State Agencies Bulletin No. 985

Subject
Retroactive 2010 Performance Advances for Graded and NS Equated to Grade Employees Designated Management Confidential (M/C)
Date Issued
April 13, 2010

Purpose

To explain OSC’s automatic processing and to provide instructions for payments not processed automatically.

Affected Employees

Eligible employees in Bargaining Units 06, 46 and 66

Effective Date(s)

3/25/10 Institution - Paychecks dated 5/20/10, Pay Period 3L
4/1/10 Administration - Paychecks dated 5/26/10, Pay Period 3L

Background

Chapter 10 of the Laws of 2008, Article 8, Section 131.6 of the Civil Service Law and the Division of the Budget Bulletin D-1127 issued 3/11/10 provide for the payment of Performance Advance Payments to eligible M/C employees.

Performance Advance amounts will be based on the 2008 Salary Schedule.

Contract Provisions and Eligibility Criteria

Performance Advance Requirements

M/C employees whose base annual salary is below the Job Rate of the employee's current grade on the 4/1/08 Salary Schedule are eligible for a Performance Advance if the employee:

  • has thirteen (13) complete pay periods of service in such grade between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2010; and
  • does not have a PWH (Performance Advance Withheld).
Withholds

If the agency determines that an M/C employee’s automatic Performance Advance should be withheld, the agency must request approval through the Division of the Budget per Bulletin D-1127 Agencies may submit a Job Action Request in Pay Period 3L using the Action/Reason code of DTA/PWH (Data Change/ Performance Advance Withheld) and enter Increment Code 0003 to withhold a Performance Advance. If the agency does not submit a transaction to withhold the payment, OSC will enter the transaction.

OSC Actions

After payroll processing is completed for Pay Period 3L, OSC will process Performance Advances for eligible graded and NS equated to grade employees who are Active, on a Paid Leave of Absence (except Sick Leave) or on Workers’ Compensation Leave on 3/25/10 (Institution) or 4/1/10 (Administration).

Performance Advance (Increment Code 0001)

OSC will automatically insert a row in the employee’s Job Data page effective 3/25/10 (Institution) or 4/1/10 (Administration) to reflect the Performance Advance (not to exceed the Job Rate) using the Action/Reason code of PAY/PAV (Pay Rate Change/Performance Advance).

Promotion Recalculation(Increment Code T0004):

For employees who are entitled to a revised salary based on their FIST (Fixed Incremented Salary), OSC will automatically insert a row in the employee’s Job Data page effective 3/25/10 (Institution) or 4/1/10 (Administration) to reflect the FIST amount displayed on the Job Data Compensation page using the Action/Reason code of PAY/PMR (Pay Rate Change/Promotion Recalculation). In addition, the FIS amount:

  • must be equal to or greater than the Hiring Rate;
  • must be greater than the employee’s current salary;
  • can exceed the Job Rate of the employee’s current grade.

Transactions processed automatically will appear on the NHRP520, Daily Outbound Transaction file.

Automatic Update of Increment Codes

OSC will automatically update the Increment Codes, as appropriate, on the inserted rows for employees who receive a Performance Advance or Promotion Recalculation.  After the Performance Advances and Promotion Recalculations are processed in Pay Period 3L, OSC will automatically insert a row and update the Increment Codes of employees with Increment Code 0003 on the Job Data record using the Action/Reason code of DTA/CIC (Data Change/Correct Increment Code) effective 3/25/10 (Institution) or 4/1/10 (Administration) as follows:

Current Code Update to
0001 0001 if the new salary is below Job Rate
2010 if the new salary is equal to Job Rate
0003 0001 if the new salary is equal to or greater than Hiring Rate and less than Job Rate
0004 0001 if the new salary is below Job Rate
2010 if the new salary is equal to or greater than Job Rate

Control-D Report Available Prior to Processing

The following Control-D report will be available 4/22/10-Institution and 4/29/10-Administration. This will give agencies time to correct employees’ records, if necessary, before the automatic processing takes place.

NHRP708 Mass Increment Payment Exception Report

This report identifies employees who will not receive an automatic Performance Advance or Promotion Recalculation based on information available at the close of Pay Period 26. Fields on the report include EmplID, Employee Record Number, Employee Name, Grade, Bargaining Unit, Pay Basis Code, Part-time Percentage, Salary, FIS Amount and Increment Code. The report identifies the reason the employee’s salary will not be increased with one of the following messages:

  • NYS Position has both equated grade and NTE
  • Position and job do not match
  • FIS missing
  • FIS at or below current
  • FIS below hiring rate

These messages are based on the employee’s current increment code:

  • Increment code missing
  • Increment code invalid
  • Sal below hiring rate
  • Sal at or above job rate

If an employee appears on this report but is due a Performance Advance or Promotion Recalculation the agency must:

  • Submit the necessary corrections on the Job Action Request page to correct the data on the incorrect Job row(s) using the appropriate Action/Reason code(s). After the row(s) is corrected, the automatic Performance Advance or Promotion Recalculation will be applied.
  • Submit a Position Change Request to the Position Management Unit if the data on the Position Data page is incorrect in PayServ but is correct in NYSTEP. The position will be updated to reflect the change and the automatic Performance Advance or Promotion Recalculation will be applied provided the agency’s position request contains the same information as the position information in NYSTEP.

Agency Actions - Pay Period 3

Graded and NS Equated to Grade Employees

The following procedures must be used by the agency when submitting transactions in Pay Period 3L: For Pay Changes, Position Changes and Transfers requested on the Job Action Request or Transfer Request page with an effective date on or before 3/25/10 (Institution) or 4/1/10 (Administration):

  • The agency must not include the Performance Advance in the salary rate reported in the Pay Rate field.
  • The agency must report the proper Increment Code for April 2010.

For Pay Changes, Position Changes and Transfers requested on the Job Action Request or Transfer Request page with an effective date after 3/25/10 (Institution) or 4/1/10 (Administration):

  • The agency must include, if applicable, the Performance Advance in the salary reported in the Pay Rate field.
  • The agency must report the projected Increment Code based on the employee’s next performance advance cycle.

Employees who are on paid Sick Leave at the time of payment will not receive payments automatically.

  • The agency must enter a request on the Job Action Request page using the appropriate Action/Reason code of PAY/PAV (Pay Rate Change/Performance Advance) or PAY/PMR (Pay Rate Change/Promotion Recalculation) for employees who became eligible for the payments before placement on paid Sick Leave.
Time Entry

To report miscellaneous earnings that are automatically calculated by the system (i.e. overtime); agencies must separate earnings by pay period so the earnings will not overlap the effective date of the Pay Change.

Control-D Reports Available After Processing

The following Control-D reports will be available for agency review after the automatic payments have been made. All reports will be sorted by agency code, then by employee name in alphabetical order.

NHRP704 Mass Increment Payment Report

This report identifies all employees who received the automatic Performance Advance or Promotion Recalculation. Fields on the report include EmplID, Employee Record Number, Employee Name, Effective Date, Effective Sequence, Grade, Bargaining Unit, Pay Basis Code, Part-time Percentage, Action Reason, Old Comprate, New Comprate and Increment Code.

NHRP708 Mass Increment Payment Exception Report

This report identifies employees who did not receive an automatic Performance Advance or Promotion Recalculation. Fields on the report include EmplID, Employee Record Number, Employee Name, Grade, Bargaining Unit, Pay Basis Code, Part-time Percentage, Salary, FIS Amount and Increment Code. The report identifies the reason the employee’s salary was not increased with one of the following messages:

  • NYS Position has both equated grade and NTE
  • Position and job do not match
  • FIS missing
  • FIS at or below current
  • FIS below hiring rate

These messages are based on the employee’s current increment code:

  • Increment code missing
  • Increment code invalid
  • Sal below hiring rate
  • Sal at or above job rate

Agency Actions - Pay Period 4

Beginning in Pay Period 4L, agencies that enter Rein Leave transactions on the Job Data page for eligible employees due a Performance Advance, Promotion Recalculation or Increment Code update who return from a Leave of Absence without Pay (except Workers’ Compensation Leave) or a Paid Leave of Absence with a reason of Sick Leave or Military Stipend (MLS) must also submit a Job Action Request and take the following actions to update the record.

If the effective date of the Rein Leave is before Pay Period 1, the agency must enter the Rein Leave on the Job Data page and submit a Job Action Request using the appropriate Action/Reason code indicated below effective 3/25/10 (Institution) or 4/1/10 (Administration).

  • For a Performance Advance enter PAY/PAV
  • For a Promotion Recalculation enter PAY/PMR
  • For Increment Code update enter DTA/CIC

If the effective date of the Rein Leave is after Pay Period 1L, the agency must enter the Rein Leave on the Job Data page and submit a Job Action Request using the Action/Reason code of PAY/CSL (Pay Rate Change/Correct Salary) or DTA/CIC and the effective date of the Rein Leave with the next effective sequence number.

Automatic Retroactive Processing

OSC will automatically calculate retroactive payments resulting from the April 2010 Performance Advance 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 Time Entry Earnings

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

The following Earn Codes will be adjusted automatically:

  • Extra Time (EXT), Holiday Pay (HPA), Holiday Pay 1.5 (HPB), Inconvenience Pay Full (IPF), Inconvenience Pay Part (IPP), Lump Sum Payment-Vacation (LSA), Lump Sum Payment-OT Accruals (LSB), Lump Sum Payment-Vol Reduct (LSH),  Lost Time (LT1), MC Over 40 Hrs OT LSP (M40), OT for Annuals (OTA), OT Straight Rate for Annuals (OTB), Recall Overtime (RCL),  Regular Pay Salary Employee (RGS), Standby MC (SBZ), Salary LSP Annuals (SLS)
Retroactive Adjustments for Employees Currently Inactive Who Have An Outstanding Overpayment
  • For employees who are Inactive at the time of payment, the retroactive Performance Advance adjustment will be applied to any Overpayment (OVP) set up in Additional Pay that has a Goal Amount and Goal Balance that are not equal. The payroll system will determine the difference between the Goal Balance and Goal Amount and will deduct the difference from the employee’s check and update the Goal Balance.  If the amount of the positive earnings is not sufficient to deduct the entire overpayment, the system will deduct the amount of positive earnings possible and update the OVP Goal Balance accordingly.

Retroactive Payments for Employees Receiving Military Stipends

For employees who were placed on Military Stipend Leave with or without pay on or after the effective date of the increases as a result of new military orders, OSC will recalculate the amount of Military Stipend.

  • For those who received a stipend, the increase in biweekly stipend will be updated on the Job Data record by inserting a new row to reflect the new biweekly stipend amount.  Any additional adjustment that is required due to the change in stipend that will not be calculated automatically by the retro process will be reported by OSC in the Time Entry page using the Earn Code AMS.
  • For those who did not receive a stipend but became eligible for a stipend because of the increased salary, OSC will take the necessary action on the Job Data and/or Time Entry pages to pay the required increases.

Agency Actions for Retroactive Processing

Reporting Retroactive Adjustments

The following Time Entry and Additional Pay earnings will not be adjusted automatically. Therefore, commencing in the pay period in which the Performance advance is being processed, the agency may report the appropriate retroactive adjustments in the Time Entry page, using the Earn Code >AJR and the appropriate Earnings Begin and End Dates. An explanation of the adjustment must be included in the Time Entry comments or on the General Comments page.

  • ADJ Adjustment
  • AIF Adjust Inconvenience Pay
  • AIP Adjust Inconvenience Pay Part
  • BSA Back Salary Award
  • ES2 Extra Service Amount
  • EXO Extra Time Override
  • FEE (adjust only if employee is paid based on a per diem rate)
  • FRC Fee Retirement Credit (adjust only if employee is paid based on a per diem rate)
  • LSI Lump Sum Payment Override
  • LTO Lost Time Override
  • OTO Overtime Override
  • OTT Out of Title Overtime
  • RGO Regular Salary Override
  • SLO Salary Lump Sum Payment Override
  • SOO Standby OT Override
  • SOV Standby Override
Reporting An Adjustment When Automatic Retroactive Adjustment Is Incorrect

When certain conditions exist in an employee’s record, the automatic retroactive adjustment may be incorrect. Therefore, the agency is responsible for identifying employees who meet these conditions and, if required, must submit the necessary adjustment of earnings in the Time Entry page, using the Earn Code AJR and appropriate Begin and End Dates.

If an overpayment of earnings is identified after the automatic Performance Advance increase is processed but before the paycheck is received by the employee, the employee must be notified of the overpayment and the adjustment that will be reported in a subsequent pay period.

  • If an employee had a check returned or exchanged on an AC 230 for service dates on or after the effective date of the increase, the payroll system does not consider the AC 230 when calculating the automatic retroactive adjustment. Therefore, the agency should review the automatic retroactive adjustment and determine the amount of the adjustment to be reported.
  • If an employee’s Pay Basis Code changed from HRY or ANN, the agency must review the automatic retroactive adjustment and determine if it is correct. If the adjustment is not correct, the agency must report an adjustment of earnings.
  • If an employee was paid on an AC 39 (Typewritten Payroll), the payroll system will not adjust the earnings processed on the AC 39.  The agency must report the adjustment of earnings.
  • For employees who had a Job Action or Additional Pay change reported since the effective date of the Performance Advance and the action reported resulted in an overpayment of earnings, the automatic negative retroactive adjustment may not have been processed because the overpayment was either not recoverable or recoverable using the OVP Earn Code or the AC 230. In this case, the negative retroactive adjustment may be re-generated when the automatic increases are processed. OSC will manually turn off (not process) the automatic negative adjustment for these employees, since in most cases, the overpayment was either not recoverable or recovered using another method. The agency is responsible for reviewing employees who meet these conditions to determine if an additional adjustment is required.

OSC will provide a query to assist agencies in identifying employees whose retroactive adjustments had been previously turned off (not processed). Agencies should review the query results for these employees and report the additional adjustment if required in the Time Entry page using the Earn Code AJR.

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
502 NYS SS/Medicare 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 adjustments. 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 forms have been submitted, OSC will accept a photocopy of these forms to process the exchange of the check.

Payroll Register and Employee Paycheck/Advice

All retroactive adjustments will be displayed on the payroll register and the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice.

Questions

Questions about Performance Advances and Increment Code updates may be directed to the Salary Determination mailbox.

Questions about Deductions may be directed to the Payroll Deductions mailbox.

All other questions may be directed to the Payroll Audit Mailbox.