This bulletin is superseded by Payroll Bulletin 1837.3.

Purpose

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide agencies with payroll processing instructions related to the COVID-19 health crisis and to introduce new Action Reason Codes to place an employee on a Paid Leave of Absence related to COVID-19, new Time Entry Earnings Codes to apply the statutory maximum on an employee’s earnings or to process intermittent COVID-19 leaves, and new Additional Pay Earnings Codes to process COVID-19 related overpayments.

Affected Employees

All employees are affected with certain restrictions.  See Eligibility Criteria for additional information.

Background

In response to the COVID-19 health crisis, the United States federal government has signed two laws to provide employees with paid sick leave benefits in the event the employee is subject to a mandatory or precautionary quarantine related to COVID-19, is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and is seeking a medical diagnosis, or is caring for an individual who has been affected by COVID-19.  

The Federal Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (FEPSLA) provides employees with a maximum of 2 weeks of paid sick leave.  Employees can use FEPSLA leave as either 2 weeks individual paid sick leave OR 2 weeks paid leave for childcare, as described below. 

Employees may use FEPSLA leave as individual sick leave if they are subject to quarantine or isolation, advised by a health care provider to precautionary-quarantine, or are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and are seeking a medical diagnosis.  Wages are paid at the employee’s regular rate of compensation but are subject to a cap of $511.00 per day and $5,110.00 for the 2 week period. 

Employees may use FEPSLA leave for the purposes of child care if they are taking care of individuals in certain categories or are caring for a minor child whose school or place of care has been closed or the childcare provider is unavailable due to COVID-19 precautions.  Wages are paid at a rate of two-thirds of the employee’s regular rate of compensation but are subject to a cap of $200.00 per day and $2,000.00 for the 2 week period. 

The Emergency Family Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLA) modifies the current Family Medical Leave Act and provides up to 10 weeks of paid leave to eligible employees who must take leave to care for a minor child because the school or place of care for the child has been closed due to the COVID-19 public health emergency.  Employee wages under the EFMLA are paid at a rate of two-thirds of the employee’s regular rate of compensation, subject to a cap of $200.00 per day but may not exceed a total of $10,000.00 for the 10 week period.  

Important: List of earnings codes that should be included when determining the employee’s regular rate of compensation.

Benefits outlined above under the FEPSLA and the EFMLA are available to eligible employees from 04/01/2020 through 12/31/2020.

In addition, per the New York State Department of Civil Service Attendance and Leave Manual Policy Bulletin 2020-04, effective 08/03/2020, employees may use FEPSLA or EFLMA intermittently in quarter hour increments to care for an employee’s child when the leave is classified as FEPSLA Category 5 per the New York State Department of Civil Service Attendance and Leave Manual Policy Bulletin 2020-01.

Effective Date(s)

The new Action Reason Codes and Time Entry Earnings Code A19 may be used effective 04/01/2020.  The new Time Entry Earnings Codes for the intermittent use of a COVID-19 leave may be used effective 08/03/2020.  All benefits under the FEPSLA and EFMLA are scheduled to expire on 12/31/2020.

Eligibility Criteria

All employees are eligible for paid leave benefits under the FEPSLA and the EFMLA with certain restrictions.  Specific eligibility requirements for the FEPSLA and EFMLA can be found in the Department of Civil Service Policy Bulletins 2020-01 and 2020-04.

OSC Actions

OSC has created new Action Reason Codes, Time Entry Earnings Codes and Additional Pay Earnings Codes to complete payroll processing for employees on a COVID-19 leave.

New Action Reason Codes – COVID-19 Leave on Job Data

The following new Action Reason Codes are used on the employee’s Job Data record to report the use of either a FEPSLA or EFMLA Paid Leave for full days and a Return from Leave action:

• PLA/19F – FEPSLA PD LV 100%:  Employee wages under this section of the FEPSLA are paid at the employee’s regular rate of compensation, subject to a cap of $511.00 per day and $5,110.00 for the 2 week period. 
• PLA/19P – FEPSLA PD LV PARTIAL:  Employee wages under this section of the FEPSLA are paid at a rate of two-thirds of the employee’s regular rate of compensation, subject to a cap of $200.00 per day and $2,000.00 for the 2 week period. 
• PLA/FMC – EFMLA PD LV COVID 19:  Employee wages under the EFMLA are paid at a rate of two-thirds of the employee’s regular rate of compensation, subject to a cap of $200.00 per day but may not exceed a total of $10,000.00 for the 10 week period.  
• RFL/RCV – Rein Leave COVID 19

Note: The Department of Civil Service will NOT be creating corresponding Action Reason codes in NYSTEP.

New Time Entry Earnings Code – Adjusting Wage Caps

Time Entry Earnings Code A19 - Adj per COVID-19 Pd Lv Caps must be submitted by agencies to adjust an employee’s biweekly wages in compliance with the wage caps noted above. If an error occurs with a previously processed transaction using Earnings Code A19, the agency must submit another A19 transaction if the error can be resolved in one pay period.  If the employee’s overpayment amount is substantial and recovery will occur over multiple pay periods, the agency must enter an Additional Pay transaction using Earnings Code QC0 (see New Additional Pay Earnings Codes – Overpayment Recovery).

Attached is a list of earnings codes that should be included when determining the employee’s regular rate of compensation.

Please be aware that PayServ will not automatically calculate a retroactive adjustment for monies submitted using Time Entry Earnings Code A19.  Therefore, if a retroactive transaction is entered for an employee that impacts their earnings during a period for which the employee is on a COVID-19 leave, the agency must review the employee’s record to determine if a new or additional A19 transaction is necessary.  If the employee’s earnings did not exceed the cap originally, it is possible the retroactive transaction may result in earnings exceeding the cap.  Therefore, the agency would need to enter a new Time Entry transaction using Earnings Code A19 to reduce the earnings.  If the employee’s earnings did exceed the cap originally and an A19 transaction was processed, the agency needs to enter another Time Entry transaction using Earnings Code A19 to further reduce the employee’s earnings.

New Time Entry Earnings Codes - Intermittent Payment and Reduction

These Time Entry Earnings Codes will be available for use on 10/14/2020.

The following Time Entry Earnings Codes have been created to process the intermittent use of a COVID-19 leave for periods less than a full day and can be reported in quarter hour increments:

Payment Codes	Description	Reduction Codes	Description
IC1	Intermit COVID Leave	CR1	COVID Reduction
IC2	Intermit COVID Lv Tch/SUNY/21P	CR2	COVID Reduct Tch/SUNY/21P
IC3	Intermit COVID Leave Hourly	CR3	COVID Reduction Hourly
IC4	Intermit COVID Lv Fire 24 Hr	CR4	COVID Reduct Firefight 24 Hr
IC5	Intermit COVID Lv Fire 10 Hr	CR5	COVID Reduct Firefight 10 Hr
IC6	Intermit COVID Leave BIW	CR6	COVID Reduction BIW
ICO	Intermit COVID Leave Override	CRO	COVID Reduction Override

Agencies must submit Time Entry transactions using both a Reduction Code and a Payment Code in order to pay an employee on an intermittent COVID-19 leave correctly.  Both transactions must be submitted in the same pay period.  Please see Agency Actions – Recording Intermittent COVID-19 Leaves Using Time Entry for more information.

New Additional Pay Earnings Codes  - Overpayment Recovery

For immediate use, and for critical earnings tracking purposes, OSC has created the following new Additional Pay Earnings Codes to be used exclusively to report COVID-19 overpayments: 

• QC0 – Overpaid Covid-19 2020  *QC0 = QC(zero)
• XC0, YC0, ZC0 – NRA related codes
• QC1 and related NRA codes will be activated in 2021

Overpayments due to delays in processing COVID-19 paid leave transactions or the submission of incorrect COVID-19 adjustments using Earnings Code A19 will be recovered using the new COVID-19 Additional Pay overpayment earnings code. Agencies are responsible for submitting the overpayment transaction on the Additional Pay page.

OSC will coordinate with agencies to identify all Q20 transactions related to COVID-19 and to correct these transactions appropriately.

If any employee has both a Q20 and a QC0, the QC0 transaction will take priority over a (non COVID) Q20.  Please follow current procedures outlined in Payroll Bulletin No. 1038 for setting up multiple Q codes.

Agency Actions – Entering Paid Leave for Pay Basis Codes ANN, CAL, 21P, CYF, CYP, LEG

To report a COVID-19 leave for an employee with a Pay Basis Code of ANN, CAL, 21P, CYF, CYP or LEG, agencies must submit a Job Data transaction using the Action PLA (Paid Leave of Absence) and the appropriate new COVID-19 Reason Code (19F, 19P, FMC). The effective date of the transaction may be retroactive to 04/01/2020. 

When submitting Reason Code 19P or FMC, the agency must change the employee’s Part-Time Percent on the paid leave transaction to two-thirds of the employee’s percentage in effect at the time of the leave (rounded to the nearest fourth decimal place).

If the effective date of the paid leave transaction is retroactive and prior to the effective date of the most current row on the employee’s PayServ history, the agency must submit a Data Chg/COR transaction on the Job Action Request page.  In the Status Reason box, the agency must state the request is related to COVID-19 and also provide the effective dates, PLA/Reason Code, and the exact part-time percent. If appropriate the Return from Leave information should also be included.  (For example: COVID-19:  05/01/2020 PLA/19P.6667; 05/15/2020 RCV)

Agency Actions – Entering Paid Leave for Pay Basis Codes HRY, AJT, FEE and BIW

To report a COVID-19 leave for an employee with a Pay Basis Code of HRY, AJT, FEE or BIW, agencies must submit a Job Data transaction using the Action PLA (Paid Leave of Absence) and the appropriate new COVID-19 Reason Code (19F, 19P, FMC).  The effective date of the transaction may be retroactive to 04/01/2020.

If the effective date of the paid leave transaction is retroactive and prior to the effective date of the most current row on the employee’s PayServ history, the agency must submit a Data Chg/COR transaction on the Job Action Request page.  In the Status Reason box, the Agency must state that the request is related to COVID-19 and also provide the effective dates, PLA/Reason code, and the exact part-time percent. If appropriate the Return from Leave information should also be included.  (For example: COVID-19:  05/01/2020 PLA/19P.6667; 05/15/2020 RCV)

If the employee is placed on PLA/19F, all other processing remains the same.  If the employee is placed on PLA/19P or PLA/FMC, the agency should reference the information below based on the employee’s Pay Basis Code for additional processing.

Pay Basis Code HRY

Agencies must enter a Time Entry transaction using Earnings Code RGH and enter two-thirds of the employee’s regular number of hours.  Please see the New York State Department of Civil Service Attendance and Leave Manual Policy Bulletin 2020-01 for calculation of the number of hours to pay to a part-time employee who works a varied schedule.  Attached are examples of Time Entry transactions for Hourly Employees.

Pay Basis Code HRY and Employee Type Exception Hourly

Agencies must change the employee’s standard hours to two-thirds of the regular standard hours. Standard hours may be changed either on Job while entering the Paid Leave transaction, or by submitting a Data Chg/CSH (Change Standard Hours) transaction on the Job Action Request page.  Standard hours must be restored when the RFL/RCV is submitted.  Do not enter Earnings Code RGH to override the regular biweekly earnings.

Pay Basis Code AJT

Agencies must enter a time entry transaction using Earnings Code AJT and enter the amount as two-thirds of the employee’s regular AJT amount.

Pay Basis Code FEE

The agency must change the employee’s Part-Time Percent on the paid leave transaction to two-thirds of the employee’s percentage in effect at the time of the leave (rounded to the nearest fourth decimal place).  If a dollar amount currently exists on the Job Data page, the agency must enter a Pay Rate Change on the Job Action Request page and report the amount as two-thirds of the employee’s regular amount.  Agencies must enter the appropriate two-thirds hours/days and/or amount on the Time Entry page using the appropriate Fee earnings code.

Pay Basis Code BIW

The agency must change the employee’s Part-Time Percent on the paid leave transaction to two-thirds of the employee’s percentage in effect at the time of the leave (rounded to the nearest fourth decimal place).  Agencies must enter a Pay Rate Change on the Job Action Request page to reduce the biweekly amount to pay the correct two-thirds percentage rate. 

Agency Actions - Entering Return from Leave

Agencies must monitor an employee’s usage of these leaves to ensure the employee is returned to the payroll or placed on an alternative leave once the 2 week or 10 week period is completed.  If an employee has used intermittent leave, this time must be included in determining the total time spent on a particular COVID-19 leave.

Agencies must use the new Reason Code RCV for all Return from Leave transactions related to the COVID-19 Paid Leave Reason Codes as stated above.  The employee’s percent must be reviewed upon the Return from Leave and, if necessary, changed to the appropriate percentage in effect upon the Return from Leave.

Agency Actions – Adjusting Anniversary Dates and Increment Codes for Executive Agencies

For employees in executive agencies whose salaries are below job rate of their grade, the use of PLA/19P or PLA/FMC may impact their performance advance eligibility requiring an adjustment to their anniversary date and increment code.  In addition, for employees in executive agencies whose salaries are equal to or greater than job rate of their grade, the use of PLA/19P or PLA/FMC impacts their anniversary date, not their increment code.

Agencies must review an employee's record upon their return from leave to determine if an adjustment is necessary, as described below. 

If it is determined that an employee’s anniversary date and/or increment code requires an adjustment, in addition to processing the return from leave on the Job Data page, agencies must submit a Data Chg/CIC (Chg IncCd/or AnnDt/or FIS Sal) transaction on the Job Action Request page with the updated information.

• Employees with a Pay Basis Code of ANN
  • Non-Security Position - When an employee is in less than regular full pay status for one payroll period or more, the employee's evaluation period and evaluation due date are extended by the same amount of time in multiples of full payroll periods. If an employee’s anniversary date is adjusted and the employee’s payment cycle is impacted, then their increment code must also be adjusted. If an employee is in less than full pay status for less than a payroll period, the rating cycle continues unchanged.
    • Exception - Management/Confidential employees must be credited with 13 complete pay periods within a fiscal year.  No adjustment is necessary to the anniversary date, but the employee’s record must be evaluated to determine if their increment code needs to be adjusted.
  • Security Position – There is no adjustment to a security employee’s anniversary date for time on paid leave.  The anniversary date is used to determine eligibility for longevity pay, not a performance advance.  However, the employee’s increment code may need to be adjusted if they will not be credited with 100 work days between April 1^st and March 31^st in order to be eligible to receive a performance advance. 
    • For each day of leave using Action/Reason Code PLA/19P or PLA/FMC an employee is credited with two-thirds of a work day.  This time is combined and each whole day is credited toward the 100 workday payment eligibility requirement. For example, three days of leave equals 2 full workdays.

• Employees with a Pay Basis Code of 21P or CAL
  • Institution Teachers – Employees in teacher titles must have 150 full work days within the academic year in order to be eligible for a performance advance.  The anniversary date is adjusted for each day on leave and the employee’s increment code may need to be adjusted if they will not be credited with 150 work days in the academic year.

For eligibility criteria related to a specific payment, please refer to the appropriate payroll bulletin for that payment.

Agency Actions - Adjustment of Paid Leave Earnings on Time Entry

Once an employee has been placed in Paid Leave status using one of the new Reason codes, the agency must verify the wages are less than or equal to the appropriate wage cap.  If the wages are greater than the wage cap, the agency will calculate the amount of wages above the wage cap.  This amount will be submitted into Time Entry using the A19 adjustment earnings code.  

Earnings Begin Date:	First day of Paid Leave subject to the wage cap, or the first day of the pay period.
Earnings End Date:	Last day of Paid Leave subject to the wage cap, or the last day of the pay period.
Earn Code:	A19
Amount:	The negative difference between the employee’s regular (or prorated) wages and the applicable wage cap.

Note: If after the negative A19 is processed, it is determined too much money was recovered using A19, a positive A19 should be submitted into Time Entry with a detailed General Comment explaining the correction.

Agency Actions - Recording Intermittent COVID-19 Leaves Using Time Entry

When an employee uses a COVID-19 leave for less than a full day, the agency must submit Time Entry transactions using both the appropriate reduction code and the appropriate payment code.  These transactions should be submitted for each day the employee is on an intermittent COVID-19 leave and must be submitted in the same pay period.

The Reduction Code is used to reduce the employee’s earnings by the amount corresponding to the number of hours associated with the intermittent COVID-19 leave at the employee’s full rate of pay.  The hours are entered as a negative value and PayServ automatically calculates the reduction amount.  (Exception:  Earnings Code CR0 – the agency must enter both the negative hours and the negative dollar amount.)

The Payment Code is used to pay the employee’s earnings associated with the intermittent COVID-19 leave.  The agency must calculate two-thirds of the hours submitted using the reduction code and enter as a positive value.  PayServ automatically calculates a positive two-thirds of the reduction amount.

Agencies must monitor an employee’s usage of these leaves to ensure the total time spent on a particular COVID-19 leave does not exceed the 2 week or 10 week period.  If an employee has been placed on a COVID-19 leave on Job Data, this time must be included in determining the total time spent on a COVID-19 leave.

Tax information

These monies are taxable income, will be included in the employee’s taxable gross and are subject to all employment and income taxes.  In addition, an employee’s COVID-19 leave wages will be reported in Box 14 on the employee’s 2020 Form W-2. 

Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice

The Earnings Codes mentioned above and the amount paid will be displayed on the Payroll Register.  The associated Earnings Code description 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.