State Agencies Bulletin No. 699

Subject
Implementation of 2003-2006 General Salary Increases and Other Payments for Correction Officer Trainees Represented by NYSCOPBA (BU01)
Date Issued
February 12, 2007

Purpose

To explain OSC’s automatic processing of the General Salary Increases, Uniform Allowance and Security Enforcement Differential increases and to provide agencies with instructions for payments not processed automatically.

Affected Employees

Correction Officer Trainees and Correction Officer Trainees Spanish Language who were not originally paid the increases while in the Training Academy (Agency 10410)

Effective Date(s)

Retroactive General Salary Increases and other payments will be processed in Pay Period 23L, paychecks dated 3/1/07 (Institution)

Background

Pursuant to Chapter 113 of the Laws of 2006 which implemented the Arbitration Award between New York State and the New York State Correctional Officers Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA) and provided salary and other payment increases for those employees covered by the award.

When the Arbitration Award was originally processed in 2006, it was determined that for the time period during which Correction Officer Trainees were assigned to the DOCS Training Academy (Agency 10410), these employees would not be eligible to receive any of the increases stated in the award.

On 1/10/07, it was determined by the Division of Budget and the Department of Civil Service that Correction Officer Trainees should receive the same increases stated in the award for the time spent in the DOCS Training Academy (Agency 10410).

Contract Provisions and Eligibility

Salary Increases

Correction Officer Trainees (Job Codes 007924 or 007923) who were in the Training Academy (Agency 10410) at the time of one or more of the salary increases shall receive the following increases for the applicable time frame:

Date of Salary Increase Percentage Increase New Salary Rate
April 1, 2003 2.25% $29,084
April 1, 2004 2.75% $29,884
April 1, 2005 3% $30,781
April 1, 2006 3% $31,704

Employees who are holding graded money from a previous State position that is higher than the beginning salary rate of the Trainee position are entitled to the above percentage increases.

Uniform Allowance (UA8)

Correction Officer Trainees who were in the Training Academy (Agency 10410) at the time of the Uniform Allowance (UA8) payment shall receive the following increases for the applicable time frame. Payments for December 2003, 2004 and 2005 were processed in September 2006.

Date of Uniform Allowance Increase New Uniform Allowance Rate
December 1, 2003 $575
December 1, 2004 $625
December 1, 2005 $725
December 1, 2006 $875

Adjustment Amounts: Employees who previously received the December 1, 2006 Uniform Allowance payment are eligible for a $325 adjustment.

Security Enforcement Differential (SED)

Correction Officer Trainees who were in the Training Academy (Agency 10410) at the time of one of the Security Enforcement Differential (SED) payments shall receive the following increases for the applicable time frame. Payments for December 2003, 2004 and 2005 were processed in September 2006.

Date of Security Enforcement Differential Increase New Security Enforcement Differential Rate
April 1, 2004 Increased to $625 annually
April 1, 2005 Increased to $850 annually
April 1, 2006 Increased to $1,100 annually

Eligible employees who are entitled to the April 1, 2006 Security Enforcement Differential payment have previously received payment through September 13, 2006.

OSC Actions

Salary Increase

After payroll processing for Pay Period 23L (Institution) is completed, OSC will automatically insert rows in the Job Data records to reflect the April 2003, 2004, 2005 or 2006 Salary Increases for the Correction Officer Trainees who are/were in the Training Academy (Agency 10410) on or after the effective dates of the increases.

These increases will be processed in the following manner:

  • For eligible employees in Bargaining Unit 01 who did not receive the salary increase during the time spent in the Training Academy on the effective date of the appropriate increases and have a status of Active or Paid Leave (except those on Military Stipend Leave), OSC will insert a row on the employee’s Job record, effective the date of the increase, 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 the Training Academy regardless of status, using the Action/Reason codes of PAY/CSL (Pay Rate Change/Correct Salary).
  • For employees in Bargaining Unit 01 who were not Active in the Training Academy on the effective date of an increase or in a bargaining unit other than 01 but who became Active in Bargaining Unit 01 and a trainee in the Training Academy after the effective date of the increase, OSC will insert a row to reflect the 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 while in the Training Academy, regardless of the employee’s status, using the Action/ Reason codes of PAY/CSL.

All other salary increases due to the employee after the employee has been designated a Peace Officer were updated as of October 2006.

Uniform Adjustment (UA8)
12/1/06 UA8 Increase to $875

OSC will automatically enter an adjustment of $325 in Time Entry for employees who received the payment in December 2006. The code UA8 will be used for this payment. The Earnings Begin Dates, Earnings End Dates and Department ID will be the same as the original payment on Time Entry. The paycheck for all payments will be distributed to the employee’s current or most recent Department.

Security Enforcement Differential (SED)
4/1/06 SED Increase to $1,100

Employees were paid the increased SED amount from 3/29/06 to 9/13/06 in September 2006.

For employees who are in an eligible title on or after 9/14/06 and have an existing SED row in the amount of $575 on the Additional Pay page, OSC will update the existing SED row to $1,100.

Recalculation of Military Stipends

The above salary increases will result in an increase to Military Stipends for employees who have received paid stipends during the time spent in the Training Academy. The salary increases may also result in employees becoming eligible to receive a stipend if their new State salary now exceeds their military salary. OSC will recalculate paid Military Stipends as well as determine whether an employee would be eligible to receive a paid Military Stipend.

For employees who will be receiving a higher biweekly Military Stipend, OSC will insert a row on the Job Data page with the Action/Reason of Pay Rate Change/ Military Stipend Change (PAY/MSC) beginning the date the employee was entitled to the increased stipend and for each affected subsequent row.

For employees who will become eligible for a biweekly Military Stipend, OSC will insert a row on the Job Data page with an Action/Reason of Paid Leave of Absence/ Military Stipend (PLA/MLS) beginning the date the employee is entitled to the stipend. OSC also will insert a row on the Job Data page with the Action/Reason of Pay Rate Change/Military Stipend Change (PAY/MSC) for each affected subsequent row.

Any Military Stipends that were paid in Time Entry with Earn Codes ADJ or MSP will be adjusted by OSC using Earn Code ADJ. OSC will also enter a General Comment explaining the adjustment.

All stipends have been recalculated as of the date the employee moved out of Agency 10410. Further recalculations are necessary only for the time spent as a Correction Officer Trainee in the Training Academy.

Automatic Retroactive Processing

OSC will automatically calculate retroactive payments resulting from the above increases.

For eligible employees who have worked in more than one (1) agency and have been paid by all agencies using the same Employee Record Number since the effective date of the increases, all retroactive adjustments will be paid in the most current agency.

For eligible employees who have worked in more than one (1) agency and have been paid from more than one (1) Employee Record Number since the effective date of the increases, the retroactive adjustment for earnings in each Employee Record Number will be paid in the most current agency, on the appropriate pay cycle, under each Employee Record Number.

Retroactive Adjustments for Additional Pay and Time Entry Earnings

Time Entry earn codes that are calculated based on an employee’s additional salary factors such as overtime (OTA) and holiday (HPA) will be automatically adjusted.

Pre-Shift Briefing (PS1) paid in Additional Pay will also be automatically adjusted due to the above increases.

Agency Actions for Retroactive Processing

Retroactive adjustments will be calculated automatically for regular, Additional Pay and certain miscellaneous earnings based on the salary increases.

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 3/27/03: RGO, OTO, LTO, PLO, SOO, OTT, ADJ and ES2.

Additional Miscellaneous Information and Procedures Regarding Retroactive Processing
  • If a check was returned on an AC 230 for dates on or after 3/27/03, the agency must review the retroactive adjustment for that employee, as the system does not always consider AC 230s when processing retroactive adjustments. Therefore, the agency may need to report an adjustment of earnings.
  • If an employee received earnings on an AC 39 (Typewritten Payroll) prepared by OSC for earnings on or after 3/27/03, the agency must submit an adjustment for all earnings paid on the typewritten payroll.
  • If RGS was previously submitted using a date range that exceeded 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 increase. The system will calculate an adjustment for all earnings reported in the single entry based on the salary in effect on the Earnings End Date. Therefore, the agency must submit the necessary adjustment to reduce the automatic payment.

Agency Actions for Reporting Adjustments in Time Entry

Agencies must use the Earn Code AJR (Adjust Raise) on the Time Entry page to report the retroactive changes due to the implementation of the salary increases.

Earnings Code: AJR
Earns Begin Date: First date of adjustment
Earns End Date: Last date of adjustment
Amount: Amount to be adjusted
Comments: Enter explanation of adjustment

Miscellaneous Payment Information

The Uniform Allowance payment is not pensionable and is not included in the calculation of overtime.

The retroactive adjustment for the Uniform Allowance will be paid in a separate check. There will be no direct deposit for this payment.

Control-D Reports

NHRP704 Mass Salary Payment Report

This report identifies all employees who received the General Salary Increase. The report identifies all rows that were inserted into the employee’s record. 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.

NPAY771 Time Entry Payment Report

This report will be available after the automatic payment of the Uniform Allowance adjustment is loaded into the Time Entry page. Fields on the report include EmplID, Employee Record Number, Employee Name, Earn Code, Earns End Date, Grade, Bargaining Unit, Amount, Number of Payments Processed and Total Payment Amount.

Deduction Information

All general deductions for employees whose status is Terminated, Retired or Deceased will be automatically cancelled by OSC with the exception of the following:

Code Narrative
410 Health Care Spending Account
420 NY Dependent Care Contribution
425 Repay State Loans/Debt
426 Higher Ed Repay State Loan
428 Dependent Care
433 Total Unemployment Ins Owed
500 Medicare Deficiency
501 Social Security Deficiency
GARNSH Garnishments
HIATRG Regular After Tax Health
HIATSP Special After Tax Health Adj
HIBTRG Regular Before Tax Health
HIBTSP Special Before Tax Health Adj

Undeliverable Checks

Inactive employees may be eligible for a payment as a result of the salary adjustment. If the agency has made an effort to deliver the check to the employee but the check has been returned and is undeliverable, the agency should forward the check to the NYS Department of Tax and Finance, Division of Treasury, per instructions in Payroll Bulletin No. 456.

Checks issued to eligible employees who are now deceased should be returned with a completed Next of Kin Affidavit (Form AC 934-P) and a Report of Check Exchange (Form AC 1476-P).

For recipients of a previously deceased employee's payroll checks where a Next of Kin Affidavit and Report of Check Exchange form have been submitted, OSC will accept a photocopy of these forms to process the exchange of the check.

Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice

The Earn Codes UA8 and SED and the payment amounts will appear on the payroll register as applicable. The earnings description "Uniform Allowance NU01/21" for Earn Code UA8 and “Security Enforcement Differential” for Earn Code SED and the amount will be displayed on the employee’s paycheck stub.

Questions

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