Purpose

The purpose of this bulletin is to inform agencies of OSC’s automatic processing of the April 2020 Lifeguard Retroactive 2% Salary Increase.

Affected Employees

Employees in the following lifeguard titles, in the PSNU who are included in Bargaining Unit 68 (Lifeguards), and meet the eligibility criteria are affected:

• 001269 - Lifeguard
• 001270 - Lifeguard 2 LISPC
• 001274 - Supvg Lifeguard LISPC
• 001275 - Assnt Chf Lifeguard
• 001276 - Field Lt LISPRC LFGDS
• 001277 - Chf Lifeguard
• 001278 - Field Capt LISPRC LFG
• 019562 - Lifeguard 2

Background

All eligible members of the PSNU who are included in Bargaining Unit 68 (Lifeguards) will receive the April 2020 Lifeguard Retroactive 2% Salary Increase in accordance with:

• Chapter 263 of the Laws of 2018, which implemented the 2016-2022 Agreement between the State of New York and the United University Professions (UUP), and
• Division of the Budget Bulletin D-1139 issued March 18, 2019 on Wage Rates for State Employees in Seasonal Lifeguard Positions.

Effective Dates

The April 2020 Lifeguard Retroactive 2% Salary Increase will be paid using the following effective dates and check dates:

Eligibility Criteria

Employees in one of the above lifeguard titles with a Comp Rate Code of HRY or ANN on or after the 2020 Payment Effective Date are eligible to receive the applicable 2020 increase.

OSC Actions

After agency processing for Administration Pay Period 7L or Institution Pay Period 8L is complete, OSC will automatically insert rows on the Job Data page for employees who meet the eligibility criteria to reflect the April 2020 Lifeguard Retroactive 2% Salary Increase as follows:

• If the employee meets the eligibility criteria and has a Payroll Status of Active or Leave With Pay on the applicable 2020 Payment Effective Date:
  • A row will be inserted on the Job Data page using that effective date and the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/SAC (Mass Salary Increase).
  • If the employee has a Comp Rate Code of HRY (Grade 600) and a salary equal to the appropriate 2019 rate for the employee’s title and location as listed on the Lifeguard Hourly Wage Rate Schedule on the row being evaluated, the salary on the inserted row will be increased to the appropriate 2020 rate. Otherwise, the salary on the inserted row will be increased by 2% rounded to the nearest cent.
  • If the employee has a Comp Rate Code of ANN (Grade 105) on the row being evaluated, the salary on the inserted row will be increased by 2% rounded to the nearest dollar or will be equal to hiring rate (whichever is greater).
  • All subsequent rows will be updated in the same manner, regardless of Employee Status, using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CSL (Cor Sal) for employees with a Comp Rate Code of ANN or Pay Rate Change/CRT (Chg Rate) for employees with a Comp Rate Code of HRY, provided the employee remains in an eligible title.
• If the employee does not meet the Eligibility Criteria or does not have a Payroll Status of Active or Leave With Pay on the applicable 2020 Payment Effective Date but becomes eligible after the effective date:
  • A row will be inserted on the Job Data page using the date the employee was in a lifeguard title with a Payroll Status of Active or Leave With Pay using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CSL (Cor Sal) for employees with a Comp Rate Code of ANN or Pay Rate Change/CRT (Chg Rate) for employees with a Comp Rate Code of HRY.
  • If the employee has a Comp Rate Code of HRY (Grade 600) and a salary equal to the appropriate 2019 rate for the employee’s title and location as listed on the Lifeguard Hourly Wage Rate Schedule on the row being evaluated, the salary on the inserted row will be increased to the appropriate 2020 rate. Otherwise, the salary on the inserted row will be increased by 2% rounded to the nearest cent.
  • If the employee has a Comp Rate Code of ANN (Grade 105) on the row being evaluated, the salary on the inserted row will be increased by 2% rounded to the nearest dollar or will be equal to hiring rate (whichever is greater).
  • All subsequent rows will be updated in the same manner, regardless of Employee Status, using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CSL (Cor Sal) for employees with a Comp Rate Code of ANN or Pay Rate Change/CRT (Chg Rate) for employees with a Comp Rate Code of HRY, provided the employee remains in an eligible title.

Note: Only subsequent rows with an effective date up to and including 03/24/2021 (Institution Lag and Administration Extra Lag) or 03/31/2021 (Administration Lag and Institution Extra Lag) will be updated. Agencies were responsible for calculating and processing updated rates for employees in lifeguard titles for the 2021 season. Please refer to Payroll Bulletin No. 1913 for additional information.

Control-D Report Available After Processing

Control-D report NHRP704 (Mass Salary Increase Report) will be available for agency review after the automatic increases have been processed. This report identifies all employees who received the automatic April 2020 salary increase and includes all employees’ salaries that were increased in an eligible bargaining unit. The report will be sorted by Department ID, then by employee name in alphabetical order.

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 or hourly rate, such as Overtime (OTA and OTK) and Holiday Pay (HPA and HPH), resulting from payment of the April 2020 Retroactive Lifeguard 2% 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, agencies must report the adjustment amount for earnings codes such as 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 necessary adjustment:

• If an employee had 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 Overtime (OTA and OTK), 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 related 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 used. 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 due to 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:

Deduction Information

All general deductions for employees whose Employee Status is Terminated, Retired or Deceased will be automatically cancelled 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 paid in the 7/21/2021 check, 2.30815% for Yonkers residents paid in the 7/29/2021 check, 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’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.

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

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