Unified Court System Bulletin No. UCS-276

Subject
New Earnings Code for Unified Court Systems (UCS) Security and Law Enforcement Differential Payment
Date Issued
March 26, 2019

Purpose

To inform agencies of the new Additional Pay Earnings Code for the UCS Security and Law Enforcement Differential (“SLED”) payment and to provide instructions for manual payments

Affected Employees

Employees in the following bargaining units who meet the eligibility criteria:

Union Name BU
Civil Service Employees Association 87
Management/Confidential 86
Court Officers Benevolent Association of Nassau County DR
Suffolk County Court Employees Association F8
New York State Court Officers Association SR
New York State Supreme Court Officers Association SY

Background

Chapter 71 of the Laws of 2018, which implemented the various agreements between the Unified Court System of the State of New York (UCS) and the affected bargaining units (Bargaining Units DR, F8, SR and SY), provides for an annual Security and Law Enforcement Differential payment effective April 1, 2019.

Chapter 164 of the Laws of 2017, which implemented the 2017-2020 Agreement between the UCS and the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA – BU 87), and the Side Letter dated July 6, 2018 between the UCS and the CSEA provide for an annual Security and Law Enforcement Differential payment effective April 1, 2019.

In addition, consistent with prior practice, when a CSEA Agreement is reached, the negotiated changes detailed in the Labor Relations Memorandum are extended the Management/ Confidential and Unrepresented employees (BU’s 86, 88, CT).

Effective Date(s)

The April 2019 UCS SLED payment may be processed beginning with the following effective date and check date:

Pay Cycle/Pay Period Type Payment Effective Date Check Date
Administration 1 Lag 04/04/2019 05/01/2019

Eligibility Criteria

Employees in Bargaining Units 86, 87, DR, F8, SR and SY are eligible for the April 2019 UCS SLED payment provided the employee:

  • Is in a Security Series title on 04/01/2019: and
  • Has served 120 workdays in the Security Series in the fiscal year for which eligibility is being determined; and
  • Has been authorized to carry a firearm on duty between January 1 of the year prior to the SLED payment and March 31 of the calendar year in which the SLED payment is made.

New Earnings Code

OSC has created the following Additional Pay Earnings Code to be used to pay the SLED Payment to eligible employees:

New Earn Code Description Associated Adjustment Code
JSD UCS Sec & Law Enforcement Diff AJD – Adjust UCS Sec&Law Enforc Diff

Agency Actions

UCS must submit an Excel spreadsheet file no later than 03/22/2019 to OSC containing the following information for all eligible employees:

  • Employee ID
  • Employee Record
  • Earnings Code - JSD
  • Effective Date – 04/04/2019
  • OT Effective Date – 04/04/2019
  • Payment Amount – $500.00 or prorated amount
  • End Date - 04/01/2020

Active employees (including employees on a Leave With Pay or Paid Military Stipend Leave), receive the amount based on the employee’s percentage in effect on 04/01/2019.

Eligibility After Final File Is Sent To OSC

If an employee is ineligible for the 2019 SLED payment at the time the spreadsheet file is submitted to OSC but becomes eligible on or before 03/31/2019, the SLED payment must be manually entered by agencies on the Additional Pay page using Earnings Code JSD in Administration Pay Period 1L.

Earnings Code: JSD
Effective Date: 04/04/2019
OT Eff Date: 04/04/2019
Annual Addl Earnings $500.00 or prorated amount
End Date: 04/01/2020

OSC Actions

OSC will upload the final file into PayServ on the Additional Pay page on 04/18/2019.

Overtime Calculation Information

The April 2019 SLED payment is included in the calculation of overtime compensation (refer to the Online Payroll Manual accessed from the PayServ Bulletin Board – Payroll Manual > Earnings Manual > Time Entry Payments > Overtime Compensation).The April 2019 SLED payment will be included in the calculation of overtime earned from the OT Eff Date through the End Date on the employee’s Additional Pay page for Earnings Code JSD.

If an employee is appointed to an ineligible position effective after receiving the April 2019 SLED payment, the payment cannot be included in the compensation calculation of any overtime earned on or after the date of the appointment. Therefore, agencies must insert a row on the Additional Pay page at the Effective Date level of Earnings Code JSD and enter the following information.

Effective Date Last date in eligible position (date prior to appointment)
OT Eff Date Same as original OT Eff Date
Annual Addl Earnings Same as original amount (populates automatically)
End Date Same as Effective Date
Goal Balance Same as Annual Addl Earnings (to prevent making another payment)

Retirement Information

The UCS SLED payment is not part of the basic annual salary, but it is considered pensionable earnings.

Tax Information

The UCS SLED payment is supplemental taxable income and will be included in the employee’s taxable gross subject to employment taxes and income taxes.

Federal, State and New York City income tax withholding will be calculated using the Aggregate method. Yonkers income tax withholding will be calculated using the Flat Rate method. Yonkers Flat Rate Withholding is 1.61135% for Yonkers residents and 0.50% for Yonkers non-residents.

Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice

The Earnings Code JSD and the amount paid will be displayed on the Payroll Register. The Earnings Description UCS Sec & Law Enforcement Diff and the amount paid will appear on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice.

Questions

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

Questions regarding retirement may be directed to the Payroll Retirement mailbox.

Questions regarding withholding taxes may be directed to the Tax and Compliance mailbox.