To notify Unified Court System agencies of the April 2004 Salary and Location Pay Increases and the new Location Pay for employees in the Mid-Hudson area.

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

Annual and hourly represented and annual unrepresented employees in the following bargaining units:

• Represented employees in Bargaining Units SA, SR, SN, G9, F8, DR, SG, S9, SK, SD, and 87
• Unrepresented employees in Bargaining Units CT, 86, and 88

Chapter 203 of the Laws of 2004 implements agreements between the State and various bargaining units and provides for Salary and Location Pay Increases for represented annual and hourly employees and unrepresented annual employees.

In addition, the UCS Administrative Board has approved increases for NS grade 560 unrepresented annual employees and has provided OSC with a list of individuals whose salary should be withheld or reduced after the automatic increases are applied.

April 1, 2004 General Salary Increase
The legislation provides for a 2.5% Salary Increase for hourly employees and salaried employees in graded and NS grade 560 positions.

• Payable 3/25/04.
• Revised April 1, 2004 Salary Schedule is attached.


• Annual employees receive a 2.5% Salary Increase, rounded to the next dollar or $850.00, whichever is greater.


• Hourly employees receive a 2.5% Salary Increase rounded to the next cent or $.41, whichever is greater.

NS Grade 560 Annual Unrepresented Employees

• Approved salary rates will be provided by UCS to payroll agencies.

Location Pay Increase·

• Effective April 1, 2004 and payable March 25, 2004, Location pay will be increased to $1,230.00 for employees in NYC, Rockland, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk counties.
• The Location Pay for Monroe County remains at $200.00.

New Location Pay Area
Location Pay has been established, effective 3/25/04, for salaried employees working in the Mid-Hudson area of Orange, Dutchess, and Putnam counties. The annual amount of the Location Pay is $615.00.

After the review of transactions submitted for period 15C/14L is completed, OSC will automatically insert rows in the Job Data records to reflect the April 2004 Salary Increases for salaried employees (PBC=ANN) who are paid on a lag basis and are in an eligible bargaining unit on or after the effective date of the increase, 3/25/04.

These increases will be processed in the following manner:

• For employees in eligible bargaining units who, on the effective date of the increase (3/25/04) have a Pay Basis Code of ANN and status of Active, Paid Leave (except those on Military Stipend Leave), or Leave Without Pay with a reason of WDL, OSC will insert a row on the employee’s Job record, effective 3/25/04, using the Action/Reason codes of PAY/SAC (Pay Rate Change/Mass Salary Increase).


• For the above employees, OSC will update all subsequent Job rows in which the employee is in an eligible bargaining unit with a Pay Basis Code of ANN, regardless of status, using the Action Reason codes of PAY/CSL (Pay Rate Change/Cor Salary). Exception: If the employee was placed on a paid Military Stipend Leave after 3/25/04, the PLA row will not be updated.


• For employees in an eligible bargaining unit who were not Active on 3/25/04 (including those who were on LOA for a reason other than WDL and those on a paid Military Stipend Leave), but who became Active in an eligible bargaining unit with Pay Basis Code of ANN after the effective date of the increase, OSC will insert a row to reflect the 2.5% Salary Increase, effective the date the employee became Active. The Action Reason codes of PAY/CSL (Pay Rate Change/Cor Sal) will be used.
• For the above employees, OSC will update subsequent Job rows in which the employee is in an eligible bargaining unit with a Pay Basis Code of ANN, regardless of the employee’s status, using the Action Reason of PAY/CSL. Exception: If the employee was subsequently placed on a paid Military Stipend Leave after the initial raise, this row will not be updated.

Exception: The Salary Increase will not be applied to any Job row in which the employee is receiving less than the minimum salary rate on the April 2002 Salary Schedule or if the information on the employee’s Job record is different from the information contained on the Position Data record, using the position information for the number stated in the NYS position field on the employee’s Job record.

Withholding of Increases for NS Grade 560 Unrepresented Employees
After the automatic raises are applied in Pay Period 14L, OSC will manually delete the raise row or change the increased salary for individuals whose increase is to be withheld or changed, as determined by the UCS Administrative Board.

Recalculation of Military Stipends
OSC will recalculate Military Stipend payments for employees who went on a paid or unpaid Military Stipend Leave on or after 3/25/04 and, if applicable, will update the employee’s Job record to reflect the appropriate biweekly stipend.

Location Pay
OSC will automatically update existing Location Pay (LOC) rows, effective 3/25/04 or later, for all employees in eligible bargaining units who have an existing LOC row effective 3/25/04 or later. These rows will be updated from $1,200.00 to $1,230.00.

OSC will identify all employees who have LOC and moved from an eligible bargaining unit into an ineligible bargaining unit, or vice versa, after the effective date of the increase, 3/25/04. For these employees, manual updates will be done by OSC to update the Additional Pay page to reflect the appropriate amount of Location Pay.

Location Pay - Mid-Hudson Area
OSC will automatically insert rows on the Additional Pay page to add the Earnings Code LMH (Location Pay Mid-Hudson), effective 3/25/04 or later, for all employees in the agencies listed below who, on or after the effective date of the new earnings, 3/25/04, are in an eligible bargaining unit, have a Pay Basis Code of ANN, and a status of Active, Paid Leave or Leave of Absence with a Reason of WDL.

OSC will not automatically add LMH to an employee’s record if the employee has an LOC row on the Additional Pay page effective 3/25/04 or later. Additional rows will be automatically added or ended, as required, based on subsequent Job actions reported on the employee’s Job record. Exception: Manual updates will be required by OSC for employees who received the automatic LMH and subsequently moved into an ineligible bargaining unit or agency. OSC will end the LMH as of the last day the employee was eligible to receive the earnings.UCS will provide OSC with a list of all employees who will have LMH automatically added to the Additional Pay page who are not eligible for the LMH earnings because their workstation is not located in Orange, Dutchess or Putnam counties. OSC will delete the LMH row(s) for these employees.

OSC will automatically calculate retroactive adjustments resulting from the April 2004 General Salary and Location Pay Increases, as well as retroactive payments for employees receiving Location Pay in the Mid-Hudson area.

Automatic retroactive payments will be processed for certain earnings, such as Overtime and Holiday Pay, reported on the Time Entry page. The following is a list of the earn codes that will be automatically adjusted:AS1, AS5, ES1, EXT, HPA, HPC, HPH, LMH, LOC, LSB, LSK, LSL, LSM, LSN, LT1, OTC, OTD, OTF, OTG, OTK, PPS, PRM, RGS

Additional Information Regarding Retroactive Payments

• For employees who have worked in more than one agency since the effective date of the Increase, all retroactive adjustments will be paid in the most current agency, provided the employee was paid by all agencies using the same Employee Record Number.
• For employees who have worked in more than one agency and have been paid from more than one Employee Record Number since the effective date of the Increase, the retroactive adjustment for earnings in each Employee Record Number will be paid in the most current agency, under each Employee Record Number.
• For employees who are Inactive or on Leave Without Pay at the end of Pay Period 15C/14L, the retroactive raise adjustment will be applied to any Overpayment (OVP) set up in Additional Pay that has a Goal Amount and Goal Balance that are not equal. The system will recover the entire overpayment, provided the check is sufficient. Otherwise, the entire check will be taken.

County Clerks in Agency 05680
General Salary Increases for the county clerks will not be processed automatically.

Location Pay Increases will be processed automatically.

The following Control D Report is available prior to processing of the automatic salary increases.

NHRP 709 Mass Salary Increase Exception Report
This report identifies employees who did not receive an automatic General Salary Increase. Fields on the report include EmplID, Employee Record Number, Employee Name, Grade, Bargaining Unit, Pay Basis Code, Part Time Percentage and Salary. The report identifies the reason the employee’s salary was not increased with one of the following messages:

• Salary Below Minimum
• Position and Job do not match

The following Control D Reports will be available after processing of the automatic increases:

NHRP 703 Mass Salary Additional Pay Report
This report identifies all employees receiving an automatic increase for Location Pay (LOC) or Location Pay Mid-Hudson (LMH). Fields on this report include EmplID, Employee Record Number, Employee Name, Earn Code, Grade, Salary Plan, Bargaining Unit, and Additional Pay Amount.

NHRP 704 Mass Salary Payment Report
This report identifies all employees who received the General Salary Increase. The report identifies the employee’s last salary that was automatically increased in an eligible bargaining unit. Other fields on the report include the EmplID, Employee Record Number, Employee Name, Grade, Bargaining Unit, Pay Basis Code, Part Time Percentage, Action Reason, and Increment Code.

NHRP 709 Mass Salary Increase Exception Report
This report identifies employees who did not receive an automatic General Salary Increase. Fields on the report include EmplID, Employee Record Number, Employee Name, Grade, Bargaining Unit, Pay Basis Code, Part Time Percentage and FTA Salary. The report identifies the reason the employee’s salary was not increased with one of the following messages:

1. Represented employees whose Pay Basis Code is HRY and the employee is Active on or after the effective date of the Increase, 3/25/04.
2. Employees who appeared on the NHRP 709 Mass Salary Exception Report because Job and Position did not match.

• If the employee is in the correct position and the position record is incorrect, the position record must be updated before the automatic Increases are applied. The system will then automatically calculate Increases for these employees.
• If the employee is in the correct position and the position record is correct but the Job record is not, the agency must submit a Position Change in Pay Period 14L to change the attributes on Job and make the employee eligible for an automatic Increase.
• If the employee is in the correct position and Job and Position are correct and should remain unmatched, the agency must report the appropriate increase(s) on the Job Request page.
• If the employee is in the incorrect position, the agency must submit a Position Change in Pay Period 14L to place the employee in the correct position.

3. Employees who appeared on the NHRP 709 report because the employee’s salary is below the minimum. For these employees, the agency must report a Pay Rate Change in Pay Period 14 to correct the employee’s salary, using the April 2002 Salary Schedule.
4. Salary Increases for employees in Agency 05680 will not be processed automatically and must be submitted by the agency.

Agency Procedure for Reporting Increases Not Processed Automatically

• For ANN employees, use the Action Reason of Pay Rate Change/CFS for all rows effective 3/25/04.
• For ANN employees, use the Action Reason of Pay Rate Change/ CSL for all rows effective after 3/25/04.
• For HRY employees, use the Action Reason of Pay Rate Change/CRT for all rows effective 3/25/04 or later.

Reporting in Pay Period 14L
When reporting transactions (e.g. transfers, hires, rehires, position changes, pay rate changes) in Pay Period 14L for employees who will receive an automatic Increase, the agency must report the salary rate from the April 2002 Salary Schedule.

If the agency is reporting a Hire, Rehire, Concurrent Hire, or a Return from Leave Without Pay on a retroactive basis in Pay Period 14 and RGS is required in Time Entry, the RGS must be calculated using the increased salary, as the system does not calculate a retroactive adjustment for RGS earnings submitted in the pay period the raise is applied. Likewise, if the same employee is due Location Pay, the ALP earnings must be calculated using the new Location Pay amount.

When submitting earnings in Time Entry that are calculated by the agency (i.e. agency reports an amount), the amount calculated should be determined using the newly increased salary when applicable.

Agencies 05597 and 05127
UCS must provide OSC with a list of the employees in agency codes 05597 and 05127 who are not eligible for the automatically applied LMH (Location Pay Mid-Hudson) earnings.

Agencies Other than 05597 and 05127
The agency is responsible for adding an LMH (Location Pay Mid-Hudson) row on the Additional Pay page for any eligible employee whose workstation is located in Orange, Dutchess, or Putnam counties.

To add the new Location Pay, the agency must insert a row on the Additional Pay page, effective 3/25/04 or later (i.e. date the employee became eligible for the earnings), using the Earn Code LMH. The Earnings amount is $615.00.

The agency must review the Job Data page to determine if any other rows are required, based on the information reported on the employee’s Job record.

For example:

• A row must be added in the amount of $615.00 if an employee has a change in percentage, effective the date of the percentage change.
• A row must be added to end the earnings if the employee is terminated, retired or placed on Leave of Absence, other than WDL, or has a position change or transfer and becomes ineligible to receive the earnings.
• A row must be added to restart the earnings if the earnings were ended and the employee subsequently becomes eligible for the earnings.
  

Retroactive adjustments will be calculated automatically for regular, additional pay, and certain miscellaneous earnings based on the Salary and Location Pay Increases, as well as for the newly established Mid-Hudson Location Pay.

Time Entry earnings submitted with an amount will not be retroactively adjusted. Therefore, the agency must report the adjustments when the following Earn Codes were used to report earnings on or after 3/25/04: RGO, LSI, HPL, OTO, LTO, ASO, OWO, OTT, ADJ, EMG, ES2.

Additional Pay earnings previously reported using ALP will not be automatically adjusted. The agency must report the adjustment for the previous ALP earnings.

Additional Miscellaneous Information and Procedures Regarding Retroactive Processing

• If a check was returned on an AC230 for dates on or after 3/25/04, the agency must review the retroactive adjustment for that employee, as the system does not consider AC230s when processing retroactive adjustments. Therefore, the agency must report an adjustment of earnings.
• If an employee’s Pay Basis Code changed from HRY to ANN or ANN to HRY, the agency must review the retroactive adjustment to determine if it is correct and, if necessary, report an adjustment of earnings.
• If an employee received earnings on an AC39 (Typewritten Payroll) prepared by OSC for earnings on or after 3/25/04, the agency must submit an adjustment for all earnings paid on the typewritten payroll.
• If the Earn Code OVP was reported in the Additional Pay page since 3/25/04 to recover Overpayments that occurred on or after 3/25/04, the system may not calculate the retroactive adjustment correctly. Therefore, the agency must review the automatic retroactive adjustment and submit the appropriate adjustment of earnings.
• If an employee had a transaction reported on a retroactive basis that resulted in an overpayment of earnings to the employee, and the automatic negative adjustment processed by the system was not used as the method to recover the Overpayment, the employee may not receive the appropriate retroactive adjustment in Pay Period 14L. Therefore, the agency must review the automatic retroactive adjustment and notify OSC, using a Job Action Request of DTA/COR (Data Change/Correct History), if the automatic retroactive adjustment should be processed in Pay Period 14L.
• If RGS was previously submitted using a date range that exceeds the number of days reported, the system will calculate the adjustment of earnings based on the number of workdays within the range. Therefore, the agency must report an adjustment to reduce the automatic retroactive adjustment.
• Adjustments for earnings that are calculated automatically, such as overtime, will be calculated incorrectly if the dates previously reported as a single entry on the Time Entry page overlap the effective date of a salary and/or location pay increase. The system will calculate an adjustment for all earnings reported in the single entry. Therefore, the agency must submit the necessary adjustment to reduce the automatic payment.
  

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