Subject

2005 Year-End Adjustment for Judges

Purpose

To inform agencies of OSC’s automatic processing and to provide instructions for reporting transactions in Pay Period 19C.

Affected Employees

Judges who are paid using the LEG Pay Basis Code.

Background

Based on an agreement between the Office of the State Comptroller and the Office of Court Administration, the total amount of regular earnings actually paid to a judge for each calendar year must equal the judge’s statutory salary rate or, for judges who serve only part of the calendar year, the prorated statutory salary rate or, for judges who incur a salary change that is effective after January 1, the composite salary, based on the number of days actually served at each statutory salary rate.

To ensure that judges are paid their statutory, prorated statutory salary or composite salary (whichever is applicable), an adjustment of regular earnings is required to be paid in the final paycheck of the calendar year.

Effective Date(s)

Pay Period 19C, paychecks dated 12/28/05.

Eligibility

Judges who serve the entire calendar year are eligible for a year-end adjustment, provided the statutory salary is not evenly divisible by 26. Judges who are active on December 31, 2005 and serve the entire calendar year at more than one statutory salary rate, or those who serve only part of the year (same or different salary rate), are eligible for a year end adjustment to be paid in the final check of the year, unless the total amount of regular earnings that will be paid in the calendar year will equal the judge’s prorated or composite salary, whichever is applicable.

OSC Actions

OSC will automatically calculate the year-end adjustment, provided the following conditions are met and the judge does not meet the exceptional conditions described in the "Exceptional Conditions and Agency Actions in Pay Period 19C" section. The total amount of regular earnings due in the final paycheck of the year will be processed by OSC using the Earn Code RGS.

• For judges who served the entire calendar year and did not have a status change or change in salary, the total regular earnings (RGS) to be paid in the final paycheck of the year will be calculated by determining the difference between the total amount of regular earnings received for earnings dates December 30, 2004 through December 14, 2005 and the statutory salary as reported on the Compensation page.
• For judges who served the entire calendar year and did not have a status change but had a change in their statutory salary, the composite salary will be calculated as follows: The total regular earnings (RGS) to be paid in the final paycheck of the year will be calculated by determining the difference between the composite salary and the amount of regular earnings received for earnings dates December 30, 2004 through December 14, 2005.
• For judges who were appointed after January 1, 2005 (Action of New Hire or Concurrent Hire) and who are still Active on December 31, 2005 and did not have a subsequent status change, the prorated salary will be calculated as follows: The total regular earnings (RGS) to be paid in the final paycheck of the year will be calculated by determining the difference between the prorated salary calculation and the amount of regular earnings paid from the date of hire through December 14, 2005.
  

OSC Exception Listings and Control-D Reports

OSC will produce exception listings and Control-D Reports as follows:

• Listings will be produced on December 9, 2005 (after the paychecks for December 14, 2005 are confirmed) to identify judges who will not receive an automatic year-end adjustment, based on the exceptional criteria stated below. These listings will be emailed to Kelly Flanigan.
• Control-D Report NPAY 586 (Pay Basis Code LEG Year End Adjust) will be produced on December 9, 2005 to identify judges tentatively scheduled for the automatic adjustment. The amount identified in the RGS Balance Due column is the amount of RGS that will be paid in the final paycheck of the year.
• Control-D Report NPAY 586 (Pay Basis Code LEG Year End Adjust) will be produced on December 22, 2005 after the automatic payment is processed. This report will identify the judges with an automatic adjustment.

Prorated or Composite Salary Calculation

The prorated or composite salary calculation for judges who were hired and/or had a salary change after January 1, 2005 is determined as follows:

1. Determine the number of calendar days actually served in calendar year 2005. Note: For judges who had more than one salary rate, determine the number of calendar days served during the year at each salary rate.
2. Divide the number of calendar days served at each salary rate (Step #1 above) by 365 and round to seven (7) decimal places.
3. Multiply the result (Step #2 above) by the applicable statutory salary rate and round to two (2) decimal places.
4. For judges who had more than one salary rate, add the results for each salary rate.
   

Exceptional Conditions and Agency Actions in Period 19C

The agency should refer to the Attachment to this Bulletin when reporting transactions in Pay Period 19C.

Judges who meet one or more of the following exceptional conditions will not have their adjustment calculated automatically by OSC. For these employees, the payroll system will calculate regular RGS earnings for the final paycheck of the year, if applicable, based on the information contained on the judge's Job record.

Exceptional Conditions:

• Judges who have OVP balances for 2005.
• Judges who are not in Active or Paid Leave Status on 12/31/05.
• Judges who have a salary change on the Job record that is effective December 29, 2005 or later.
• Non-judicial employees who were transferred into a judicial position on December 30, 2004 or later.
• Judges who were Rehired or Returned from Leave with an effective date after January 1, 2005.

For judges who meet the exceptional conditions defined above, the agency must calculate and report the year-end adjustment as follows, if applicable.

1. Determine the amount of salary entitlement for calendar year 2005 using the calculation above.
2. Determine the amount of regular earnings paid in calendar year 2005 for earnings earned in 2005, including the amount of regular earnings (RGS) that will be calculated by the payroll system for the final paycheck of the year.
3. Subtract the amount paid as determined in Step #2 from the amount of salary entitlement as determined in Step #1.
4. Enter the resulting adjustment as determined in Step #3 above into the Time Entry page using the Earn Code JYA (Judge’s Year End Adjustment) as stated below.

Reporting the Earn Code JYA:

General Comments
An explanation of the JYA calculation must be provided.

Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice

The Earn Code RGS will be displayed on the payroll register and the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice.

The Earn Code JYA will be displayed on the payroll register and the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice, in addition to the Earn Code RGS.

If the Earn Code RGO is reported, this Earn Code will replace Earn Code RGS and will be displayed on the payroll register and the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice.

Reporting Actions for Pay Period 20C

Agencies must not report any actions for Pay Period 20C until after the 12/28/05 paychecks have been processed.

Questions

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