State Agencies Bulletin No. 183

Subject
October 1, 1999 and April 1, 2000 Salary and Other Increases for Employees Represented by the Public Employees Federation (PEF) and Council 82
Date Issued
August 29, 2000

Purpose

To inform agencies of OSC's automatic processing and to provide instructions for processing adjustments and changes.

Affected Employees

Employees in Bargaining Unit 05 and Security Supervisors Unit, Bargaining Unit 61

Effective Dates

Administration cycle paychecks dated 09/13/00 Institution cycle paychecks dated 09/21/00

Contract Provisions and Eligibility Criteria

Chapter 73 and 74 of the Laws of 2000, which implement agreements between the State and Council 82, and the State and the Public Employees Federation, respectively, provide for the following general salary increases and payments:

October 1, 1999 General Salary Increase

  • 3% salary increase, rounded to the nearest dollar, for employees in graded and NS (SG 600) positions, trainees (SG 800) and hourly employees.
  • Payable 09/30/99 (Administration) and 10/07/99 (Institution).
  • NO INCREASE for FEE basis employees, except for employees budgeted as per diem, but paid as FEE.
  • Revised 10/01/99 salary schedules reflecting the 3% raise are attached (Attachment B, Bargaining Unit 05 and Attachment E, Bargaining Unit 61).

April 1, 2000 General Salary Increase

Inconvenience Pay

  • The legislation provides an increase to $500 annually, effective 04/01/99, payable 04/01/99 (Administration) and 03/25/99 (Institution).

Location Pay

  • The legislation provides an increase from $823 to $1,000 annually, effective 04/01/00, payable 03/30/00 (Administration) and 04/06/00 (Institution) for employees in NYC, Rockland, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
  • Monroe County remains at $203 annually for eligible employees.

Hazardous Duty Pay/Safety Incentive Differential

  • For Bargaining Unit 05, the legislation provides an increase in Hazardous Duty Pay to $.50 per hour effective 04/01/00, payable 03/30/00 (Administration) and 04/06/00 (Institution). As a result of the Hazardous Duty Pay increase, the Safety Incentive Differential will be increased to $4.00 per day.

Overtime Meal Allowance

  • For Bargaining Unit 05, the legislation provides for overtime eligible employees to receive an overtime meal allowance of $5.50 per meal, effective 08/10/00 (Institution) and 08/17/00 (Administration).
  • For Bargaining Unit 61, the legislation provides for overtime eligible employees to receive an overtime meal allowance of $5.00 per meal effective 04/01/00 (Administration) and 04/06/00 (Institution).
  • A bulletin regarding the processing of the new meal allowances will be issued shortly.

Standby/Oncall

  • For Bargaining Units 05 and 61, the legislation provides an increase in Standby/Oncall pay to 20% of the employee's daily rate of compensation, effective 4/1/00, payable 3/30/00 (Administration) and 4/6/00 (Institution).

Security Enforcement Differential

  • For Bargaining Unit 61, the legislation provides a new additional salary factor for full-time, annual-salaried employees of $125, effective 01/01/00, payable 01/06/00 (Administration) and 12/30/99 (Institution). The differential increases to $500, effective 04/01/00, payable 03/30/00 (Administration) and 04/06/00 (Institution). The Security Enforcement Differential amount is included in the calculation of Pre-Shift Briefing pay.

Premium Overtime Pay

  • For Bargaining Unit 61, the legislation provides an increase in Premium Overtime Pay to 18% of base annual salary (not including additional salary factors), effective 07/31/00, payable 8/3/00, for employees in the title Forest Ranger III.

Command Pay

  • For Bargaining Unit 61, the legislation provides for this new additional salary factor equal to 5% of base annual salary (not including additional salary factors), effective 4/1/00, payable 3/30/00, for employees in the title of Chief Environmental Conservation Officer III.

New Increment Program for Bargaining Unit 05

OSC Actions: Automatic Update of Rows on Job Data and Additional Pay Panels

Salary Increases

  • After payroll processing for pay period 11L is complete, OSC will automatically insert multiple rows in the Job Data panels to reflect the October 1999 and April 2000 salary increases for salaried and hourly employees in eligible bargaining units.

If an employees annual salary is identical to the hiring rate or the job rate of the salary grade of his/her position on the October 1, 1998 salary schedule, the employees salary will be automatically increased to the corresponding rate on the October 1, 1999 and/or April 1, 2000 schedule.

If the employee is in a graded position with an annual salary which is not equal to a step on the October 1, 1998 salary schedule, or if the employee is in an NS (grade 600) or trainee (Grade 800) position, the employees salary or hourly rate will be increased by 3% on October 1, 1999 and an additional 3% on April 1, 2000. For salaried employees, the salary will be rounded to the nearest dollar. Hourly rates for employees in hourly positions will be rounded to the nearest cent.

OSC will insert rows in the Job Data panels using the Action of PAY (Pay Rate Change) and the Reason Code CFS (Cor FY Sal) with effective dates of 09/30/99 and/or 03/30/00 (Administration) or 10/07/99 and/or 04/06/00 (Institution) for active employees and employees on a Workers Compensation Leave (reason code of WDL, WSP or WPS).

All subsequent rows on the Job Data panel, including leaves and terminations, will be updated automatically, provided the employee remained in an eligible bargaining unit, by inserting additional rows with the action of Pay Rate Change, reason of CSL (Cor Sal) and the new salary.

For employees who were inactive or on a leave of absence without pay (not WDL,WSP, or WPS) on the effective date of the increase(s), the increase(s) will automatically be applied to the employees Job Data record only if the employee was subsequently returned to the payroll in an eligible bargaining unit. Rows will be inserted as of the effective date of the Rehire or the Return from Leave action with the action of PAY (Pay Rate Change), reason of CSL (Cor Sal) and the new salary. All subsequent Job Data rows will also be updated, provided the employee remained in an eligible bargaining unit.

Inconvenience Pay

  • OSC will automatically increase eligible employees Inconvenience Pay (IPF) on the Additional Pay Panel from $400 to $500, effective 03/25/99 (Institution) and 04/01/99 (Administration) cycle.

Inconvenience Pay Partial

  • OSC will automatically increase eligible employees partial inconvenience pay (IPP) on the Additional Pay Panel, effective 03/25/99 (Institution) and 04/01/99 (Administration). The IPP increase will be based on the following amounts:
    Current Amount New Amount
    $ 40 $ 50
    80 100
    120 150
    160 200
    200  250
    240 300
    280 350
    320 400
    360 450

Location Pay

  • OSC will automatically increase eligible employees Location Pay (LOC) on the Additional Pay Panel from $823 to $1,000, effective 03/30/00 (Administration) and 04/06/00 (Institution).

Security Enforcement Differential

  • OSC will automatically insert a row on the Additional Pay Panel for eligible employees with the new earnings code SED, effective 12/30/99 (Institution) and 01/06/00 (Administration) and the amount of $125. Additional rows will be inserted effective 03/30/00 (Administration) and 04/06/00 (Institution) with the increased amount of $500. 

Other OSC Actions

  • For employees who have held positions in both eligible and ineligible bargaining units since the effective dates of the Location and Inconvenience Pay increases, OSC will insert rows on the Additional Pay panel only for the period during which an employee was in an eligible bargaining unit.
  • The Geographic Pay Differential will be reduced by OSC on the Additional Pay panel for employees whose salary, when increased by the Differential, exceeds the job rate of the grade (plus longevity steps, if applicable) plus the Differential. Affected employees and their respective Differential amount will be identified on the Auditors Report of Payroll Corrections for Miscellaneous Payments for period 11L.

Payments To Be Increased In a Future Pay Period

Earnings in the categories identified below are calculated automatically each pay period based on a specific amount assigned to each earn code. These amounts will NOT be automatically increased at this time. New earn codes will be established to reflect the increased amounts. Until then, agencies must continue to submit earnings using the existing codes. A separate bulletin identifying the new earn codes and providing agency instructions will be forthcoming.

The earn codes are:

  • Hazard Pay (HZ1), Hazard Pay with Overtime (HZ2), Intermittent Inconvenience Pay 10 Days (IIP), Intermittent Inconvenience Pay 8 Days (IP1),Intermittent Inconvenience Pay 6 Days (IP2), Inconvenience Overtime (OIS), Safety Differential Straight Time (SDS), Safety Differential Overtime (SDO).

Similarly, the Standby rate used in calculating earnings for the codes Standby (SBC), Standby Overtime (SOC),and Recall Standby Overtime (RCL) will not be increased at this time. New earn codes will be added to establish the increased rates. Until then, agencies must continue to submit the earnings using the existing codes. However, retroactive adjustments for standby earnings resulting from the general salary increases, will be processed automatically. 

Automatic Retroactive Processing

  • OSC will automatically calculate retroactive payments resulting from the October 1999 and April 2000 general salary increases and the increases in inconvenience pay (full or part), location pay and the security enforcement differential. Automatic retroactive payments will be processed for certain earnings (e.g. overtime, holiday pay) previously reported on the Time Entry panel.
  • A listing of all the earnings codes that will be automatically adjusted and their respective retroactive earn codes is attached. (Attachment D)
  • For eligible employees who have worked in more than one agency since the effective date of the increases, all retroactive adjustments will be paid in the most current agency, provided the employee was paid by all agencies using the same Employee Record #.
  • For 21P employees receiving a retroactive salary adjustment, the system will generate the earnings code RCN and display it in the Time Entry panel.
  • For eligible employees who have worked in more than one agency and have been paid from more than one Employee Record # since the effective date of the increases, the retroactive adjustment for earnings in each Employee Record # will be paid in the most current agency, on the appropriate pay cycle, under each Employee Record #.

Retroactive Payments for Workers Compensation Supplemental Payments

  • OSC will calculate retroactive adjustments for employees who received a supplemental payment while on the Workers Compensation Award and Supplement Program or the PEF Medical Evaluation Program. The Workers Compensation Unit will enter the adjustment on the Time Entry panel using the earn code Adjust Raise (AJR).

Reveal Reports

The following Reveal reports will be available for agency review one week prior to the raise paycheck dates. All reports will be sorted by agency code and then by employee name in alphabetical order.

  • Mass Additional Pay Report (NHRP703):
    This report will identify all employees receiving an automatic increase for inconvenience pay full (IPF), inconvenience pay part (IPP) or location pay (LOC). Fields on this report include Emplid, Employee Record #, Employee Name, Earn Code, Grade, Sal Plan, Barg Unit and Additional Pay Amount.
  • Mass Salary Payment Report (NHRP704):
    This report will identify all employees who received the automatic general salary increases. The report will identify the employees last salary in an eligible bargaining unit that was automatically increased. Other fields on the report include Emplid, Employee Record #, Employee Name, Grade, Barg Unit, Pay Basis Code, Part time Percentage, Action Reason and Increment Code.
  • Mass Salary Increase Exception Report (NHRP709):
    This report will identify employees who did not receive an automatic general salary increase. Fields on the report include Emplid, Employee Record #, Employee Name, Grade, Barg Unit, Pay Basis Code, Part time Percentage and FTA Salary.

The report will identify the reason the employees salary was not increased by displaying one of the following messages:

- Salary Below Minimum - Position and Job do not match

Generic Public Queries

The following generic public queries have been produced for agency use and may be used to extract data for agency and vendor updates for salaries and additional pay factors:

  1. 00-PEF_SalaryIncr_CurrentRow
  2.  00-PEF_SalaryIncr_AllRows
    These queries include selected fields from Job Data for employees eligible for a salary increase based on the terms of the contract. The 00_PEF_SalaryIncr_CurrentRow is limited to the row with the most recent effective date and highest sequence number - the current row. 00_PEF_SalaryIncr_AllRows contains the same fields but includes all rows added to Job Data as part of the mass salary increase program. It includes retroactive adjustments, where applicable
  3. 00-PEF_AddlPayIncr_CurrentRow
  4. 00-PEF_AddlPayIncr_AllRows
    The additional pay queries include selected fields from the Addl_Pay_Data table for employees whose location pay and/or inconvenience pay was affected by the terms of the contract. 00-PEF_AddlPayIncr_CurrentRow is limited to the current row. The 00-AddlPayIncr_AllRows includes all rows added to the Addl_Pay_Data table as part of the program.

Agency Responsibility: Raise Processing

  • Employees identified on the Mass Salary Increase Exception Report (NHRP709) - Agencies must submit Pay Rate Changes on the Job Action Request panel for eligible employees identified on the report with one of the two messages identified below. Pay changes are also required for all rows on the employees Job Data panel that are subsequent to the effective dates of the general salary increases.

Salary Below Minimum - Agencies must review the Job Data records of these employees to determine the appropriate action. The employees may be in incorrect positions and a position change may also be required.

Position Data and Job Data Do Not Match - Agencies must review the Job Data records of these employees and contact the Position Management Unit to determine the appropriate action. After the Position and the Job Data records are reconciled, the agency must submit the appropriate pay changes on the Job Action Request panel.

  • Premium Overtime Pay
    For eligible employees in the title Forest Ranger III, the agency must increase Premium Overtime Pay by inserting a row on the Additional Pay panel using the earn code Premium Overtime Pay (PRO). The increase is effective 8/3/00 and the payment equals 18% of the employees base annual salary (not including additional salary factors).
  • Command Pay
    For eligible employees in the title Chief Environmental Conservation Officer III, the agency must insert a row on the Additional Pay panel using the earn code Command Pay (COM) and a 3/30/00 effective date. The amount of the earnings, calculated at 5% of base annual salary (not including additional salary factors), must be entered in the Additional Earnings field.

Agency Responsibility: Retroactive Processing

  • Retroactive adjustments will be calculated automatically based on the increased salaries and additional pay amounts for location pay and inconvenience pay.

    Miscellaneous earn codes, such as overtime (OTA) and holiday pay (HPA), will be retroactively adjusted. The earnings for these codes are calculated automatically each pay period based on an employees salary rate and additional salary factors.

    Refer to Attachment D for a list of Earn Codes that will be retroactively adjusted.

    Earnings that will not be retroactively adjusted are those that are calculated automatically each pay period based on a fixed amount, such as intermittent inconvenience pay (IIP).

    Earnings that are reported using an override code, such as Regular Salary Override(RGO) and Overtime Override (OTO), will not be retroactively adjusted.

    Earnings that are reported as a flat amount, such as Adjustment (ADJ) or FEE, will not be retroactively adjusted.

  • The agency must submit adjustments when the following conditions exist in the employees record. Refer to Agency Procedures: Reporting Adjustments in the Time Entry Panel later in this bulletin for instructions.

Additional Pay Earnings:

  • If the earn code Overpayment (OVP) was used to reduce wages overpaid between 10/1/99 and period 11L, the agency must review the automatic retroactive adjustment to determine if the adjustment is correct. 
  • If the earn codes Adjust Location Pay (ALP), Adjust Inconvenience Pay Full (AIF), or Adjust Inconvenience Pay Partial (AIP) were previously reported when an employee was retroactively Hired, Rehired, or Returned from Leave with no pay, the agency must submit a retroactive adjustment for these earnings.
  • If the earn codes Adjust Location Pay (ALP), Adjust Inconvenience Pay Full (AIF), or Adjust Inconvenience Pay Part (AIP) were previously reported because Location Pay or Inconvenience Pay was started or ended mid pay period, the agency must submit a retroactive adjustment for these earnings. The payroll system will automatically adjust LOC, IPP, and IPF in full pay periods.

Time Entry Earnings:
The following earnings codes will NOT be adjusted automatically. Agencies must calculate adjustments for the following:

  • Override earnings codes: Regular Salary Override (RGO), Lump Sum Payment Override (LSI), Holiday Pay Override (HPL), Salary Lump Sum Payment Override (SLO), Overtime Override(OTO), Lost Time Override (LTO), Hospital Duty Override (HDP), Hospital Duty Overtime Override (HDV)
  • Earn codes reported using a flat amount: Extra Service Amount (ES2), Adjustment (ADJ), Out of Title Overtime (OTT)
  • Earnings code Fee (FEE), Per Shift Briefing NU 61 (PS2) or Fee Retirement Credit (FRC). Adjust only for employees budgeted as per diem, but paid as FEE.
  • Earnings code Summer Session (SES).
    The following earn codes will NOT be adjusted automatically. Agencies must NOT submit adjustments until new codes are established and instructions are provided in a forthcoming payroll bulletin.
  • Hazardous Duty Pay, Overtime Meal Allowance, Intermittent Inconvenience Pay, Safety Differential: HZ1, HZ2, IIP, IP1, IP2, OIS, SDS, SDO.
  • The Standby rates for the earn codes SBC, SOC, RCL will not be increased at this time, however, earnings paid using these codes will be adjusted automatically due to the increased salary. The increase resulting from the increased Standby rate must be submitted when future instructions are provided.

Negative Retroactive Adjustments Retroactive adjustments will be calculated based on the employees status since the effective date of the salary and additional pay increases.

If an employee had a retroactive action reported on the Job Data panel or the Additional Pay panel since the effective date of the increases which resulted in an overpayment that was not recovered automatically by the system, the system will again try to recover the overpayment when the raise is processed in period 11L. In many cases, the agency has already recovered the overpayment using the Earn Code OVP or by returning the check to OSC.

To prevent the payroll system from attempting to recover the overpayment automatically, OSC will again disable the automatic retroactive negative adjustment for these employees.

To assist the agency in determining if the retroactive adjustment paid to these employees was correct, OSC will provide the agencies with two listings after the raise is processed which will identify employees who have had a negative retroactive adjustment calculated by the system that was not automatically processed.

  • The first listing will identify employees and their negative earnings, by pay period, that were calculated before the raise is applied in period 11L.
  • The second listing will identify employees and their negative earnings, by pay period, that were calculated after the salary and additional pay increases are processed.

Employees appearing on these listings will receive retroactive adjustments for all periods in which positive amounts are calculated by the system.

If the employee is no longer overpaid, the employee may be due an additional adjustment for the period in which a negative adjustment was calculated by the system.

The agency should compare the listings to determine if an additional adjustment of earnings is required. Generally, the difference between the amounts identified on the listings is the amount that the employee may be due as an additional adjustment or the amount by which the original overpayment may be reduced.

Miscellaneous

  • AC230's:
    Agencies must review the retroactive adjustments for all employees who had a check returned or exchanged on an AC230. In most cases, AC230's are not considered when automatic retroactive adjustments are calculated.
  • RGS submitted as a negative amount:
    Agencies must review the retroactive adjustment when the earnings code RGS was previously reported with a negative amount.
  • RGS reported using partial days:
    Agencies must review the retroactive adjustment when the earnings code RGS was previously reported for partial day earnings. For RGS earnings, the system calculates the retroactive adjustment based on full days only.
  • Miscellaneous Time Entry earnings, such as overtime, that are adjusted automatically:
    If the earnings dates reported in a single pay period overlap the effective date of a salary or additional pay increase, the retroactive adjustment for those earnings in that pay period will be calculated using the increased salary for all hours and/or days reported. Agencies must review the automatic retroactive adjustment when earnings were previously submitted and the dates overlap the effective date of a salary increase.
  • Employees who moved from a Current to Lag payroll:
    The current agency must review the retroactive adjustment to determine if it was correct.
  • Employees who had a change in Pay Basis Code from HRY to ANN or ANN to HRY:
    The agency must review the retroactive adjustment to determine if it was correct.
  • Employees who have received earnings on an AC39 (Typewritten Payroll) prepared by OSC:
    Agencies must submit an adjustment for all earnings paid on the typewritten payroll. 

Agency Procedure: Reporting Adjustments in the Time Entry Panel

OSC has established a new earn code to be used on the Time Entry panel to report all retroactive changes due to the implementation of the salary and additional pay increases.

EARN CODE - AJR - Adjust Raise
Earns Begin Date-  First date to be adjusted
Earns End Date - Last date to be adjusted
Amount - Total adjustment amount (may be negative, if recovering overpayment)
Comments- Enter explanation of adjustment.

Payroll Register and EmployeesCheck/Advice

All retroactive adjustments will be displayed on the Payroll Register and the employees check or direct deposit advice. Since the check or advice can only accommodate up to 13 earnings codes, the employees remaining earnings will be combined and "Other" will be displayed, along with the combined total amount.

Raise Calculation Examples

Attached are two examples of the calculation methodology for the new base salaries and retroactive adjustments. These examples are for agency payroll/personnel officer use only.
(See Attachment A) 

Questions

Questions regarding general salary increases may be directed to the Salary Determination mailbox.

Questions regarding retroactive adjustments may be directed to the Payroll Audit mailbox.

Questions regarding Position Management may be directed to the Position Management mailbox.

Attachment