State Agencies Bulletin No. 1918

Subject
April 2019 Retroactive Increase to Agency Police Services Unit (APSU) Expanded Duty Pay
Date Issued
June 15, 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this bulletin is to inform agencies of OSC’s automatic processing of the April 2019 Retroactive Increase to APSU Expanded Duty Pay.

Affected Employees

Employees in the Agency Police Services Unit (APSU) – BU31 who meet the eligibility criteria are affected.

Background

Chapter 55 of the Laws of 2021 which implements the 2015-2019 Agreement between the State of New York and the Police Benevolent Association of New York State, Inc (PBA) provides for an increase to Expanded Duty Pay (EXD) for the Agency Police Services bargaining unit (BU31) effective 04/04/2019.

Effective Dates

The April 2019 Retroactive Increase to Expanded Duty Pay will be processed in Administration Pay Period 6L, paycheck dated 07/07/2021.

Note: If an employee was previously in BU31 and owed a retroactive adjustment and is currently in a different position on the Institution cycle, the employee will be paid the in the 07/15/2021 paycheck.

Eligibility Criteria

Employees who have received or currently receive EXD, on or after 04/04/2019 through present while in the eligible bargaining unit, are entitled to the increase.

OSC Actions

OSC will automatically insert a row to update the Additional Pay page with an effective date of 04/04/2019 to increase the amount of EXD from $3,075 to $3,825 for all employees receiving the April 2019 Retroactive Increase to Expanded Duty Pay.

Earnings Code: EXD
Effective Date: 04/04/2019
OT Eff Date: Same as Effective Date
Annual Addl Earnings: $3,825

OSC will automatically update any eligible subsequent rows.

Automatic Retroactive Processing

OSC will automatically calculate retroactive adjustments for Time Entry earnings that are calculated by the system that include Expanded Duty Pay (EXD) such as Overtime (OTA).

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.

Control-D Report Available After Processing

The following Control-D report will be available after processing of the automatic increase:

NHRP703 Mass Salary Additional Pay Report

This report identifies all employees receiving an automatic increase for the April 2019 Retroactive Increase to Expanded Duty Pay (EXD). Fields on this report include EmplID, Employee Record Number, Employee Name, Earn Code, Grade, Salary Plan, Bargaining Unit, and Additional Pay Amount.

Agency Actions

To pay the April 2019 Retroactive Increase to Expanded Duty Pay for Bargaining Unit 31 eligible employees not processed automatically or who return from an authorized leave of absence, the agency must submit the following information on the Additional Pay page using the appropriate Earnings Code:

Earnings Code: EXD
Effective Date: Newly Eligible Date
OT Eff Date: Same as Effective Date
Annual Addl Earnings: $3,825

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 Pay Period 6L, agencies must report the adjustment amount for earnings codes such as Extra Time Override (EXO).

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 necessary 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:

Earnings Begin Date: The first date included in the adjustment
Earnings End Date: The last date included in the adjustment
Earn Code: AJR, ARC or ARO
Amount: Amount to be adjusted
Comments: An explanation of the adjustment

General Deductions

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:

Code Description
410 Health Care Spending Account
416 Deferred Comp
420 NY Dependent Care Contribution
425 Repay State Loans/Debt
426 Higher Ed Repay State Loan
428 Dependent Care
433 Total Unemployment Ins Owed
442 Pre-Tax Adoption
500 Medicare Deficiency
501 Social Security Deficiency
502 NYS SS/Medicare Deficiency
HIATRG Regular After Tax Health
HIATSP Special After Tax Health Adj

Tax Information

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

Earning Code EXD is supplemental taxable wages, will be included in the employee’s taxable gross and are 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. Yonkers Flat Rate Withholding is 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

The Earnings Code EXD and the amount paid will be displayed on the Payroll Register. The Earnings Description Expanded Duty Pay BU31 and the amount paid will appear on the employee’s paycheck stub and direct deposit advice (if applicable).

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 general deductions may be directed to the Payroll Deduction mailbox.