State Agencies Bulletin No. 1921

Subject
Changes to the Calculation and Retroactive Adjustment of Pre-Shift Briefing for the Agency Police Services Unit (APSU)
Date Issued
June 22, 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this bulletin is to inform agencies of OSC’s automatic processing of the new Pre-Shift Briefing calculation and the retroactive adjustment of Pre-Shift Briefing.

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 the change in the calculation of overtime for the Agency Police Services Unit (APSU), BU31 (see Payroll Bulletin No. 1920). Therefore, a change to the calculation of Pre-Shift Briefing is necessary.

Per guidance from DOB and GOER, Pre-Shift Briefing will be calculated using the overtime factor of .00072 beginning in Pay Period 6L, retroactively effective 04/04/2019 (Administration).

Additionally, changes to the Pre-Shift Briefing program were made to correctly calculate the retroactive increases to the APSU Pre-Shift Briefing payments as a part of the 2015-2019 APSU Retroactive Salary Increases.

Effective Dates

The April 2019 Retroactive Adjustment to Pre-Shift Briefing will be processed in Administration Pay Period 6L, paycheck dated 07/07/2021.

Note: If an employee was previously in BU31, will need to have their OT adjusted, 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 in BU31 who have Pre-Shift Briefing earnings on or after 04/04/2019 will be paid using the new overtime factor per the 2015-2019 agreement.

OSC Actions

After payroll processing for Pay Period 5L (Administration) is complete, OSC will automatically process the following:

PS1 (Additional Pay)

  • Enter a PAY/PSP (Pay/Pre-Shift Program) row on the Job Data page effective 04/04/2019 (Administration) to update the overtime factor.
  • Process the retroactive Pre-Shift Briefing Adjustments for eligible employees from 04/04/2019 through 06/09/2021 (Administration) using the overtime factor of .00072.

PS6 (Time Entry)

  • For Earnings Code PS6 with earnings dates on or after 04/04/2019 through 06/09/2021 that were previously paid, a single adjustment will be entered into Time Entry using the Earnings Code APB (Adj PSB).
  • OSC has updated Earnings Code PSA to be used to report Pre-Shift Briefing for employees in BU31 as indicated below:
Earn Code Description Associated Retro Code Replaces Associated Retro Code
PSA PreShift 2080 RP4 – Retro PreShift 2080 PS6 – PreSft Brief Auto Calc NU61/31 RP6 – Retro PSB Auto Calc NU61/31

Agency Actions

Beginning in Administration Pay Period 6L

To report the new Pre-Shift Briefing code (PSA) effective beginning 04/04/2019, the agency must submit the Earnings Code in the Time Entry page using the following procedures:

Earnings Begin Date: Effective date started
Earnings End Date: Effective date ended
Earn Code: PSA
Hours/Units: Number of Hours/Units

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
406 Strike/Discip Fine
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
682 VDC Before Tax Arrears
685 VDC Suspense Before Tax Arrears
HIATRG Regular After Tax Health
HIATSP Special After Tax Health Adj

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.

The retroactive adjustments (Retro (RXX)) are supplemental taxable income, will be included in the employee’s taxable gross income 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.

Payroll Register and Employee 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.

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.

Questions

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

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