State Agencies Bulletin No. 1935

Subject
January 1, 2021 Salary Increases for Executive Law Section 169 Commissioners and Other Positions Specified in Executive Law Section 169
Date Issued
August 19, 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide agencies instructions for submitting the Retroactive January 1, 2021 Salary Increases for Executive Law Section 169 Commissioners and other positions specified in Executive Law Section 169 (e.g., Board Members and Board Chairs).

Affected Employees

Executive Law Section 169 Commissioners and other positions specified in Executive Law Section 169 are affected.

Background

Pursuant to the recommendations of the Committee on Legislative and Executive Compensation established by Chapter 59 of the Laws of 2018, effective 01/01/2021, the salaries of the following Executive Law Section 169 positions are increased as follows:

Tier-A Positions $220,000
Tier-B Positions $205,000
Tier-C Positions* $200,000
Tier-D Positions* Certain Tier D-Board Members* $170,000 $159,200

List of Executive Law Section 169 Positions by Tier

*The Committee on Legislative and Executive Compensation established by Chapter 59 of the Laws of 2018 simplified the Executive Law 169 structure to only have four categories of Commissioners and authorized the Executive to set forth a plan for the salary within ranges for Tier-C and Tier-D.

Effective Dates

Agencies may begin submitting the Retroactive Salary Increases for the Executive Law Section 169 positions in Administration Pay Period 11L/12C, paychecks dated 09/15/2021.

Agency Actions

Beginning Administration Pay Period 11L

  • Agencies must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason Code SIC (Salary Increase), the effective date of 01/01/2021, and the appropriate salary.
  • Agencies must also review all subsequent rows to determine if additional updates are required.

Automatic Retroactive Processing

OSC will automatically calculate retroactive adjustments for regular earnings based on annual salary resulting from payment of the Executive Law Section 169 Retroactive January 1, 2021 Salary Increases.

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, 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.

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.

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 (2.30815% 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’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.