Subject

2003 Factor Change Adjustment Payment for Judges

Purpose

Affected Employees

Effective Date(s)

Background

Based on an agreement between Chief Administrative Judge Jonathan Lippman and the Office of the State Comptroller, a new method for paying judges will be implemented by the end of calendar year 2004. For calendar year 2004, the total amount of regular earnings actually paid during the calendar year will equal the judge’s statutory salary rate, or prorated share of statutory salary, whichever is applicable.

As a result of this change, effective January 1, 2004, the calendar day rate of pay must be determined by dividing the statutory salary by 366 days (calendar year 2004 is a leap year). Prior to the implementation of this change, earnings were calculated using a leap year formula effective at the start of the fiscal year in which February 29 occurred. For example, for Fiscal Year 2003-2004, the leap year calculation was used to determine earnings from March 27, 2003 through March 24, 2004.

Since the change in payment methodology requires the leap year calculation to be implemented effective January 1, 2004, any judge who served at any time between March 27, 2003 and December 31, 2003 is due an adjustment of earnings calculated as defined below.

Additional information on the change in payment methodology for 2004 will be stated in a future payroll bulletin.

OSC Automatic Adjustment Processing for Regular Earnings

OSC will automatically calculate the adjustment of regular earnings for 2003 for all judges whose Pay Basis Code is CAL and who served at any time during the period March 27, 2003 through December 31, 2003. The amount of the adjustment will be determined as follows:

1. For judges who served continuously from March 27,2003 through December 31, 2003 and had no change in salary: The adjustment will be calculated by determining the difference between the regular biweekly earnings calculated using the leap year factor (i.e. Annual salary x .038251) and the regular biweekly earnings calculated using the non-leap year factor (i.e. Annual salary x .038356) and the resulting biweekly adjustment will be multiplied by 20 pay periods.
2. For judges who served part of the period from March 27, 2003 through December 31, 2003 and had no change in salary: The adjustment will be calculated by determining the difference in the biweekly as calculated in #1 above and then multiplying the result by the total number of calendar days actually served. That result is then divided by fourteen (14).
3. For judges who had a salary change between March 27, 2003 and December 31, 2003, regardless of the number of days actually served during this period: The adjustment will be calculated in the same manner as #2 above, except the calculation will be done for each salary in effect during this period. Adjustments calculated at each salary rate will be combined.

On October 14, 2004, OSC automatically inserted a row in the Time Entry page using the Earn Code ADJ to pay the 2003 Factor Change Adjustment. The Earns Begin and End dates will be as follows:

• For judges who were Active in judicial employment on 12/31/03, the default date will be 12/31/03.

• For judges who were not Active in judicial employment on 12/31/03, the Earns Begin and End dates will be the last date served.

Agency Responsibility Regarding Salary Adjustments for Regular Earnings

After the automatic adjustment is added to Time Entry, agencies must delete the automatic adjustment for surrogate judges who are not eligible for the automatic adjustment. Agencies must reduce the amount of the automatic adjustment if the automatic adjustment will cause the judge to exceed the maximum allowable salary for calendar year 2003 (i.e. $136,699.54). Agencies must enter General Comments to explain the deletion or change.

Prior to October 21, 2004, the Office of Court Administration must provide OSC with a list of impacted judges and the action taken for each.

Agency Responsibility: Reassignment Pay Adjustments

Agencies are responsible for submitting adjustments in Reassignment Pay for all judges who were reassigned to another court at any time during the period March 27, 2003 through December 31, 2003 and were paid a Reassignment adjustment using the Earn Code REA. Agencies must determine the difference in the Reassignment Pay calculated and paid using the leap year factor and the Reassignment Pay that would have been calculated had the non-leap year factor been used to calculate the REA earnings.

Agencies must report the Reassignment adjustment in the Time Entry page using the Earn Code REA. The Earns Begin and End dates should be the first and last date being adjusted. The number of days should be the total number of full days being adjusted.

Note: Agencies must not report an adjustment of Reassignment earnings for surrogate judges who reached or will reach the maximum allowable earnings for 2003 (i.e. $136, 699.54) after the adjustment of regular earnings is processed. A reduced Reassignment adjustment must be submitted if the judge did not exceed the maximum allowable earnings, including the adjustment for 2003, but would exceed the maximum allowable earnings if the full Reassignment Pay adjustment was processed. General Comments must be entered for judges whose Reassignment Pay will not be adjusted or adjusted at a reduced amount.

Agency Responsibility for Judges Receiving 2003 Adjustment Who Became Inactive During Calendar Year 2004

Due to the change in payment methodology for calendar year 2004, judges who are Active at the end of this year will receive an adjustment of regular earnings in their final paycheck of the year. However, for judges who became Inactive after January 1, 2004 and who will receive an automatic adjustment of regular earnings for 2003, the agency must determine the amount of the Overpayment incurred or adjustment due for calendar year 2004.

If a judge was underpaid, the agency must report the adjustment of regular earnings using the Earn Code ADJ. The Earns Begin and End dates should be the beginning and ending dates of the adjustment.

If a judge was overpaid, the agency must report the Overpayment using the Earnings Code OVP on the Additional Pay page.

To calculate the adjustment due or Overpayment for calendar year 2004, the agency must:

1. Determine the calendar day rate of pay for calendar year 2004 by dividing the statutory salary by 366, and rounding the result to the seventh (7th ) decimal place.
2. Determine the amount of regular earnings the judge was due in 2004 by multiplying the calendar day rate of pay determined in #1above by the actual number of calendar days served in 2004. Round the result to the nearest cent.
3. Determine the amount of regular earnings actually paid to the judge for the period of 1/1/04 until the date of removal from judicial employment.
4. Determine the amount of the adjustment due or Overpayment by subtracting the amount determined in #3 above from the amount determined in #2 above.
   

Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck or Advice

The Earn Code ADJ and the amount of the payment will displayed on the payroll register and the employee’s paystub or advice.

Questions

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