Unified Court System Bulletin No. UCS-148

Subject
April 2009 Service Increments, Longevity Pay and Longevity Bonus for Employees of the Unified Court System (UCS)
Date Issued
March 23, 2009

Purpose

To explain OSC’s automatic processing and to provide instructions for payments not processed automatically.

Affected Employees

Eligible graded salaried employees in the following bargaining units: SR, SY, SN, SG, S9, SA, SD, G9, DR, F8, SK, 86, 87, 88 and CT

Background

Certain UCS employees are eligible to receive Increments and Longevity Payments pursuant to Article 2, Section 37 of Judiciary Law and implementation legislation for collective bargaining agreements.

Effective Date(s)

Effective 4/2/09, paychecks dated 4/29/09, Pay Period 1L

Eligibility Criteria

Employees must have been on the payroll for 120 full work days from 4/1/08 through 3/31/09 to be eligible for a Service Increment.

The Longevity Bonus (JLO) amount is $1,850 for employees who have at least twenty (20) years, $1,950 for employees who have at least twenty-five (25) years, and $2,050 for employees who have at least thirty (30) years of continuous service in UCS.

Salary Deferral

Chapter 276 of the Laws of 2008 calls for a salary deferral of any increases to salaries in excess of $115,000 for all employees until a law is passed to increase the salary of Supreme Court Justices to a rate greater than $136,700 or March 31, 2011, whichever comes first. Employees who hold a salary above $115,000 prior to the processing of the April 2009 increments will retain their salary achieved prior to the increment and longevity processing. Employees whose salary is increased to an amount greater than $115,000 by the increment or longevity processing will have their salary deferred to $115,000.

OSC Actions

After payroll processing is completed for Pay Period 1L, OSC will process Increments and Longevity Payments for eligible employees whose status is Active, on Paid Leave of Absence (except those on Military Stipend (MLS), or Workers’ Compensation Leave (WDL)) effective 4/2/09. Pay Changes, Position Changes and Transfers with an effective date of4/2/09 or later with the Increment Code 5555 will not be automatically updated by OSC.

OSC will update all subsequent Job Data rows, except as noted above, in which the employee is in an eligible bargaining unit regardless of status using the Action/Reason code of PAY/CSL (Pay Rate Change/Correct Salary).

Subsequent rows subject to the salary deferral will have an additional Job Data row added using the next available sequence number for the effective date, using the action reason PAY/CSD and apply the appropriate deferral amount.

Salary Deferral

For employees affected by the Salary Deferral, a CSD row will be inserted as follows:

  • If an employee holds a salary greater than $115,000 prior to Increment and Longevity processing, OSC will process all Increment and Longevity increases on the salary achieved prior to the deferral. OSC will insert a subsequent row for the same dates using the Action/Reason code of PAY/CSD and reduce the salary back to the salary prior to the increment and longevity processing. All subsequent rows will be updated accordingly.
  • If the salary on an inserted row exceeds $115,000 as a result of the Increment and Longevity processing, OSC will insert a subsequent row using the Action/Reason code of PAY/CSD, and reduce the salary to $115,000.  All subsequent rows will be updated in the same manner.
  • All increment codes on the CSD row will be carried forward from the previous row.
Service Increments
  • Increment Code 0001: Effective 4/2/09, for employees who are entitled to an Increment based on the 4/1/08 Salary Schedule, OSC will insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page to reflect the Increment, not to exceed the maximum salary rate, using the Action/Reason code of PAY/INC (Pay Rate Change/Increment).
  • Increment Code 0004: Effective 4/2/09, for employees who are entitled to a partial Increment to the maximum salary rate based on the employee's Fixed Incremented Salary (FIS). OSC will automatically insert a row in the employee’s Job Data page to reflect the FIS amount. OSC will use the Action/Reason code of PAY/CSL (Pay Rate Change/Correct Salary) provided the FIS amount is greater than the employee’s current salary or equal to the maximum salary rate.
  • Increment Code 0006: Effective 4/2/09, for employees who are entitled to a partial Increment based on the employee's FIS, OSC will automatically insert a row in the employee’s Job Data page to reflect the FIS amount. OSC will use the Action/Reason code of PAY/INC (Pay Rate Change/Increment) provided the FIS amount is greater than the employee’s current salary but less than or equal to the maximum salary rate.
  • Increment Code 0409: Effective 4/2/09, OSC will insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page to reflect the FIS amount on the Job Data Compensation page as long as the FIS amount is greater than the current salary on Job Data. OSC will use the Action/Reason code of PAY/379. If the FIS is blank, no automatic processing will be done by OSC.
Longevity Pay
  • Increment Code 2005: Effective 4/2/09, OSC will insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page for employees whose salary is equal to or greater than the maximum salary rate but less than Longevity Step 1 to reflect an increase to Longevity Step 1 from the 4/1/08 Salary Schedule, using the Action/Reason code of PAY/LGP (Pay Rate Change/Longevity Pay).
  • Increment Code 2001: Effective 4/2/09, OSC will insert a row on the employee's Job Data page for employees whose salary is equal to or greater than Longevity Step 1 but less than Longevity Step 2 to reflect an increase to Longevity Step 2 from the 4/1/08 Salary Schedule, using the Action/Reason code of PAY/LGP (Pay Rate Change/Longevity Pay).
  • Increment Code 0509: Effective 4/2/09 OSC will insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page for employees whose salary is equal to or greater than Longevity Step 1 but less than Longevity Step 2 to reflect an increase to Longevity Step 2 from the 4/1/08 Salary Schedule, using the Action/Reason code of PAY/373.
Longevity Bonus

Full-time employees who as of 4/1/09 have at least twenty (20) years of continuous service in the Unified Court System and have a performance rating of other than “Unsatisfactory” shall receive a bonus of $1,850. Part-time employees will receive prorated amounts. Full-time employees who as of 4/1/09 have at least twenty-five (25) years of continuous service in the Unified Court System and have a performance rating of other than “Unsatisfactory” shall receive a bonus of $1,950. Part-time employees will receive prorated amounts.

Full-time employees who as of 4/1/09 have at least thirty (30) years of continuous service in the Unified Court System and have a performance rating of other than “Unsatisfactory” shall receive a bonus of $2,050. Part-time employees will receive prorated amounts.

OSC will automatically insert a row using the Earn Code JLO (Judicial Longevity Bonus) on the Additional Pay page, effective 4/2/09, for employees whose status on 4/1/09 is Active or Paid Leave of Absence and whose Anniversary Date on the Job Data Compensation page is 3/31/1989 or earlier.

Automatic Update of Increment Codes

OSC will automatically update the increment codes, as appropriate, for employees in Pay Period 1L. Employees with Increment Codes 0001 or 0006 will have their increment codes updated on the INC row.

After the Increments are processed in Pay Period 1L, OSC will automatically update increment codes of employees with Increment Code 0003 on the Job Data record using the Action/Reason code of DTA/CIC (Data Change/Correct Increment Code) effective 4/2/09 (Administration).

Current Code Updated to
0001 0001 if new salary is below the maximum Salary Rate 2009 if new salary is equal to the maximum Salary Rate
0003 0001 if salary is equal to or greater than Hiring Rate and less than the maximum Salary Rate
0006 0001 if the new salary is less than the maximum Salary Rate and the FIS amount will be zero 2009 if new salary is equal to the maximum Salary Rate

Agency Actions Pay Period 1

To report transactions in Pay Period 1, agencies must use the following procedures:

  • The agency must submit all JLO transactions for eligible employees whose status is WDL, MLL or MLS into Additional Pay.
  • The agency must request the Action/Reason of DTA/USP (Data Change/Unsatisfactory Performance) effective 4/2/09 for all employees who are not entitled to a Service Increment or Judicial Longevity Payment due to an "Unsatisfactory" rating.The increment code must be 0003.
  • For Pay Changes, Position Changes and Transfers effective prior to 4/2/09, the agency must not include the Service Increment or Longevity Increment in the Pay Rate field. The increment code must be the April 2009 increment code.
  • For Pay Changes, Position Changes and Transfers effective on4/2/09 or later, no automatic processing will be done by OSC. The agency must include any Service Increment, Longevity Increment and Salary Increase in the Pay Rate field. The increment code 5555 must be reported. If a subsequent job transaction must be reported, the agency should wait until the Pay Change, Position Change or Transfer transaction is approved by OSC and appears in Job.
  • For Pay Changes, Position Changes and Transfers effective after 4/2/09, the agency must include the Service Increment or Longevity Increment in the Pay Rate field. The agency must report the projected increment code for April 2010.
  • If an employee holds a salary greater than $115,000 prior to Increment and Longevity processing, the agency must process all Increment and Longevity increases on the salary achieved prior to the deferral. The agency must insert a subsequent row for the same dates using the Action/Reason code of PAY/CSD and reduce the salary back to the salary prior to the raise processing. All subsequent rows must be updated accordingly.
Time Entry

To report miscellaneous earnings automatically calculated by the system (i.e. overtime), agencies must enter multiple rows in the Time Entry page if the earnings dates being reported overlap the effective date of the salary increase.

The first row must be inserted with the inclusive dates prior to the effective date of the salary change. The second row must be inserted with the inclusive dates equal to and after the effective date of the salary change.

Agency Actions Beginning in Pay Period 2

Beginning in Pay Period 2L, agencies must submit the appropriate Pay Changes for all eligible employees effective the date of the return to the payroll from a Leave without Pay (except for Workers’ Compensation Leave).

Increments and Longevity Payments

Agencies must submit a Pay Change, if applicable, using the Reason of INC (Increment) or LGP (Longevity) on the Job Action Request page for employees who did not receive an automatic payment but are due an increase as identified on the following reports:

  • NHRP708 - Mass Increment Payment Exception Report
  • NHRP704 - Mass Increment Payment Report
Agency Update of Increment Codes

Agencies must update the following increment codes, as appropriate, on the Job Data record using the Action/Reason code of DTA/CIC (Data Change/Correct Increment Code).

Current Code Updated to
0409 4 digit max year of current grade or 0513 if salary is between 1st and 2nd longevity steps
0509 4 digit max year of current grade
0004 04 with 2 digit year for future application of 37.9
5555 The appropriate 2010 increment code

Any increment code of 0003 resulting from an “Unsatisfactory” rating will be updated to 0001 and must be reviewed and updated accordingly.

Longevity Bonus

To report a Longevity Bonus for an eligible employee who did not receive an automatic payment, enter the information on the Additional Pay page as follows:

Earnings Code: JLO
Effective Date 4/2/09 or date employee returns to payroll
OT Effective Date: Same as effective date
Annual Additional Earnings: Payment Amount
Earnings End Date: 3/31/10

Control-D Reports

The following report will be available after processing of Pay Period 25 is completed.

NHRP708 Mass Increment Payment Exception Report

The report identifies employees who will not receive an automatic Increment based on available information at the close of Pay Period 25. This will give agencies time to correct the employees’ records if necessary before automatic processing takes place.

Fields on the report include EmplID, Employee Record Number, Employee Name, Grade, Bargaining Unit, Pay Basis Code, Part-time Percentage, Salary, FIS Amount and Increment Code. The report identifies the reason the employee’s salary will not be increased with one of the following messages:

Position and job do not match FIS missing FIS at or below current

The following reports will be available for agency review after the automatic processing of Pay Period 1 is completed.

NHRP708 Mass Increment Payment Exception Report

This report identifies employees who did not receive an automatic Increment. Fields on the report include EmplID, Employee Record Number, Employee Name, Grade, Bargaining Unit, Pay Basis Code, Part-time Percentage, Salary, FIS Amount and Increment Code. The report identifies the reason the employee’s salary was not increased with one of the following messages:

Position and Job do not match FIS missing FIS at or below current

NHRP704 Mass Salary Payments/Mass Increment Payment Report

Two generations of this report will be run. The first report identifies all employees who received the automatic Service Increment. The second report identifies all employees who received the Longevity Payment. Fields on the report include EmplID, Employee Record Number, Employee Name, Grade, Bargaining Unit, Pay Basis Code, Part-time Percentage, Salary, Action Reason and Increment Code.

NPAY770 One Time Payment Report

This report identifies all employees receiving an automatic payment for Earn Code JLO (Judicial Longevity Bonus). Fields on this report include EmplID, Employee Record Number, Employee Name, Earn Code, Grade, Bargaining Unit, Part-time Percentage and Payment Amount.

Questions

Questions about processing transactions may be directed to the Non-Executive Audit mailbox.