Purpose

To inform the Senate and Assembly payroll offices of OSC’s automatic processing and to provide instructions for reporting transactions in Pay Period 19C.

Affected Employees

Members of the NYS Legislature who are paid using the LEG Pay Basis Code on the following payrolls:

• 04210 NYS Senate Members
• 04220 NYS Assembly members
• 04320 NYS Assembly Special Allowance

Effective Date(s)

Pay Period 19C, paychecks dated 12/19/12

Background

Pursuant to Article 2, Section 5 of the Legislative Law, the total regular earnings received by Senate and Assembly Members each calendar year must equal the amount of their statutory salary, provided the Member serves the entire year. The total regular earnings received by Members who serve only part of the year must equal the appropriate prorated statutory salary, based on the number of calendar days actually served in the calendar year.

In addition, if a Member on the Assembly Special Allowance payroll has an allowance change during the year, the total earnings received for the year must equal a composite salary that is based on the number of calendar days served at each statutory salary rate.

To ensure that Members are paid their Statutory salary, 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.

Eligibility Criteria

04210 and 04220

Members who serve the entire calendar year are eligible for a year-end adjustment in the final paycheck of the year since the Member’s annual salary of $79,500 is not evenly divisible by 26 pay periods. Members who serve only part of the year but are active on 12/31/12 are also eligible for a year-end adjustment in the final paycheck of the year, unless the total amount of regular earnings paid in the calendar year equals the Member’s statutory salary.

04320

Members of the Assembly Special Allowance payroll who serve all or part of the year and are active on 12/31/12 are eligible for a year-end adjustment, unless the total amount of regular earnings paid within the calendar year provides the Member with their statutory salary or the appropriate prorated or composite salary, whichever is applicable

Exception Listings and Control-D Report Available Prior to Processing

The following exception listings and Control-D report will be available for agency review on 11/30/12 (after the paychecks for 12/05/12 are confirmed):

• The exception listings identify Members who will not receive an automatic year-end adjustment based on the exception criteria described in the “Exception Criteria” section. These listings will be emailed to the Senate and Assembly payroll offices.
• Control-D Report NPAY586 (Pay Basis Code LEG Year End Adjustment) identifies members tentatively scheduled to receive 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.

Exception Criteria

Members who meet one (1) or more of the following exception criteria will not have their adjustment calculated automatically. OSC will, however, calculate normal biweekly earnings for these employees.

Exception Criteria:

• Members who have Q06-Q12 balances for 2012.
• Non-members of the Legislature who were transferred into a member position on 12/23/11 or later.
• Members who were returned to the payroll using the Action Reason Code of REH (Rehire) or RFL (Return from Leave) in calendar year 2012.
• Members who have RGS earnings paid in calendar year 2012 but earned in a previous year.

Prorated Statutory or Composite Salary Calculation

The prorated statutory or composite salary calculation for Members who were hired and/or had a salary change after 1/01/12 is determined as follows:

1. Determine the number of calendar days actually served in calendar year 2012. Note: For Assembly Special Allowance employees, 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) by 366 and round to seven (7) decimal places.
3. Multiply the result (Step #2) by the applicable statutory salary rate and round to two (2) decimal places.
4. For Assembly Special Allowance employees, who had more than one salary rate, add the results for each salary rate.

OSC Actions

OSC will automatically calculate the year-end adjustment, provided the following conditions are met and the Member does not meet the exception criteria described in the “Exception Criteria” section. The total amount of regular earnings due in the final paycheck of the year will be processed by OSC using Earnings Code RGS.

• For Members who served the entire calendar year and did not have a status change or change in salary, the total RGS will be calculated by determining the difference between the total amount of regular earnings received for earnings dates 12/22/11 through 12/05/12 and the statutory salary as reported on the Compensation tab on the Job Data page.
• For Members on the Assembly Special Allowance payroll who served the entire calendar year and did not have a status change but had a change in their allowance, the total RGS will be calculated by determining the difference between the composite salary and the amount of regular earnings received for earnings dates 12/22/11 through 12/05/12.
• For Members who were appointed after 1/1/12 and are still active on 12/31/12 and did not have a subsequent status change, the total RGS 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 12/05/12.

Agency Actions in Pay Period 19C

The agency must calculate and report the year-end adjustment for those Members who appear on one or more of the exception listings. This adjustment must be calculated as follows:

1. Determine the amount of salary entitlement for calendar year 2012 using the prorated or composite salary calculation.
2. Determine the amount earned and paid in calendar year 2012 using earnings codes RGS, RGO, RRS, and ADJ, 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 result of Step #3 on the Time Entry page using Earnings Code ADJ (Adjustment).

Removal of Members

Members Removed from the Payroll in Pay Period 19C:

If a Member does not serve through 12/31/12 and the removal transaction is effective and reported in Pay Period 19C, the year-end adjustment will not be automatically calculated. The agency must report the Earnings Code RGO with the appropriate amount of earnings the Member is eligible to receive in the final paycheck of the year. When this code is used, the earnings code RGS will not be processed.

Agencies must not submit any transactions, including those to remove a Member with a Pay Basis Code of LEG whose term will be ending on 12/31/12, until after the paycheck of 12/19/12 has been confirmed on 12/12/12. These transactions should be submitted in Pay Period 20C. Since employees with a Pay Basis Code of LEG will have received their statutory salary in the 12/19/12 check, the removal effective date must be 12/20/12.

Control-D Report Available After Processing

The following Control-D report will be available for agency review 12/12/12, after the year-end adjustment has been processed:

NPAY586 Pay Basis Code LEG Year End Adjustment

This report identifies all Members who automatically received a year-end adjustment in the last paycheck of calendar year 2012.

Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice

The Earnings Code RGS will be displayed on the payroll register and the earnings code description “Regular Pay Salary Employee” and amount will appear on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice.

If applicable, the Earnings Code ADJ will be displayed on the payroll register and the earnings description “Adjustment” and amount will appear on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice, in addition to the Earnings Code RGS.

If the Earnings Code RGO is reported, this earnings code will replace Earnings Code RGS and will be displayed on the payroll register and the earnings code description “Regular Pay Override” and amount will appear on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice.

Questions

Questions about this Bulletin may be directed to the Payroll Earnings mailbox.