Purpose

The purpose of this bulletin is to inform agencies of OSC’s automatic processing of the April 2021 NYSCOPBA BU 21 Retroactive Parity Salary Increase and provide instructions for payments not processed automatically.

Affected Employees

Non-arbitration eligible employees in the SSU (BU 21) who are represented by the NYSCOPBA are affected.

Background

Chapter 24 of the Laws of 2019, which implemented the 2016-2023 Agreement between the State of New York and the NYSCOPBA, provides for a merger of the SSU fiscal year 2021 Salary Schedules for non-arbitration eligible members (BU21) and arbitration eligible members (BU 01). As a result, the salary steps for each corresponding salary grade on the schedules for both bargaining units will match.

The April 2021 NYSCOPBA BU 21 Parity Salary Schedule is attached.

Note: Per the Division of Budget (DOB), this payment was deferred and not processed in April 2021. DOB has now authorized this payment.

Effective Dates

The April 2021 NYSCOPBA BU21 Retroactive Parity Salary Increase will be paid using the following effective dates and check dates:

Eligibility Criteria

The following employees may be eligible to receive the April 2021 NYSCOPBA BU 21 Retroative Parity Salary Increase:

• Employees with a Comp Rate Code of FEE are not eligible for the parity salary increase unless the employee is budgeted as per diem.
• Employees with a Comp Rate Code of HRY are eligible for a parity salary increase but will not be processed automatically. If their position is associated with a salary grade, refer to Agency Actions - Beginning Institution or Administration Pay Period 5L for processing instructions. If their position is not associated with a salary grade, please contact DOB for guidance.
• Employees with a Comp Rate Code of ANN who occupy an NS position (Salary Grade 600) that is not equated to a grade must be reviewed to determine if eligible for a parity salary increase.
• Employees who were on a Leave of Absence (other than Workers’ Compensation Leave) on the Payment Effective Date of the increase are not eligible for the parity salary increase until the employee returns from leave.

Control-D Report Available Prior to Processing

The following Control-D report was made available to agencies on 05/20/2021 (Institution) and 05/27/2021 (Administration). This gives agencies time to correct employees’ records, if necessary, prior to the automatic processing of the April 2020 and April 2021 NYSCOPBA retroactive increases. The report is sorted by Department ID, then by employee name in alphabetical order.

NHRP709 – Mass Salary Increase Exception Report

This report is a preliminary listing of employees who appear ineligible to receive the April 2020 and April 2021 NYSCOPBA retroactive increases based on information available as of the date the report is produced. Included on the report is one or more of the following messages which identifies the reason(s) the employee’s record will not be updated:

• NYS Position Has Both Equated Grade and NTE – If the employee’s Grade on the Position Data page (based on the NYS Position Number) is equal to 600 and a value exists in both the Equated to Grade field and the Approved Salary Rate field
• Position and Job Do Not Match – If the Position Number equals the NYS Position Number on the employee’s Job Data page but the Bargaining Unit, Salary Administration Plan or Grade on the Job Data page and the Position Data page are not equal
• Increment Code Missing – If the Grade on the Position Data page (based on the NYS Position Number) is equal to 101-125 or 600 with a value of 101-125 in the Equated to Grade field, the Comp Rate Code is ANN and the increment code on the employee’s Job Data page is blank or ‘0000’
• Increment Code Invalid –Iif the Grade on the Position Data page (based on the NYS Position Number) is equal to 101-125 or 600 with a value of 101-125 in the Equated to Grade field, the Comp Rate Code is ANN and the increment code on the employee’s Job Data page is other than 300X, 001X, 004X, 005X, 007X, 9900, 0008, 006X, 003X, 002X, 008X, 0099, 2222, or 6900
• Inc Code Req Review – If the increment code on the employee’s Job Data page is 2222 or 6900
• Sal Below Hiring Rate – If the Grade on the Position Data page (based on the NYS Position Number) is equal to 101-125 or 600 with a value of 101-125 in the Equated to Grade field, the Comp Rate Code is ANN and the employee’s salary on any of the Job Data rows being evaluated is less than the Hiring Rate for the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the appropriate 04/01/2019 Salary Schedule
• Empl Req Review to Determine if Elig for Incr – If the Comp Rate Code is HRY and compensation rate is equal to or less than $14.00.

Note: In order to be eligible for the parity salary increase, an employee’s hourly position must be associatied with a salary grade. While the report does not include hourly employees whose compensation rate in effect is greater than $14.00, these employees must be reviewed and processed by the agency if eligible.

If an employee appears on this report but is due a parity salary increase, the agency must take the following action:

• Submit the appropriate transaction(s) on the Job Action Requests page to correct the information on the Job Data row(s). If the row(s) is corrected prior to Institution or Administration Pay Period 5L, the automatic salary increase will be processed.
• Submit a Position Change Request to the Position Management Unit if the position information is incorrect on the Position Data page in PayServ but is correct in NYSTEP. The position will be updated to reflect the change and the automatic salary increase will be processed provided the agency’s position request contains the same information as the position information in NYSTEP.

Employees who appear on the report but whose record was not corrected prior to automatic processing will not automatically receive the April 2021 NYSCOPBA BU 21Retroactive Parity Salary Increase. Agencies must submit the appropriate transactions to correct the employee’s record and to pay the parity salary increase in Institution or Administration Pay Period 6L.

Agency Actions - Beginning Institution or Administration Pay Period 5L

When submitting pay changes, position changes and transfers in Institution or Administration Pay Period 5L on the Job Action Requests or Transfer Requests page with an effective date on or after 03/25/2021 (Institution) or 04/01/2021 (Administration), the agency must not include the April 2021 NYSCOPBA BU 21 Retroactive Parity Salary Increase in the salary reported in the Pay Rate field.

Exception: Agencies may submit transactions in Institution or Administration Pay Period 5L to pay the parity salary increase to the following employees:

• Employees with a Comp Rate Code of HRY.
• Employees in a composite position (identified by Increment Code 2222).

Employees in an Hourly Position

Employees with a Comp Rate Code of HRY are eligible to receive the April 2021 NYSCOPBA BU 21 Retroactive Parity Salary Increase. If their position is not associated with a salary grade, please contact DOB for guidance. If their position is associated with a salary grade, the amount of the increase due is calculated as follows:

• Determine the salary grade associated with the employee’s hourly position.
• Annualize the employee’s hourly rate by multiplying the rate by 2088.

Note: The hourly rate used should reflect the retroactive BU 21 April 2020 2% increase.

• Compare the annualized salary to the applicable salary grade on the 04/01/2020 Salary Schedule to determine if the salary is equal to a salary step. If the annualized salary falls below the Hiring Rate of the applicable salary grade, use the Hiring Rate.
• If the annualized salary is not equal to a salary step on the 04/01/2020 Salary Schedule, determine the new annualized salary as follows:
  • Compare the employee’s annualized salary determined above to the 04/01/2020 Salary Schedule to determine the closest lower step to the employee’s annualized salary.
  • Determine the difference between the step identified above and the annualized salary. (Annualized Salary – Step Amount = Difference)
  • Using the step identified above, determine the value of the same step on the 04/01/2021 Salary Schedule.
  • Add the value of the Difference calculated above to the salary of the step on the 04/01/2021 Salary Schedule.
• Divide the resulting annualized salary by 2088 to determine the employee’s new hourly rate.
• Agencies must enter a General Comment indicating the grade associated with the employee’s hourly position and the calculation used to determine the employee’s new hourly rate.

Agencies may submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the appropriate Reason code (see below) to pay the parity salary increase, if eligible, as explained above.

Note: If an employee’s hourly rate in effect on or after the Payment Effective Date is equal to the minimum wage in effect for their work location, the agency must review to determine if the employee should remain at the minimum wage or receive the parity salary increase, if applicable as noted above.

Employees in Composite Positions

Beginning in Institution or Administration Pay Period 5L, agencies must review employees in composite positions (identified by Increment Code 2222) and submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the appropriate Reason code (see below) to pay the salary increase. Information regarding the composite position must be included on the General Comments page.

To Process Payment Manually

The following Action/Reason code(s) must be used when submitting transactions to pay the April 2021 NYSCOPBA BU 21 Retroactive Parity Salary Increase to eligible employees not processed automatically:

• Effective date is 03/25/2021 (Institution) or 04/01/2021 (Administration) – use Reason code SAC (Mass Salary Increase) for employees with a Comp Rate Code of ANN or HRY
• Effective date on or ater 03/26/2021 (Institution) or 04/02/2021 (Administration) – use Reason code CSL (Correct Salary) for employees with a Comp Rate Code of ANN or Reason code CRT (Change Rate) for employees with a Comp Rate Code of HRY.

Administration Agencies Only

New Hire transactions submitted in Administration Pay Period 5L must use the Hiring Rate of the employee’s grade from the 04/01/2020 NYSCOPBA Salary Schedule. Since the 04/01/2021 Salary Schedules are loaded in PayServ as part of processing for the Institution cycle, the agency will receive the automatic validation salary warning message, “Requested salary rate must be at the hiring rate when Action of PAY and Reason of NEW is used”. Please ignore this warning message.

OSC Actions

After payroll processing for Institution and Administration Pay Period 5L is complete, OSC will automatically insert rows on the Job Data page to process the April 2021 NYSCOPBA BU 21 Retroactive Parity Salary Increase for employees with a Comp Rate Code of ANN. These increases will be processed in the following manner:

• If the employee meets the Eligibility Criteria and has an Employee Status of Active, Leave With Pay, or Leave of Absence due to a Workers’ Compensation Leave (Action/Reason code of Leave of Absence/WCL, WDL, or WPS) on the Payment Effective Date, OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page using the appropriate Payment Effective Date and the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/SAC (Mass Salary Increase).
• If the employee does not meet the Eligibility Criteria on the Payment Effective Date but is subsequently newly hired, rehired, or appointed to an eligible position after the Payment Effective Date, OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CSL (Correct Salary) and the effective date of the hire, rehire, or appointment.
• OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CSL (Correct Salary) for all subsequent rows provided the employee remains in an eligible position with a Comp Rate Code of ANN.

Calculating the New Compensation Rate for Annual Employees

The compensation rate on each inserted row will be calculated as follows:

• The April 2021 NYSCOPBA BU 21 Retroactive Parity Salary Increase will be calculated using an employee’s base salary.
• If an employee’s compensation rate includes a longevity, the value of the longevity based on the 04/01/2020 Salary Schedule must be subtracted from the compensation rate to determine base salary. The employee’s increment code identifies the number of longevities included in the employee’s compensation rate. (see Increment Code Chart below)
• If the employee has a Comp Rate Code of ANN, a Grade equal to 101-125 and an increment code other than 2222 and the base salary is equal to a salary step of the employee’s grade based on the 04/01/2020 Salary Schedule, OSC will automatically increase the base salary to the same salary step on the 04/01/2021 Salary Schedule.
• If the employee has a Comp Rate Code of ANN, a Grade equal to 101-125 and an increment code other than 2222 and the base salary is not equal to a salary step of the employee’s grade based on the 04/01/2020 Salary Schedule, OSC will process as follows:
  • If the base salary is less than the Job Rate of the employee’s grade based on the 04/01/2020 Salary Schedule, OSC will determine the amount above the lower of the two steps the base salary falls between and apply that amount to the corresponding step on the 04/01/2021 Salary Schedule.
  • If the base salary is greater than the Job Rate of the employee’s grade based on the 04/01/2020 Salary Schedule, OSC will determine the amount above Job Rate and apply that amount to the Job Rate on the 04/01/2021 Salary Schedule.
• If the employee has a Comp Rate Code of ANN, a Grade equal to 600 with an equated grade equal to 101-125 and an increment code other than 2222 and the base salary is equal to a salary step of the employee’s grade based on the 04/01/2020 Salary Schedule, OSC will automatically increase the base salary to the same salary step on the 04/01/2021 Salary Schedule.
• If the employee has a Comp Rate Code of ANN, a Grade equal to 600 with an equated grade equal to 101-125 and an increment code other than 2222 and the base salary is not equal to a salary step of the employee’s grade based on the 04/01/2020 Salary Schedule, OSC will process as follows:
  • If the base salary is less than the Job Rate of the employee’s grade based on the 04/01/2020 Salary Schedule, OSC will determine the amount above the lower of the two steps the base salary falls between and apply that amount to the corresponding step on the 04/01/2021 Salary Schedule.
  • If the base salary is greater than the Job Rate of the employee’s grade based on the 04/01/2020 Salary Schedule, OSC will determine the amount above Job Rate and apply that amount to the Job Rate on the 04/01/2021 Salary Schedule.
• If the employee has a Comp Rate Code of ANN and a Grade equal to 800, OSC will automatically process the parity salary increase in the same manner as a graded employee using the equated grade of the employee’s traineeship level.
• If the employee’s compensation rate includes a longevity, the value of the longevity based on the 04/01/2021 Salary Schedule must be added to the new base salary to determine the compensation rate. The employee’s increment code identifies the number of longevities included in the employee’s compensation rate. (see Increment Code Chart below)
• If the employee’s compensation rate does not include a longevity, the base salary calculated above is the employee’s new compensation rate.

Note: Hourly employees will not be processed automatically. Please refer to Agency Actions.

Increment Code Chart

Employees Who Switch Cycles

Employees who are currently in an agency on the Institution cycle will be processed when the program runs for the Institution check date of 06/17/2021. All eligible rows in the employee’s record regardless of cycle will be updated. As a result, all retroactive adjustments will be paid in the Institution check date of 06/17/2021.

Employees who are currently in an agency on the Administration cycle will be processed when the program runs for the Administration check date of 06/23/2021. All eligible rows in the employee’s record regardless of cycle will be updated. As a result, all retroactive adjustments will be paid in the Administration check date of 06/23/2021.

Control-D Reports Available After Processing

The following Control-D reports will be available for agency review after the automatic payments have been processed. All reports will be sorted by Department ID, then by employee name in alphabetical order.

NHRP704 – Mass Increment Payment Report

This report identifies all employees who received the automatic April 2020 or April 2021 NYSCOPBA retroactive increases and includes all employees’ salaries that were increased in an eligible bargaining unit.

NHRP709 – Mass Salary Increase Exception Report

This report identifies employees who did not receive the automatic April 2020 or April 2021 NYSCOPBA retroactive increases. Included on the report is one or more messages which identifies the reason(s) the employee’s record was not updated. The explanation associated with each message is described above under the section Control-D Report Available Prior to Processing.

Agency Actions - Beginning Institution or Administration Pay Period 6L

Employees Who Appeared on the NHRP709 – Mass Salary Increase Exception Report

Employees who appeared on the NHRP709 Mass Salary Increase Exception Report made available after processing did not automatically receive the April 2021 NYSCOPBA BU 21 Retroactive Parity Salary Increase. Agencies should submit the appropriate transactions to correct the employee’s record and submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the appropriate Reason code (see below) to pay the salary increase beginning in Institution or Administration Pay Period 6L.

To Process Payment Manually

The following Action/Reason code(s) must be used when submitting transactions to pay the April 2021 NYSCOPBA BU 21 Retroactive Parity Salary Increase to eligible employees not processed automatically:

• Effective date is 03/25/2021 (Institution) or 04/01/2021 (Administration) – use Reason code SAC (Mass Salary Increase) for employees with a Comp Rate Code of ANN or HRY.
• Effective date is on or after 03/26/2021 (Institution) or 04/02/2021 (Administration) – use Reason code CSL (Correct Salary) for employees with a Comp Rate Code of ANN or Reason code CRT (Change Rate) for employees with a Comp Rate Code of HRY.

Employees Who Move Into or Out of Bargaining Unit 21

For employees with movement between bargaining units with differing raises in a fiscal year, the raise received in the prior bargaining unit must be removed and replaced with the raise of the new bargaining unit (refer to Payroll Bulletin 702).

The parity salary increase consists of the difference between the salary steps for each salary grade on the April 2020 BU 21 salary schedule compared to the April 2021 BU 01 salary schedule. This difference includes the 2021 2% salary increase paid to BU 01.

Per guidance from the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations (GOER), if an employee moves out of BU 21, the employee is entitled to retain the parity increase minus the 2% increase.

If an employee moves into BU 21, the employee would not receive the parity increase but would be entitled to receive the following depending on the position change, as noted:

• Promotion: Hiring rate of the new grade or the promotion percentage increase plus the 2% increase for NYSCOPBA, whichever is greater.
• Lateral: Attained salary of prior position (minus the raise of that BU) plus the 2% increase for NYSCOPBA or hiring rate of the new grade, whichever is greater.
• Demotion: Reconstruct following normal demotion procedures.
• Appointment to a Traineeship: Hiring rate of the equated grade or hold their last graded salary immediately prior to the traineeship plus the 2% increase for NYSCOPBA, whichever is greater.
  • Note: If the employee’s prior grade is higher than the full title of the traineeship, then the employee’s salary must be reconstructed following normal demotion procedures.

Automatic Retroactive Processing

OSC will automatically calculate retroactive adjustments for regular earnings and Time Entry earnings that are calculated by the system based on annual salary, such as OT for Annuals 2080 (OCS) and Holiday Pay (HPA), resulting from payment of the April 2021 (BU 21 ) Retroactive Parity Salary Increase.

If an employee receives a payment and has worked in more than one agency but has been paid by all agencies in the same Employee Record Number since the effective date of the payment, all retroactive adjustments will be paid in the most current agency.

If an employee receives a payment and has worked in more than one agency and has been paid in more than one Employee Record Number since the effective date of the payment, the retroactive adjustments will be paid in the most current agency of the Employee Record Number in which the payment was made.

Agency Actions - Retroactive Processing

Reporting Retroactive Adjustments

Time Entry earnings codes that are submitted with an amount will not be adjusted automatically. Therefore, beginning in Administration or Institution Pay Period 6L, agencies must report the adjustment amount for earnings codes such as Extra Time Override (EXO) and Regular Salary Override (RGO).

Correcting an Automatic Retroactive Adjustment

When certain conditions exist in an employee’s record, the automatic retroactive adjustment may be incorrect. Therefore, the agency is responsible for identifying employees who meet the following conditions and, if necessary, submitting the appropriate adjustment:

• If an employee has a check returned or exchanged on an AC-230 for dates on or after the effective date of the payment, the payroll system does not consider the AC-230 when calculating the automatic retroactive adjustment.
• If earnings were previously reported using Earnings Code RGS and a date range that exceeded the number of days reported, the system will calculate the adjustment of earnings based on the number of workdays within the range.
• Adjustments for earnings that are calculated automatically, such as OT for Annuals 2080 (OCS), will be calculated incorrectly if the dates previously reported as a single entry on the Time Entry page overlap the effective date of the payment. The system will calculate an adjustment for all earnings reported in a single entry based on the salary in effect on the Earnings End Date.
• For employees who had a change reported on the Job Data page since the effective date of the payment and the action resulted in an overpayment of earnings, the automatic negative retroactive adjustment may not have been processed because the overpayment was either not recoverable or was recovered using an overpayment earnings code or an AC-230. In this case, the negative retroactive adjustment may be re-generated when the payment is processed. OSC will turn off (not process) the automatic negative adjustment for these employees since in most cases these overpayments were either not recoverable or recovered using another method.

If an overpayment of earnings is identified after the automatic payment is processed but before the paycheck is received by the employee, the employee must be notified of the overpayment and the adjustment that will be reported in a subsequent pay period.

Submitting an Adjustment

When an adjustment is needed for COVID-19 overtime such as CVO, ARC must be used. When an adjustment is needed for non-COVID-19 related overtime or recall such as OTT, ARO must be entered. Please refer to Payroll Bulletin No. 1893 for more information. Agencies must continue to use AJR for all other override Time Entry Earnings Codes requiring a manual adjustment as a result of a retro salary increase.

To process a retroactive adjustment or correct an automatic retroactive adjustment, agencies must submit the following information on the Time Entry page or the Time Entry Interface (NPAY502) using the Earnings Code AJR, ARC, or ARO:

Military Stipend Leave

OSC will recalculate the military stipend amount for employees who were placed on a Paid or Unpaid Military Stipend Leave on or after the effective date of the payment as the result of new military orders.

• If the employee received a stipend, OSC will insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective the date the employee is entitled to the increase using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/MSC (Military Stipend Change) and will increase the employee’s biweekly stipend amount. In addition, updates will be made to all subsequent rows requiring an increased biweekly stipend amount.
• If the employee did not receive a stipend but becomes eligible for a stipend as a result of the payment, OSC will insert the following in PayServ:
  • A row on the employee’s Job Data page effective the date the employee is entitled to a stipend using the Action/Reason code of Paid Leave of Absence/MLS (Mil Stip) and the new biweekly stipend amount.
  • A row on the employee’s Job Data page for each affected subsequent row using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/MSC (Military Stipend Change) and the new biweekly stipend amount.
  • A row on the Time Entry page using the Earnings Code MSP (Military Stipend Payment) to pay the stipend for each pay period the employee is eligible.
  • Any additional adjustment that is required due to the increased biweekly stipend amount that will not be calculated automatically will be reported by OSC on the Time Entry page using the Earnings Code AMS (Adjust Military Stipend).

Deduction Information

All general deductions for employees whose Payroll Status is Terminated, Retired, or Deceased will be automatically canceled by OSC with the exception of percentage based dues and the following:

Tax Information

These monies are taxable income subject to all employment taxes and income taxes, will be included in the employee’s taxable gross and reported on the employee’s Form W-2.

The adjustments (AJR, ARC, ARO, and Retro (RXX)) are supplemental taxable income and will be included in the employee’s taxable gross subject to all employment 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 (1.61135% for Yonkers residents and 0.50% for Yonkers non-residents).

Special Wage Payments for Individuals Who Filed for Retirement Social Security Benefits:

Per Internal Revenue Service Publication 957, OSC will be reporting retro payments made to individuals who have filed for Social Security benefits to the Social Security Administration (SSA).

As PayServ does not include this information, OSC will be mailing a Request for Special Wage Payment Report to inactive individuals who are 62 or older in the calendar year and to active employees with the New York Retiree Indicator checked in Modify a Person who receive the retroactive payment. Recipients of this mailing will be asked to fill out the request and return it to OSC for inclusion on the Special Wage Payment report to SSA.

This report will be submitted to SSA after the close of the 2021 tax year. It is important that agencies ensure the New York Retiree Indicator box is checked for rehired retirees. Please see Payroll Bulletin No. 1728 for further details on the New York Retiree Indicator box.

Undeliverable Checks

When a valid payroll check is undeliverable due to the agency’s inability to locate the employee, the agency should follow the Agency Actions identified in Payroll Bulletin No. 1786 Non-Negotiated and/or Undeliverable New York State Payroll Checks.

Checks issued to eligible employees who are now deceased should be returned with a completed Next of Kin Affidavit (Form AC 934-P), original death certificate and a Report of Check Exchange (Form AC 1476-P). If a Next of Kin Affidavit has been previously submitted for a deceased employee’s payroll check, OSC will accept a photocopy of this form along with a new Report of Check Exchange.

Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice

All retroactive adjustments will be displayed on the Payroll Register using the appropriate Earnings Code and the amount paid and will be displayed on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice using the appropriate Earnings Description and the amount paid unless the number of earnings codes exceeds 13. Agencies should utilize Locked Query LQ_PCD_PAYCHECK_EARNINGS_BY_ID to identify a complete list of regular earnings and retroactive adjustments if there are more than 13 earnings codes.

Questions

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

Questions regarding position change requests may be directed to the Position Management mailbox.

Questions regarding military information may be directed to the Military Stipend mailbox.

Questions regarding general deductions may be directed to the Payroll Deduction mailbox.