State Agencies Bulletin No. 1811

Subject
New Procedure for Maintaining Job Data Information for Employees in Reallocated Positions in order to Facilitate Automatic Payment Processing
Date Issued
January 29, 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this bulletin is to notify agencies of the new procedure using the NYS Position Number to indicate the downward reallocation of an employee’s position and to provide instructions to update the records of employees currently in such positions.

Affected Employees

Employees in positions that have been downward reallocated are affected.

Background

Pursuant to Section 121.2 (a)(b) of Civil Service Law, permanent employees who are incumbents (active on the payroll or on an approved leave without pay and subsequently reinstated) of these positions on the date of downward reallocation are entitled to continue receiving the salary of the higher grade prior to reallocation. Performance advances/increments, Job Rate limitation, longevity increase(s), merit payments/awards or bonuses and percentage on promotion increases (in general, all future salary calculations) will continue to be computed as if the employee were still in the former higher grade as long as the employee remains an incumbent of that position.

Currently, employees described above are assigned Increment Code 0069 (non-security bargaining units) or 6900 (security bargaining units) upon downward reallocation. These employees require manual processing for payments such as performance advances or longevity. Going forward, using the new procedure, the employees’ NYS Position will reflect the grade in effect prior to the reallocation allowing payments to process automatically based on that grade and salary protection entitlement.

Effective Date(s)

Employee NYS position information will be updated in PayServ using the following effective dates and check date:

Pay Cycle/Pay Period Type Effective Date Check Date
Institution 23 Lag 01/30/2020 02/27/2020
Administration 23 Lag 02/06/2020 03/04/2020

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible employees are those who on the effective date:

  • Occupy a position in:
    • CSEA (BU 02, 03, 04, 47)
    • PEF (BU 05)
    • Man/Con (BU 06, 66)
    • DC-37 (BU 67)
    • NYSCOPBA (BU 01, 21)
    • PBANYS (BU 31)
    • Council 82 (BU 61, 91) and
  • Have a Pay Basis Code of ANN*, and
  • A Payroll Status of Active, Paid Leave, or Leave of Absence, and
  • An Increment Code indicating their position was previously downward reallocated
    • 0069 (Non-Security Bargaining Units) or
    • 6900 (Security Bargaining Units).

*Employees with a Pay Basis Code of BIW on Paid Leave of Absence/Military Leave Stipend (PLA/MLS) should be updated upon return from leave.

OSC Actions

OSC has created NYS position numbers in PayServ for downward reallocated titles for each agency with employees affected by the change. For each position:

  • The NYS position is identified by beginning with 69.
  • The title is prefixed by DR to distinguish the NYS title from the title of the reallocated position that appears in the title and Salary Plan Search Engine and NYSTEP.
    • Each “DR” title required the creation of a Title Code and Job Code in PayServ.
  • The NYS grade is the grade in effect at the time of reallocation.
    • The NYS grade is higher than the new grade of the full title upon reallocation.
  • The NYS item number is 99999 similar to other items that are appointment level changed such as trainees and other positions filled at a lower grade.

Note: The NYS positions are in PayServ only and do not appear in NYSTEP. These positions are an exception to standard Certification procedures. OSC will not report to agencies any mismatches between NYSTEP and PayServ due to this new process.

OSC has created Reason Code ADR (Appoint Downward Reallocation) for agencies to use to update the NYS position number of employees affected by the new procedure. Please refer to Agency Actions – Pay Period 23L (Administration and Institution) for processing instructions.

Additionally, OSC will provide agencies via email with a list of employees to review and process.

Agency Actions – Pay Period 23L (Administration and Institution)

Agencies must review the records of eligible employees and submit a position change (POS/ADR) through the Job Action Request page in PayServ with the appropriate effective date as listed above:

  • Enter the employee’s current Position Number in effect on the Job Data page.
  • Enter the appropriate NYS Position Number associated with the employee’s reallocated title.
  • Include the updated increment code to reflect the employee’s performance advance payment cycle or job rate status, as appropriate (see note below).
  • Include the employee’s current salary in effect on the Job Data page (this process is to update the position information with no change in salary).

Note: An employee’s increment code in effect at the time of reallocation may need to be adjusted:

  • As a result of time off the payroll subsequent to the reallocation
  • If the employee attained job rate subsequent to the reallocation

For example, immediately prior to downward reallocation, an employee at the Department of Health (Administration Lag cycle) was a PEF Public Health Representative 3, grade 20 at job rate with an increment code 2014 and an anniversary date of 03/15/2007. Upon reallocation effective 11/17/2016, their increment code was updated to 0069 (indicating the downward reallocation). Effective 04/18/2019 through 11/14/2019 the employee was on LOA/SKL. 

The POS/ADR submitted by the agency must include the following information:

  • effective date of 02/06/2020
  • current Position Number in effect on Job Data
  • new NYS Position Number
    • for title DR-Public Health Representative 3
    • salary grade 20 grade prior to reallocation
  • updated Increment Code of 2015 (original 2014 adjusted for time off the payroll)
  • current anniversary date in effect on the Job Data page
  • current salary in effect on the Job Data page.

In addition, if an agency identifies an eligible employee who was not included on the list provided by OSC, the agency must email the Payroll Earnings mailbox to notify OSC of the addition. Please include the Deptid, Emplid, and Downward Reallocation in the subject line.

Questions

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