State Agencies Bulletin No. 1460

Subject
Factor Change for Fiscal Year 2016-17
Date Issued
March 1, 2016

Purpose

To explain OSC and agency procedures related to the Factor Change.

Affected Employees

All employees with a Pay Basis Code of ANN, CYF and CAL (except employees in SUNY Grade 980)

Background

Effective Pay Period 1, the factor used to calculate biweekly earnings on Job, Additional Pay and certain miscellaneous earnings will change from the Leap Year factor to the Non-Leap Year factor of 0.038356 (365 day rate).

Effective Date(s)

3/31/2016 (Institution) – paychecks dated 4/14/2016, Pay Period 1C and 4/28/2016, Pay Period 1L

4/7/2016 (Administration) – paychecks dated 4/20/2016, Pay Period 1C and 5/4/2016, Pay Period 1L

OSC Actions

Job Data

After payroll processing is completed for Pay Period 1, OSC will insert a row on the Job Data record effective 3/31/2016 (Institution) or 4/7/2016 (Administration) to change the salary calculation on Job Data to a non-leap year calculation for affected records which do not have an existing row with an effective date of 3/31/2016 (Institution) or 4/7/2016 (Administration). The Action/Reason code of PAY/FAC (Pay Rate Change/Factor Change) will be used.

Note: If a row currently exists with the effective date of 3/31/2016 (Institution) or 4/7/2016 (Administration) or later, the calculation will reflect the Non-Leap Year factor.

Additional Pay

After payroll processing is completed for Pay Period 1, OSC will insert a row effective 3/31/2016 (Institution) or 4/7/2016 (Administration) on the Additional Pay page to change to the non-leap year salary calculation for all annual derived biweekly earnings, such as LOC and IPF, provided no row already exists.

Time Entry

OSC will change the calculation on all miscellaneous earnings to reflect the Non-Leap Year factor for all earnings that are based on the annual factor.

Agency Actions

Job Data

Any rows inserted on the Job Data page will reflect the correct salary calculation based on the effective date of the transaction.

After the non-leap year calculation has been updated, if a transaction is submitted with an effective date retroactively placing an employee on the payroll (Hire, Rehire, Concurrent Hire, Reinstatement from Leave without Pay) prior to the change, the agency must submit a row, if none exists, in addition to the original row, effective 3/31/2016 (Institution) or 4/7/2016 (Administration) using the Action/Reason code of PAY/FAC.

Additional Pay

Any rows inserted on the Additional Pay page will reflect the appropriate salary calculation based on the effective date.

After the non-leap year calculation has been updated, if a transaction is submitted retroactively placing an employee on an Annual Earnings such as LOC, with an effective date prior to the change, the agency must submit a row, if none exists, in addition to the original effective dated row on the Additional Pay page for 3/31/2016 (Institution) or 4/7/2016 (Administration).

Time Entry

Agencies must submit any Time Entry transactions split by pay period effective dates. RGS and other override codes must be submitted using the appropriate calculation based on the effective dates of the transaction.

Additional Information Regarding the Non-Leap Year Calculation

For Fiscal Year 2016-17, the Non-Leap Year factor of 0.038356 will be used to calculate the amount that will appear in the Comp Rate field on the Job Data page.

The agency must also use this factor to calculate:

  • The amount of adjustment earnings reported in the Additional Pay page for earn codes such as ALP (Adjust Location Pay).
  • Miscellaneous earnings reported in the Time Entry page with an amount that is calculated based on an employee’s biweekly rate of pay (eg. RGS, RGO).

Questions

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