Unified Court System Bulletin No. UCS-193

Subject
April 2013 Service Increments, Longevity Payments and Longevity Bonus for Employees of the Unified Court System (UCS).
Date Issued
March 28, 2013

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 who meet the eligibility criteria: SR, SY, SN, SG, S9, SA, SD, G9, DR, F8, SK, 86, 87, 88 and CT

Effective Date(s)

The payments will be paid using the following effective dates and check dates:

Pay Cycle/Pay Period Type Payment Effective Date Check Date
Administration 1 Lag 03/28/13 04/24/13

Background

Section 37 of the Judiciary Law provides for the payment of annual increments and additional increments (longevity payments) for certain employees in the Unified Court System (UCS). Chapter 276 of the Laws of 2008 and the 2007-2010 Agreements between the UCS and various unions provides for the payment of a longevity bonus (JLO) for eligible employees in UCS.

Eligibility Criteria

Service Increment

Employees must have been on the payroll for 120 full work days from 04/01/12 through 03/31/13 to be eligible for a service increment.

Longevity Payment

Employees must have completed four or eight years of continuous service in their current grade, have an annual salary equal to or greater than the maximum salary of their grade, and served the equivalent of 120 full work days in each fiscal year.

Longevity Bonus

Employees must have at least 20, 25 or 30 years of continuous service in the UCS as of 03/31/13 and served the equivalent of 120 full work days in each fiscal year to be eligible for a longevity bonus (JLO).

In order to receive an increment, longevity payment or longevity bonus, the employee must have received a performance rating of at least satisfactory and be in active status unless otherwise specified.

Note: An unsatisfactory rating in one year does not bar increment or longevity bonus payments in future years.

Control-D Report Available Prior to Processing

The following Control-D report will be available for agency use on 03/29/13 (Administration). This will give agencies time to correct employees’ records, if necessary, prior to the automatic processing of the April 2013 payments. The report will be sorted by agency code, then by employee name in alphabetical order.

NHRP708 – Mass Increment Payment Exception Report

This report is a preliminary listing of employees who appear ineligible to receive an April 2013 Increment, Longevity Payment or Increment Code Update based on information available as of the date the report is produced. Included on the report is one of the following messages which identifies the reason the employee’s record will not be updated:

  • Position and Job do not match
  • FIS Missing
  • FIS At or Below Current
  • FIS Below Hiring Rate
  • FIS Over Job Rate
  • Current Salary < Longevity Step 1
  • Sal At or Above Longevity Step 1
  • Sal At or Above Longevity Step 2
  • Increment Code Missing
  • Increment Code Invalid
  • Sal Below Hiring Rate
  • Sal Below Job Rate
  • Sal At or Above Job 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 Leave of Absence with a Reason of WDL, MLL or MLS into Additional Pay.
  • The agency must request the Action/Reason of DTA/USP (Data Change/Unsatisfactory Performance) effective 03/28/13 for all employees who are not entitled to an increment or longevity payment due to an “Unsatisfactory” rating. The increment code must be 0003.
  • For Pay Changes, Position Changes and Transfers with an effective date on or before 03/28/13, the agency must not include the 2013 increment or longevity payment in the salary reported in the Pay Rate field. The agency must report the proper increment code for April 2013.
  • For Position Changes and Transfers with an effective date after 03/28/13, no automatic processing will be done by OSC provided the agency reports increment code 5555. The agency must include any applicable 2013 Service Increment and Longevity Pay in the salary reported in the Pay Rate field.
  • For Pay Changes with an effective date after 03/28/13, the agency must include, if applicable, the 2013 Service Increment or Longevity Pay in the salary reported in the Pay Rate field. The agency must report the projected increment code for April 2014.
Time Entry

To report miscellaneous earnings that are automatically calculated by the system (e.g. overtime), agencies must enter multiple rows in the Time Entry page if the earnings date being reported overlaps the effective date of the salary change.

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 or greater than the effective date of the salary change.

OSC Actions

OSC will process increments and longevity payments effective 03/28/13 for eligible employees whose status is Active, Paid Leave of Absence or Leave of Absence with a Reason of WDL (Workers’ Compensation Leave).

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).

Service Increments
  • Increment Code 0001: OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/28/13 to reflect the increment based on the 04/01/10 Salary Schedule not to exceed the maximum salary rate, using the Action/Reason code of PAY/INC (Pay Rate Change/ Increment).
  • Increment Code 0004: OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/28/13 for employees who are entitled to a partial increment to the maximum salary rate based on the employee’s Fixed Incremented Salary (FIS) using the Action/Reason code of PAY/CSL (Pay Rate Change/Correct Salary) provided the FIS amount is greater than the employee’s current salary but less than or equal to the maximum salary rate.
  • Increment Code 0006: OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/28/13 for employees who are entitled to a partial increment based on the employee’s FIS using 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 0413: OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/28/13 using the Action/Reason code of PAY/379 (Pay Rate Change/Jud Law 37.9) to reflect the FIS amount provided the FIS amount is greater than the current salary on Job Data.
Longevity Payments
  • Increment Code 2009: OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/28/13 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 04/01/10 Salary Schedule using the Action/Reason code of PAY/LGP (Pay Rate Change/Longevity Pay).
  • Increment Code 2005: OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/28/13 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 04/01/10 Salary Schedule using the Action/Reason code of PAY/LGP (Pay Rate Change/Longevity Pay).
  • Increment Code 0513: OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/28/13 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 04/01/10 Salary Schedule using the Action/Reason code of PAY/373 (Pay Rate Change/Jud Law 37.3).
Automatic Update of Increment Codes

OSC will automatically update the increment codes, as appropriate, on the inserted rows for employees who receive an increment or longevity payment.  After the increments and longevity payments are processed in Pay Period 1L, OSC will automatically insert a row and update the increment codes for employees with Increment Code 0003 on the Job Data page using the Action/Reason code of DTA/CIC (Data Change/Correct Increment Code) effective 03/28/13.

Current Code Updated Code
0001 0001 if new salary is below the maximum Salary Rate 2013 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 new salary is below the maximum Salary Rate 2013 if new salary is equal to the maximum Salary Rate
Longevity Bonus

OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Additional Pay page using the Earnings Code JLO effective 03/28/13 for employees whose status on 04/01/13 is Active or Paid Leave of Absence and whose Anniversary Date on the Job Data/Compensation page is 03/31/93 or earlier.

The JLO amount is $1,900 for full time employees who have at least twenty (20) years, $2,000 for full time employees who have at least twenty-five (25) years and $2,100 for full time employees who have at least thirty (30) years of continuous service in UCS.

Part-time employees will receive a prorated amount.

Control-D Reports Available After Processing

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

NHRP704 – Mass Increment Payment Report

This report identifies all employees who received the automatic April 2013 Increment or Longevity Payment. The report includes the Action/Reason code used as well as the old compensation rate and new compensation rate.

NHRP708 – Mass Increment Payment Exception Report

This report identifies employees who did not receive an automatic April 2013 Increment, Longevity Payment or Increment Code Update. Included on the report is one of the following messages which identifies the reason the employee’s record was not updated:

  • Position and Job do not match
  • FIS Missing
  • FIS At or Below Current
  • FIS Below Hiring Rate
  • FIS Over Job Rate
  • Current Salary < Longevity Step 1
  • Sal At or Above Longevity Step 1
  • Sal At or Above Longevity Step 2
  • Increment Code Missing
  • Increment Code Invalid
  • Sal Below Hiring Rate
  • Sal Below Job Rate
  • Sal At or Above Job Rate
NPAY770 – One Time Payment Report

This report identifies all employees receiving an automatic payment for Earnings Code JLO.

Agency Actions – Beginning 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 of Absence (except Workers’ Compensation Leave).

Service Increments and Longevity Payments

Agencies must submit a Pay Change, if applicable, using the appropriate reason code on the Job Action Request page for employees who did not receive an automatic payment but are due an increase as identified on the NHRP708 – Mass Increment Payment Exception Report.

Agency Update of Increment Codes

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

Current Code Updated Code
0413 4 digit max year of current grade or 0517 if salary is between 1st and 2nd longevity steps
0513 4 digit max year of current grade
0004 04 with 2 digit year for future application of 37.9
5555 The appropriate 2014 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 following information on the Additional Pay page:

Earnings Code: JLO
Effective Date: 03/28/13 or date employee returns to payroll
OT Eff Date: Same as Effective Date
Annual Addl Earnings: Payment Amount
End Date: 03/26/14

Questions

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