Purpose

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide instructions for processing payments related to COVID-19 vaccine activities and to inform agencies of new Time Entry Earnings Codes to be used for reporting and tracking these payments.

Affected Employees

Employees who perform activities related to the COVID-19 vaccine effort, including vaccine hotline, and administration (Point of Dispensing/POD) activities are affected.

Background

Per NYS Division of the Budget (DOB), agencies must track expenditures of work related to COVID-19 vaccine activities. To facilitate tracking in the NYS Payroll System (PayServ), new Earnings Codes have been created. The tracking of these expenditures in PayServ is separate from tracking employee time and attendance through systems such as the Leave and Accrual Tracking System (LATS-NY).

Pay for Vaccine Hotline Activities

• The straight rate and overtime rate for work performed on the COVID-19 vaccine hotline are based on an employee's advance agreement for work performed on this assignment. The rates are based on the hourly rate of the title designated for this assignment, Tax Information Aide, Non-Statutory (NS). For regular / non-overtime hours, the rate is $15.78 per hour for all employees earning less than this amount in their regular position. All other employees will receive their regular rate of pay for regular hours. The overtime rate is $23.67 per hour for all employees performing overtime on this assignment.
• Overtime waivers are not required for employees whose regular position is overtime ineligible and who are performing COVID-19 vaccine hotline activities; however, overtime shall only be paid for hours worked beyond 47.5 hours per week (not including use of leave accruals) and the overtime rate shall not exceed $23.67 per hour.

Overtime Pay for Vaccine Administration (POD) Activities

• The salary grade levels to be used in the overtime calculations are based on assignment of employees to staffing designation roles designated by the Department of Health (DOH), and agreed to by employees prior to commencement of work, as specified in the following table:

Note: Overtime performed in expired roles after 02/03/2021 will be paid on an exception basis via advanced agreement from DOH or other responsible agency.

Determining Rate of Pay

• Employees Whose Regular Position is Overtime Eligible: The following overtime rates are based on an advance agreement with the employee, consistent with Budget Bulletin G-1024, Section IX. Please note: The average/blended rate calculation must not be used.
  • When the overtime is worked in a role allocated to a salary grade lower than the employee’s regular position, the employee will be compensated for work in excess of 40 hours at one and one-half times the regular hourly rate of pay of the maximum salary of the assigned lower-graded role plus additional compensation (such as longevity lump sum payments, inconvenience pay, location pay) the employee is currently receiving in their regular position, but in no event in excess of one and one-half times the regular hourly rate of pay of the employee’s regular position.
  • When the overtime is worked in a role which is allocated to a higher salary grade than the grade of the employee’s regular position, the employee will be compensated for work in excess of 40 hours at one and one-half times the regular hourly rate of compensation the employee would be entitled to if permanently promoted to the higher graded role.
  • When the overtime is worked in a role allocated or equivalent to the employee’s regular position, overtime shall be compensated for work in excess of 40 hours at one and one-half times the regular hourly rate of pay of the assigned role. This hourly rate of pay cannot be less than the employee’s current hourly rate of pay and must be at least the hiring rate of the out-of-title position.
• Employees Whose Regular Position is Overtime Ineligible: Pursuant to Section 134.6 of the Civil Service Law, employees whose regular position is overtime ineligible shall receive overtime compensation using the methodology outlined above for employees in overtime eligible positions.
  • The overtime rate is based on the salary grade of the assigned role and not the salary grade of the employee’s regular position.
  • Overtime shall only be paid for hours worked in excess of 47.5 hours per week (not including use of leave accruals).
  • Overtime waivers are not required for employees whose regular position is overtime ineligible (including employees whose regular position is allocated or equivalent to Salary Grade 28 or above) and who are performing COVID-19 vaccine administration (POD) activities.

Effective Dates

Tracking work related to COVID-19 vaccine administration activities went into effect on 01/08/2021. Tracking work related to the COVID-19 vaccine hotline went into effect on 01/11/2021.

Eligibility Criteria

Employees who perform work related to COVID-19 vaccine administration activities on or after 01/08/2021 or the COVID-19 vaccine hotline on or after 01/11/2021 are eligible.

OSC Actions

The following Time Entry Earnings Codes have been created to process payments associated with COVID-19 vaccine hotline activities. In addition, if these hotline activities are performed during an employee’s regular work day, the employee’s regular hours must be reduced by those hours worked on the hotline using the appropriate hotline reduction earnings code.

Earn Code	Description	Purpose
CHR (New) (Retro Code RHR)	COVID-19 Hotline Reduction	Hotline – Used to reduce an employee’s regular hours by the number of hours worked on the vaccine hotline. (Comp Rate Code = ANN)
CLO (New) (Retro Code N/A)	COVID Hotline Reduct Override	Hotline – Used to reduce an employee’s regular hours by the number of hours worked on the vaccine hotline. (Comp Rate Code ≠ ANN or HRY)
CVC (New) (Retro Code N/A)	COVID-19 St VACHotline$15.78	Hotline - For regular / non-overtime hours, the rate is $15.78 per hour for employees whose regular rate of pay is equal to or less than $15.78 per hour.
CVA (New) (Retro Code = RVA)	COVID-19 ST VAC HTLN Annual	Hotline – For regular / non-overtime hours, the rate is the employee’s regular rate of pay for employee’s whose regular hourly rate of pay exceeds $15.78 per hour. (Comp Rate Code = ANN)
CGH (New) (Retro Code = RCG)	COVID-19 ST VAC HTLN HRLY	Hotline – For regular / non-overtime hours, the rate is the employee’s regular rate of pay for employee’s whose regular hourly rate of pay exceeds $15.78 per hour. (Comp Rate Code = HRY)
VHO (New) (Retro Code N/A)	COVID Hotline Payment Override	Hotline – For regular / non-overtime hours, the rate is the employee’s regular rate of pay for employee’s whose regular hourly rate of pay exceeds $15.78 per hour. (Comp Rate Code ≠ ANN or HRY)
CVH (New) (Retro Code N/A)	COVID-19 OT VAC Hotline $23.67	Hotline - For overtime hours, the rate is $23.67 per hour for all employees performing overtime.

The following Time Entry Earnings Code must be used to pay overtime related to the COVID-19 vaccine effort associated with Administration (POD) activities:

Earn Code	Description	Purpose
CVO (Retro Code N/A)	Covid-19 OT Override	Administration – The overtime rate for employees working in a vaccine administration role will be calculated as out-of-title overtime based on the methodologies described above. (see Determining Rate of Pay) The grade level used in the calculation will be determined based on the role that is being performed. (see Vaccine Administration (POD) Roles)

Agency Actions

Agencies must use one of the above-referenced Earnings Codes to report hours worked as part of the COVID-19 vaccine effort.

Determining an Annual Employee’s Regular Hourly Rate of Pay for Work Performed on the Vaccine Hotline

In order to determine if an Annual employee’s regular hourly rate is less than, equal to or greater than $15.78, an agency must perform the following calculation:

• Sum the employee’s compensation rate and applicable additional payments.
• Divide this amount by 2088.
• If the hourly rate is less than or equal to $15.78, the agency must submit Time Entry Earnings Code CVC to pay regular / non-overtime hours.
• If the hourly rate is greater than $15.78, the agency must submit Time Entry Earnings Code CVA to pay regular / non-overtime hours for employees with a Comp Rate Code of ANN.
• If the hourly rate is greater than $15.78, the agency must submit Time Entry Earnings Code CGH to pay regular / non-overtime hours for employees with a Comp Rate Code of HRY.

Processing Instructions for Employees Working on the Vaccine Hotline during Their Regular Work Day

Following are the instructions that must be used when an employee performs work on the vaccine hotline during their regular work day:

• Employees whose Compensation Rate Code equals ANN must have their regular hours reduced by the number of hours worked on the hotline using Earnings Code CHR and those same hours reported using Earnings Code CVC or Earnings Code CVA.
• Employees whose Compensation Rate Code equals HRY and whose Employee Type equals Hourly must have only those hours worked in their regular position reported using Earnings Code RGH and those hours worked on the hotline reported as Earnings Code CVC or Earnings Code CGH. A transaction using a hotline reduction earnings code is not necessary.
• Employees whose Compensation Rate Code equals HRY and whose Employee Type equals Exception Hourly must have only those hours worked in their regular position reported using Earnings Code RGH with the exact Earnings Begin Date and Earnings End Date of the pay period being processed. Those hours worked on the hotline must be reported using Earnings Code CVC or Earnings Code CGH. A transaction using a hotline reduction earnings code is not necessary.
• Employees whose Compensation Rate Code equals HRY and whose Employee Type equals Exception Hourly or Hourly and who received RGH earnings in a prior pay period for work performed on the hotline must have those hours reduced using Earnings Code RGH. Those same hours must be reported using Earnings Code CVC or Earnings Code CGH.
• Employees whose Compensation Rate Code is not ANN or HRY must have their regular hours reduced by the parts of day worked on the hotline using Earnings Code CLO and those same parts of a day worked on the hotline reported using Earnings Code VHO.

Reporting a Reduction in an Employee’s Regular Hours Due to Work Performed on the Vaccine Hotline during the Employee’s Regular Work Day

If an employee performs work on the vaccine hotline during their regular work day, the employee’s regular hours must be reduced by those hours worked on the hotline as outlined above. Agencies must submit this reduction on the Time Entry page or Time Entry Interface (NPAY502) using the appropriate Earnings Code:

Earnings Begin Date:	First date included in the reduction of regular hours worked
Earnings End Date:	Last date included in the reduction of regular hours worked
Earn Code:	Enter appropriate code – RGH, CHR or CLO
Hours/Units (Earnings Code RGH ONLY):	Enter as a negative value the number of hours/units worked on the hotline during the employee’s regular work day that were previously processed using Earnings Code RGH; the system will automatically calculate the earnings based on the employee’s hourly rate. (Comp Rate Code = HRY)
Days (Earnings Code CHR ONLY):	Enter as a negative value the parts of a day associated with the number of hours worked on the hotline during the employee’s regular work day; the system will automatically calculate the appropriate earnings. (Comp Rate Code = ANN)
Days and Amount (Earnings Code CLO ONLY):	Enter as negative values the parts of a day associated with the number of hours worked on the hotline during the employee’s regular work day and the calculated dollar value. (Comp Rate Code ≠ ANN or HRY)

Reporting Hours Worked on the COVID-19 Vaccine Hotline

To report hours worked on the COVID-19 vaccine hotline, agencies must submit the following information on the Time Entry page or Time Entry Interface (NPAY502) using the appropriate Earnings Code:

Earnings Begin Date:	First date work is performed on the vaccine hotline
Earnings End Date:	Last date work is performed on the vaccine hotline
Earn Code:	Enter appropriate code – CVH, CVC, CVA, CGH or VHO
Hours/Units (Earnings Codes CVC and CVH ONLY):	Enter the number of hours/units worked; the system will automatically calculate the earnings. The system will multiply the number of hours/units entered by $15.78 for Earnings Code CVC and by $23.67 for Earnings Code CVH.
Hours/Units (Earnings Code CGH ONLY):	Enter the number of hours/units worked; the system will automatically calculate the earnings based on the employee’s hourly rate.
Days (Earnings Code CVA ONLY):	Enter the parts of a day associated with the number of hours worked; the system will automatically calculate the appropriate earnings.
Days and Amount (Earnings Code VHO ONLY):	Enter the parts of a day associated with the number of hours worked on the hotline during the employee’s regular work day and the calculated dollar value. (Comp Rate Code ≠ ANN or HRY)

Reporting Overtime Related to COVID-19 Vaccine Administration (POD) Activities

To report overtime related to COVID-19 vaccine administration activities, agencies must submit the following information on the Time Entry page or Time Entry Interface (NPAY502) using the appropriate Earnings Code:

Earnings Begin Date:	First date included in the overtime
Earnings End Date:	Last date included in the overtime
Earn Code:	Enter Earnings Code CVO
Hours and Amount (Earnings Code CVO ONLY):	Enter the number of hours worked and the calculated earnings.

In addition, agencies must enter a General Comment with the following information when paying overtime related to vaccine administration activities using Earnings Code CVO:

• If the employee’s regular position is NS, indicate whether the position includes an equated grade.
• The out-of-title role as provided in the Vaccine Administration (POD) Roles chart.
• The methodology used to determine the hourly overtime rate (promotion, demotion, lateral).
• Indicate the overtime is related to the vaccine effort.

Transactions Previously Submitted Using the Incorrect Earnings Code

Agencies should make every effort to correct the records of employees for whom a payment related to the COVID-19 vaccine effort was previously processed with an Earnings Code other than those listed above. To update the records of these employees, agencies must enter the following on the Time Entry page in PayServ:

• Enter the original Earnings Code with the original Earnings Begin and End Dates and negative hours/units/amounts, as applicable.
• Enter the appropriate COVID-19 Earnings Code associated with the vaccine effort using the original Earnings Begin and End Dates and hours/units/amounts.
• When adjusting overtime amounts only, refer to Payroll Bulletin 1893 Reporting Adjustments to Overtime.

Employees Who Perform Work Related to the COVID-19 Vaccine Effort in an Agency Other Than Their Agency on Record in PayServ

Employees performing work in an agency different from their regular job shall be paid for that time by the agency in which the employee’s regular job resides. The agency where the work is performed must provide the employee’s regular agency with the necessary information in order for the regular agency to process payment.

Employees with Multiple Active Records in PayServ

Employees who have multiple active records in PayServ (i.e. dual employment or extra service) and perform work related to the COVID-19 vaccine effort in one of those agencies shall be paid for that time by that agency.

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.

Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice

The Earnings Code and the amount paid will be displayed on the payroll register. The earnings description and the amount paid will be displayed on the employee’s paycheck or advice.

Questions

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