the system will calculate the adjustment of earnings based on the number of workdays within the range.
  • Adjustments for earnings that are calculated automatically, such as OT for Annuals (OTA), will be calculated incorrectly if the dates previously reported as a single entry on the Time Entry page overlap the effective date of the payment. The system will calculate an adjustment for all earnings reported in a single entry based on the salary in effect on the Earnings End Date.
  • For employees who had a change reported on the Job Data page, since the effective date of the payment and the action resulted in an overpayment of earnings, the automatic negative retroactive adjustment may not have been processed because the overpayment was either not recoverable or was recovered using an overpayment earnings code or an AC-230. In this case, the negative retroactive adjustment may be re-generated when the payment is processed. OSC will turn off (not process) the automatic negative adjustment for these employees since in most cases these overpayments were either not recoverable or recovered using another method.

If an overpayment of earnings is identified after the automatic payment is processed but before the paycheck is received by the employee, the employee must be notified of the overpayment and the adjustment that will be reported in a subsequent pay period.

Submitting an Adjustment

To process a retroactive adjustment or correct an automatic retroactive adjustment, agencies must submit the following information on the Time Entry page or the Time Entry Interface (NPAY502) using the Earnings Code AJR.

Earnings Begin Date: The first date included in the adjustment
Earnings End Date: The last date included in the adjustment
Earn Code: AJR
Amount: Amount to be adjusted
Comments: An explanation of the adjustment

Military Stipend Leave

OSC will recalculate the military stipend amount for employees who were placed on a Paid or Unpaid Military Stipend Leave on or after the effective date of the payment as the result of new military orders.

  • If the employee received a stipend, OSC will insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective the date the employee is entitled to the increase using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/MSC (Military Stipend Change) and will increase the employee’s biweekly stipend amount.In addition, updates will be made to all subsequent rows requiring an increased biweekly stipend amount.
  • If the employee did not receive a stipend but becomes eligible for a stipend as a result of the payment, OSC will insert the following in PayServ.
    • A row on the employee’s Job Data page effective the date the employee is entitled to a stipend using the Action/Reason code of Paid Leave of Absence/MLS (Mil Stip) and the new biweekly stipend amount.
    • A row on the employee’s Job Data page for each affected subsequent row using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/MSC (Military Stipend Change) and the new biweekly stipend amount.
    • A row on the Time Entry page using the Earnings Code MSP (Military Stipend Payment) to pay the stipend for each pay period the employee is eligible.
    • Any additional adjustment that is required due to the increased biweekly stipend amount that will not be calculated automatically will be reported by OSC on the Time Entry page using the Earnings Code AMS (Adjust Military Stipend).

Deduction Information

All general deductions for employees whose Payroll Status is Terminated, Retired or Deceased will be automatically cancelled by OSC with the exception of the following:

Code Description
233 PEF Member
247 PEF Non-Member A/S
410 Health Care Spending Account
420 NY Dependent Care Contribution
425 Repay State Loans/Debt
426 Higher Ed Repay State Loan
428 Dependent Care
433 Total Unemployment Ins Owed
500 Medicare Deficiency
501 Social Security Deficiency
502 NYS SS/Medicare Deficiency
GARNSH Garnishments
HIATRG Regular After Tax Health
HIATSP Special After Tax Health Adj
HIBTRG Regular Before Tax Health
HIBTSP Special Before Tax Health Adj

Tax Information

These monies are taxable income and are subject to all employment taxes and income taxes.  The monies will be included in the employee’s taxable gross and will be reported on the employee’s Form W-2.

Undeliverable Checks

If the agency has made an effort to deliver the check to the employee but the check has been returned and is undeliverable, the agency should forward the check to the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, Division of Treasury, per instructions in Payroll Bulletin No. 908.

Checks issued to eligible employees who are now deceased should be returned with a completed Next of Kin Affidavit (Form AC 934-P) and a Report of Check Exchange (Form AC 1476-P).  If a Next of Kin Affidavit has been previously submitted for a deceased employee’s payroll check, OSC will accept a photocopy of this form along with a new Report of Check Exchange.

Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice

All retroactive adjustments will be displayed on the Payroll Register using the appropriate Earnings Code and the amount paid and will be displayed on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice using the appropriate Earnings Description and the amount paid unless the number of earnings codes exceeds 13.  Agencies should utilize Locked Query #49 to identify a complete list of regular earnings and retroactive adjustments if there are more than 13 earnings codes.

Questions

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

Questions regarding Position information may be directed to the Position Management mailbox.

Questions regarding military information may be directed to the Military Stipend mailbox.

Questions regarding general deductions may be directed to the Payroll Deduction mailbox.