Unified Court System Bulletin No. UCS-43

Subject
Retroactive Salary Transactions for Unified Court System Agencies
Date Issued
March 13, 2001

Purpose

To revise the guidelines governing OSC's review and approval of retroactive salary transactions

Affected Employees

Agencies that submit retroactive salary transactions on behalf of their employees

Effective Date

Immediately

Background

Agencies should process salary changes in the payroll system as soon as possible. However, the Office of the State Comptroller recognizes that it is not always possible for agencies to complete their required processing steps by the effective date for all transactions. Additionally, OSC recognizes that the current guidelines governing retroactive salary transactions do not adequately reflect the time frames necessary for many agencies to process such transactions. Accordingly, OSC has revised the guidelines in certain areas to increase flexibility and improve processing efficiency.

The guidelines in this Bulletin supersede Part II, pages 19 and 20 of the "Salary Manual For The Unified Court System" concerning Retroactive Salary Transactions that was issued March 1990.

Summary of Revisions to Retroactive Salary Transaction Guidelines

The chart on the following page summarizes the revised guidelines governing the submission of retroactive salary transactions to OSC.

  • Appointments (e.g.,hires, rehires, concurrent hires)
  • Reinstatements from leaves
  • Corrections to appointment, reinstatement, leaves and separation dates
  • Promotions
  • Salary increases
  • Changes in percentage of time worked
May be reported no more than five (5) payroll periods retroactive without justification.
This allows for a total of 60 business days (the current pay period plus five retroactive periods).
  • Changes to Location Pay
  • Miscellaneous payments (via time entry panels)
May be reported no more than nine (9) payroll periods retroactive without justification.
This allows payment for a total of 100 business days (the current pay period plus nine retroactive periods).
There is no limit on retroactive payment of location pay when the entire agency is located in an eligible area.
  • Reclassifications
  • Reallocations
Position Changes should be submitted timely and will be approved no earlier than the effective date of the reclassification or reallocation of the position on the Position Data panel.
  • Reinstatement by the Chief Administrative Judge Rule 25.28 (d) (2)
Reinstatements are payable from the effective date stated in the approval letter. Generally, this date coincides with or is subsequent to the Chief Administrator's approval and therefore, no retroactivity is involved. In those rare instances where retroactive action may appear warranted, agency justification is required.

Agency Responsibility

There is no time limit on the correction of payroll errors (e.g. failure to pay increments or contractual salary increases to eligible employees). If an agency determines an employee has been paid a salary less than that authorized by law, the agency should submit the appropriate pay change(s) on the Job Action Request Panel. An explanation of the correction must be entered in the Status Reason block. If OSC determines the pay changes are warranted, the pay changes will be approved and an adjustment will be paid retroactive to the date of the error.

Transactions that fall within the revised guidelines:

In general, OSC will not require agencies to obtain advance approval or provide documentation on retroactive salary transactions that fall within the revised guidelines. However, OSC reserves the right to require agencies to provide an explanation and/or documentation to substantiate specific transactions when warranted.

Transactions that exceed the revised guidelines:

For transactions that exceed the revised guidelines, agencies must provide an explanation/justification for the retroactive transaction in the General Comments panel. In some cases, OSC may request supporting documentation to further substantiate the proposed transaction.

Questions

Please direct questions on this Bulletin to your payroll auditor.