State Agencies Bulletin No. 520

Subject
2005 SEFA Campaign
Date Issued
November 24, 2004

Purpose

To provide instructions for processing payroll deductions for Federated Community Campaigns (SEFA) for the 2005 calendar year.

Affected Employees

All employees.

Effective Date(s)

Payroll deductions for the 2005 SEFA campaign will begin in checks dated January 6, 2005 (Institution) and January 12, 2005 (Administration).

SEFA Campaign Guidelines and Agency Actions

  1. Agencies should review the authorization card and verify the completeness, accuracy and legibility of Federated Fund Code, Amount of Deduction, Employee’s Agency Code, Social Security Number and Name.
  2. The pre-printed Federated Fund Code, which appears at the top right of the form, should be used as the deduction code. Cards that have been modified must be returned to the employee so they can complete a new card or authorize the deduction for the Federated Fund organization identified by the pre-printed code.
  3. The Amount of Deduction is the amount to be deducted from each paycheck in the calendar year, not the total amount of the pledge.
  4. The employee’s signature is required to authorize the payroll deduction.

Agencies are required to enter the annual Federated Fund (SEFA) transactions into PayServ on the General Deduction Data (Agency) page, using the following instructions:

  1. After logging into PayServ, access the General Deduction Data (Agency) page.
  2. Enter the Social Security Number from the authorization card in the Empl ID field of the dialog box and click Search.
  3. The employee’s General Deduction page appears. Click on View All.
  4. Determine whether the employee already has a deduction record for the specific Federated Fund No. on the authorization card by scrolling through the deduction codes using the scroll bar.
    • If a record with the same Federated Fund (SEFA) deduction code already exists, click on the + sign to add a new row in the Deduction Details page, insert a row and continue with Step 6.
    • If there is not an existing row for the Federated Fund (SEFA) deduction code, click on the + sign to add a new row in the General Deduction page, insert a row and continue with Step 5.
  5. Deduction Code - enter the correct Deduction Code for the Federated Fund (SEFA) on the authorization card.
  6. Effective Date - enter the effective date for the 2005 deduction to begin as follows:
    • Institution (Lag) - 12/9/04
    • Administration (Lag) - 12/16/04
    • Institution (Current) - 12/23/04
    • Administration (Current) - 12/30/04
  7. Deduction Calculation Routine - select Flat Amount from the drop down box.
  8. Deduction End Date:
    • Institution (Lag) - 12/07/05
    • Administration (Lag) - 12/14/05
    • Institution (Current) - 12/21/05
    • Administration (Current) -12/28/05
      Note: Agencies whose employees participate in the Continuous Giving Program should not enter a deduction end date. (For participating agency information, please see Continuous Giving Participating Agencies on page 3.)
  9. Flat/Addl Amount - enter the amount to be deducted from each biweekly paycheck.
  10. Save the transaction.

The goal amount/goal balance fields should not to be used when entering SEFA transactions (see exception below). The above instructions must be used for entering SEFA deductions on an employee’s record.

If an employee has a goal amount/goal balance and the agency enters a transaction for 2005, the goal amount will roll up on the newly inserted row unless the goal amount and goal balance are equal. Agencies must delete the goal amount and goal balance on the 2005 row and then save the transaction.

Exception: If a participant chooses to elect other than the full year (26 pay periods), the agency payroll office must enter the total amount of the annual contribution in the goal amount as well as the flat amount to be deducted biweekly. The appropriate effective and end dates must be used as outlined above.

Continuous Giving Participating Agencies

The following agencies are participating in the Federated Fund (SEFA) Continuous Giving Program:

  • 10140 – Woodbourne Correctional Facility
  • 10610 – Ulster Correctional Facility
  • 10680 – Shawangunk Correctional Facility
  • 10690 – Sullivan Correctional Facility

Changes

Employees who want to change a Federated Fund (SEFA) deduction may do so by completing a new authorization card. A payroll general deduction transaction should then be processed to change the deduction.

Transfers

OSC automatically continues Federated Fund (SEFA) deductions upon transfer from one agency to another. It is necessary to obtain a new authorization card only if the employee wants to contribute to a different Federated Fund (SEFA) organization in the new agency.

Cancellations

To cancel a Federated Fund (SEFA) deduction, the agency payroll office must insert a new row using the beginning date of the pay period in which the deduction should be canceled as the effective and deduction end dates. Cancellation notices must be retained by the agency.

Questions

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