State Agencies Bulletin No. 1986

Subject
Pilot Program Establishing a Temporary Overtime Rate for Employees in Certain Titles Represented by the Public Employees Federation (PEF) or the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) Working at the Office of Mental Health (OMH)
Date Issued
January 25, 2022

This bulletin is superseded by Payroll Bulletin No. 1986.2.

Purpose

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide information and processing instructions regarding the implementation of a pilot program establishing a temporary overtime rate for employees in certain titles represented by PEF or CSEA working at OMH.

Affected Employees

Employees in certain Operational Services Unit (BU03), Institutional Services Unit (BU04), or Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Unit (BU05) titles who work at OMH are affected.

Background

The Memorandum of Agreements (MOAs) between the State of New York, OMH, CSEA, PEF, and the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA) allow OMH to establish a temporary overtime rate of 2.5 times the employee’s regular rate of pay for employees in certain titles.

The new overtime rate shall apply to all overtime earned during shifts that begin at or after 11:00 pm on 11/03/2021 and at or before 10:59 pm on 03/31/2022. For any shift that begins at or after 11:00 pm on 03/31/2022, the overtime rate shall revert to the rate in place prior to implementation of the pilot program unless extended by mutual agreement of the parties.

The overtime factor used by the New York State Payroll System (PayServ) for affected employees at OMH who are represented by PEF or CSEA is .00120.

Effective Dates

The new overtime rate is effective at 11:00 pm on 11/03/2021. Agencies should begin using the new Time Entry Overtime Earnings Codes in Institution Pay Period 19L, checks dated 12/30/2021.

Eligibility Criteria

Employees who work at OMH and have overtime earnings effective 11:00 pm on 11/03/2021 through the end of the pilot program in one of the following titles must be paid at a rate of 2.5 times their regular rate of pay using one of the new Time Entry Overtime Earnings Codes:

Title Job Code Title Code
Cleaner 003205 3014000
Comty Mntl Hlth Nrs 005771 5614500
Cook 003232 3102300
Food Service Wkr 1 003264 3124200
Food Service Wkr 2 003266 3124300
Food Service Wkr 3 003268 3124400
Head Cook 003233 3102600
Head Housekeeper 003192 3004600
Housekeeper 003189 3004000
Infectn Control Nrs 005700 5549100
Janitor 003207 3016000
Licensed Prac Nrs 005594 5500200
Mental Hlth TH Aide 005742 5571300
Mental Hyg Ther Assnt 1 005731 5570400
Mental Hyg Ther Assnt 2 005732 5570500
Nurse 1 005598 5500510
Nurse 2 005601 5500520
Nurse 2 Psy 005606 5500540
Nurse 3 Psy 005603 5500530
Nurse Admr 1 Psy 005640 5510750
Nurse Admr 2 Psy 005643 5510775
Residentl Pg Assnt 1 005751 5573110
Residentl Pg Assnt 2 005752 5573120
Secure Care Trtmnt Aide 1 005711 5557100
Secure Care Trtmnt Aide 2 005712 5557200
Senr Licensed Prct N1 005595 5500201
Senr Licensed Prct N2 005596 5500202
Supvg Housekeeper 003191 3004500

OSC Actions

OSC has created the following new Time Entry Earnings Codes to report overtime payments for employees eligible to receive overtime at 2.5 times their regular rate of pay:

New 2.5x

Earns Code

Description Associated Retro Code Original Earns Code
C25 Covid-19 OT for Ann 2080 2.5 RC5 C72
CD2 Covid-19 OT Over 16HR 2.5 RD2 C16
CH5 Covid-19 OT Hourly/Biweekly 2.5 RO5 O19
H25 Hospital Duty OT 2.5 RD5 HDO
O25 OT for Ann 2080 2.5 R25 OCS
OD2 OT Over 16HR OMH/OPWDD 2.5 R56 O16
OH5 OT Hourly/Biweekly 2.5 RH5 OTK
OR5 OT Recall Ann 2080 2.5 RR5 ORC
OS5 Recall Standby OT PEF 2.5 RS5 ORP
SO5 Recall Standby OT CSEA Class 2.5 RA5 ORS
ST2 Standby OT Adjust CSEA 2.5 RA2 SOY
ST5 Standby OT Adjust PEF 2.5 RP5 SOP

Agencies should continue using either Earnings Code OTO – OT Override or Earnings Code CVO – Covid-19 OT Override for overtime payments that cannot be calculated by PayServ.

Agency Actions

To report overtime earnings related to the pilot program effective beginning 11:00 pm on 11/03/2021 (Institution), the agency must submit the appropriate New 2.5x Earns Code (as listed in OSC Actions above) on the Time Entry page or the Time Entry Interface (NPAY502) using the following procedures:

Earnings Begin Date: Effective date started
Earnings End Date: Effective date ended
Earn Code: Enter appropriate code
Hours/Units/Amount: Number of Hours/Units/Amounts, as applicable

The agency must use the overtime factor of .00120 in the calculation when submitting any payments using Earnings Code OTO – OT Override or Earnings Code CVO – Covid-19 OT Override. Agencies must include an explanation in General Comments or Time Entry Comments that this payment has been calculated at 2.5 times the employee’s regular rate of pay as part of this pilot program.

Note: Agencies must split overtime earned before 11:00 pm on 11/03/2021 from overtime earned at or after 11:00 pm on 11/03/2021 due to the difference in the OT rate approved for payment.

Previously Paid Overtime Using Earnings Code OTO or Earnings Code CVO

If an eligible employee was previously paid overtime for the period identified above using Earnings Code OTO and a calculation using the overtime factor of .00072, the agency must calculate the correct earnings amount using the overtime factor of .00120 and enter the difference owed using Earnings Code AOR and the original Earnings Begin Date and the original Earnings End Date.

If an eligible employee was previously paid overtime for the period identified above using Earnings Code CVO and a calculation using the overtime factor of .00072, the agency must calculate the correct earnings amount using the overtime factor of .00120 and enter the difference owed using Earnings Code ACO and the original Earnings Begin Date and the original Earnings End Date.

Previously Paid Overtime Using the Remaining Earnings Codes Listed Above

If an eligible employee was previously paid overtime for the period identified above using the original Earns Code, the agency must update these records on the Time Entry Page or Time Entry Interface as follows:

  • Enter the original Earns Code, original Earnings Begin Date, original Earnings End Date, the original Hours/Units/Amount as a negative value.
  • Enter the corresponding New 2.5x Earns Code, original Earnings Begin Date, original Earnings End Date, and original Hours/Units/Amount as a positive value.

Retirement Information

Payments using the earnings codes mentioned above are included as salary for retirement purposes.

Tax Information

These earnings are taxable income, will be included in the employee’s taxable gross, and are subject to all employment and income taxes. Income taxes will be calculated using the employee’s current withholding elements in PayServ.

Retro Codes (RC5, RD2, RO5, RD5, R25, R56, RH5, RR5, RS5, RA5, RA2, and RP5) 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 (2.30815% for Yonkers residents and 0.50% for Yonkers non-residents).

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.