Purpose:
The purpose of this bulletin is to inform agencies of OSC’s automatic processing of the April 2023 PEF Retroactive Salary Increase and provide instructions for payments not processed automatically.
Affected Employees:
Employees in the Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Unit – BU05 who meet the eligibility criteria are affected.
Background:
Chapter 190 of the Laws of 2023, which implemented the 2023-2026 Agreement between the State of New York and PEF, provides for a salary increase of three percent (3.00%) for fiscal year 2023-2024 and includes the April 1, 2023 PEF Salary Schedule.
Effective Dates:
The April 2023 PEF Retroactive Salary Increase will be paid using the following effective dates and check dates:
| Pay Cycle/Pay Period Type | 2023 Payment Effective Date | Check Date |
|---|---|---|
| Administration/10 Lag | 03/30/2023 | 08/30/2023 |
| Administration/9 Xtra Lag | 04/06/2023 | 08/30/2023 |
| Institution/10 Lag | 04/06/2023 | 09/07/2023 |
| Institution/10 Xtra Lag | 03/30/2023 | 09/07/2023 |
Eligibility Criteria:
The following employees are eligible to receive the April 2023 PEF Retroactive Salary Increase:
- Employees with a Comp Rate Code of ANN, 21P or CAL who are in a traineeship (Grade 800)
- Employees with a Comp Rate Code of ANN, 21P or CAL who are in an NS position (Grade 600)
- Employees with a Comp Rate Code of ANN, 21P or CAL who are in an NS position (Grade 600) which is equated to a grade (Grade 001-038)
- Employees with a Comp Rate Code of ANN, 21P or CAL who are in a graded position (Grade 001-038)
- Employees with a Comp Rate Code of HRY (Grade 600 or 800)
Employees with a Comp Rate Code of FEE are not eligible for the salary increase unless the employee is budgeted as per diem but is paid using FEE.
Control-D Report Available Prior to Processing:
The following Control-D report was made available for agency use on 08/03/2023 (Administration) and will be made available on 8/10/2023 (Institution). This will give agencies time to correct employees’ records, if necessary, prior to the automatic processing of the April 2023 PEF Retroactive Salary Increase. The report will be sorted by Department ID, then by employee name in alphabetical order.
NHRP709 – Mass Salary Increase Exception Report
This report is a preliminary listing of employees who appear ineligible to receive the April 2023 PEF Retroactive Salary Increase based on information available as of the date the report is produced. Included on the report is one or more of the following messages which identifies the reason(s) the employee’s record will not be updated:
- NYS Position Has Both Equated Grade and NTE – If the employee’s Grade on the Position Data page (based on the NYS Position Number) is equal to 600 and a value exists in both the Equated to Grade field and the Approved Salary Rate field.
- Position and Job Do Not Match - If the Position Number equals the NYS Position Number on the employee’s Job Data page but the Bargaining Unit, Salary Administration Plan or Grade on the Job Data page and the Position Data page are not equal.
- Increment Code Missing – If the Grade on the Position Data page (based on the NYS Position Number) is equal to 001-037 or 600 with a value of 001-037 in the Equated to Grade field, and the Comp Rate Code is ANN, CAL or 21P and the increment code on the employee’s Job Data page is blank or ‘0000.’
- *Increment Code Invalid – If the Grade on the Position Data page (based on the NYS Position Number) is equal to 001-037 or 600 with a value of 001-037 in the Equated to Grade field, and the Comp Rate Code is ANN, CAL or 21P and the increment code on the employee’s Job Data page is other than 0001, 0003, 0004, 1001, 1003, 1004, 2222, 7777, 19XX, 20XX, XX10, 0128, 0328, 1028, or 1328.
*Note: Increment Codes 0128, 0328, 1028, or 1328 are used for employees in Teaching and Research Cntr Nurse titles at Stony Brook (Deptid 28058) only. - Increment Code Requires Manual Calculation – If the increment code on the employee’s Job Data page is 2222.
- Sal Below Hiring Rate – If the Grade on the Position Data page (based on the NYS Position Number) is equal to 001-037 or 600 with a value of 001-037 in the Equated to Grade field, and the Comp Rate Code is ANN, CAL or 21P and the employee’s salary on any of the Job Data rows being evaluated is less than the Hiring Rate for the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/2022 Salary Schedule.
If an employee appears on this report but is due a salary increase, the agency must take the following action:
- Submit the appropriate transaction(s) on the Job Action Requests page to correct the information on the Job Data row(s).
- If the row(s) is corrected prior to Administration or Institution Pay Period 10L, the automatic salary increase will be processed.
- Submit a Position Change Request to the Position Management Unit if the position information is incorrect on the Position Data page in PayServ but is correct in NYSTEP.
- The position will be updated to reflect the change and the automatic salary increase will be processed provided the agency’s position request contains the same information as the position information in NYSTEP.
OSC Actions:
OSC will process the April 2023 PEF Retroactive Salary Increase for the following employees:
- If the employee meets the eligibility criteria and has a Payroll Status of Active, Leave With Pay or Leave of Absence due to a Workers’ Compensation Leave (Action/Reason code of Leave of Absence/ WDL, WPS or WSP or Long Term Disability/WCL or Short Term Disability/WCL) on the payment effective date, OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page using the Action/Reason Code of Pay Rate Change/SAC (Mass Salary Increase) using the following effective dates:
- 03/30/2023 (Administration) or 04/06/2023 (Institution)
- If the employee meets the eligibility criteria but has a Payroll Status of Terminated, Retired, or Leave of Absence (not related to a Workers’ Compensation Leave) on the payment effective date and returns to Active status in an eligible position, OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page using:
- Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CSL (Cor Sal) if the Comp Rate Code is ANN, 21P, or CAL
- Action/Reason Code of Pay Rate Change/CRT (Chg Rate) if the Comp Rate Code is HRY.
- If the employee is newly hired or transfers into an eligible position after the payment effective date, OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page using:
- Action/Reason Code of Pay Rate Change/CSL (Cor Sal) if the Comp Rate Code is ANN, 21P or CAL
- Action/Reason Code of Pay Rate Change/CRT (Chg Rate) if the Comp Rate Code is HRY.
- OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page using:
- Action/Reason Code of Pay Rate Change/CSL (Cor Sal) if the Comp Rate Code is ANN, 21P or CAL or
- Action/Reason Code of Pay Rate Change/CRT (Chg Rate) if the Comp Rate Code is HRY for all subsequent rows provided the employee remains in an eligible position.
Calculating the New Compensation Rate
The salary on each inserted row will be calculated as follows:
2023 Retroactive 3% Increase Processing
- If the employee has a Comp Rate Code of HRY and a Grade equal to 600 or 800, OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 3.00% rounded to the nearest cent.
- If the employee has a Comp Rate Code of ANN, 21P, or CAL and a Grade equal to 038, 600 (not equated to a grade) or 800, OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 3.00% rounded to the nearest dollar.
- If the employee has a Comp Rate Code of ANN, 21P, or CAL and a Grade equal to 600 with an equated grade equal to 038, OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 3.00% rounded to the nearest dollar.
- If the employee has a Comp Rate Code of ANN, 21P, or CAL, a Grade equal to 600 with an equated grade equal to 001-037, an increment code other than 2222, and the salary is equal to a salary step of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/2022 Salary Schedule, OSC will automatically increase the salary to the same salary step on the 04/01/2023 Salary Schedule.
- If the employee has a Comp Rate Code of ANN, 21P, or CAL, a Grade equal to 600 with an equated grade equal to 001-037, an increment code other than 2222, and the salary is not equal to a salary step of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/2022 Salary Schedule, OSC will process as follows:
- If the salary is less than the Job Rate of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/2022 Salary Schedule, OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 3.00% rounded to the nearest dollar. If the resulting salary is greater than the Job Rate based on the 04/01/2023 Salary Schedule, OSC will reduce the salary to the Job Rate.
- If the salary is greater than the Job Rate of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/2022 Salary Schedule, OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 3.00% rounded to the nearest dollar OR increase the salary to the Job Rate based on the 04/01/2023 Schedule, whichever is greater.
- If the employee has a Comp Rate Code of ANN, 21P or CAL, a Grade equal to 001-037, an increment code other than 2222, and the salary is equal to a salary step of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/2022 Salary Schedule, OSC will automatically increase the salary to the same salary step on the 04/01/2023 Salary Schedule.
- If the employee has a Comp Rate Code of ANN, 21P or CAL, a Grade equal to 001-037 and an increment code other than 2222 and the salary is not equal to a salary step of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/2022 Salary Schedule, OSC will process as follows:
- If the salary is less than the Job Rate of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/2022 Salary Schedule, OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 3.00% rounded to the nearest dollar. If the resulting salary is greater than the Job Rate based on the 04/01/2023 Salary Schedule, OSC will reduce the salary to the Job Rate.
- If the salary is greater than the Job Rate of the employee’s grade on the effective date based on the 04/01/2022 Salary Schedule, OSC will automatically increase the salary by applying 3.00% rounded to the nearest dollar OR increase the salary to the Job Rate based on the 04/01/2023 Salary Schedule, whichever is greater.
Exceptions
Employees in a composite position (identified by Increment Code 2222) will not be processed automatically.
Employees Who Switch Cycles
Employees who are on the Administration cycle on the payment effective date but are on the Institution cycle on the processing date will be processed as follows:
- Effective dated rows on the Administration cycle will be updated when the program runs for the Administration cycle.
- Effective date rows on the Institution cycle will be updated when the program runs for the Institution cycle.
- All retroactive adjustments will be paid in the Institution check dated 09/07/2023.
Employees who are on the Institution cycle on the payment effective date but are on the Administration cycle on the processing date will be processed as follows:
- Effective dated rows on the Administration cycle will be updated when the program runs for the Administration cycle. The retroactive adjustment will be paid in the Administration check dated 08/30/2023.
- Effective dated rows on the Institution cycle will be updated when the program runs for the Institution cycle. The retroactive adjustment will be paid in the Administration check dated 09/13/2023.
Control-D Reports Available After Processing:
The following Control-D reports will be available for agency review after the automatic increase have been processed. All reports will be sorted by Department ID, then by employee name in alphabetical order.
NHRP704 – Mass Salary Increase Report
This report identifies all employees who received the automatic April 2023 PEF Retroactive Salary Increase and includes all employees’ salaries that were increased in an eligible bargaining unit.
NHRP709 – Mass Salary Increase Exception Report
This report identifies employees who did not receive the automatic April 2023 Retroactive Salary Increase. Included on the report is one or more of the following messages which identifies the reason(s) the employee’s record was not updated:
- NYS Position Has Both Equated Grade and NTE
- Position and Job Do Not Match
- Increment Code Missing
- Increment Code Invalid
- Inc Code Req Review
- Sal Below Hiring Rate
See Control-D Report Available Prior to Processing for an explanation of these messages.
Agency Actions – Beginning in Institution or Administration Pay Period 10L:
The following procedures must be used by the agency when submitting transactions in Institution Pay Period or Administration Pay Period 10L:
For pay changes, positions changes and transfers requested on the Job Action Requests or Transfer Requests page with an effective date on or after 03/30/2023 (Administration) or 04/06/2023 (Institution):
- The agency must not include the April 2023 PEF Retroactive Salary Increase in the salary reported in the Pay Rate field. The salary must be calculated using the 04/01/2022 Salary Schedule.
Exception: Agencies may submit transactions in Institution or Administration Pay Period 10L to pay the following employee retroactive salary increase(s):
- Employees in a composite position (identified by Increment Code 2222).
Composite Positions
Beginning Institution or Administration Pay Period 10L, agencies must review employees in composite positions (identified by Increment Code 2222) and submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the appropriate Reason Code (see below) to pay salary increase. Information regarding the composite position must be included on the General Comments page.
To Process Payment Manually
The following Action/Reason Code(s) must be used to pay the April 2023 PEF Retroactive Salary Increase to eligible employees not processed automatically:
- Reason Code SAC (Mass Salary Increase) – For transactions effective:
- on 03/30/2023 (Administration) or 04/06/2023 (Institution)
- Reason Code CSL (Cor Sal) for ANN, 21P or CAL Comp Rate or CRT (Chg Rate) for HRY Comp Rate – For transactions effective other than the effective date of salary increase:
- effective after 03/30/2023 (Administration) or 04/06/2023 (Institution)
Institution Agencies Only
New Hire transactions submitted in Institution Pay Period 10L must use the Hiring Rate of the employee’s grade on the effective date from the 04/01/2022 PEF Salary Schedule. Since the 04/01/2023 PEF Salary Schedule is loaded in PayServ as part of processing for the Administration cycle, the agency will receive the automatic validation salary warning message, “Requested salary rate must be at the hiring rate when Action of PAY and Reason of NEW is used”. Please ignore this warning message.
Agency Actions – Beginning in Institution or Administration Pay Period 11L:
Employees Who Receive an Increased Hiring Rate Effective On or After Payment Effective Date
Employees who receive an Increased Hiring Rate effective on or after the payment effective date (03/30/2023 (Administration) or 04/06/2023 (Institution)) may not be entitled to have the increase applied to their entire salary. OSC will manually update salaries after the automatic increase is applied. If any additional corrections are needed, agencies must submit transactions as soon as possible to avoid an overpayment to employee.
Employees Who Appeared on the NHRP709 – Mass Salary Increase Exception Report
Employees who appeared on the NHRP709 Mass Salary Increase Exception Report, made available after processing, did not automatically receive the April 2023 PEF Retroactive Salary Increase. Agencies must submit appropriate transactions to correct employee’s record and submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using appropriate Reason Code to pay salary increase beginning in Institution or Administration Pay Period 11L.
Process Payment Manually
See Agency Actions –Institution or Administration Pay Period 10L for instructions on submitting pay changes.
Geographic Pay Differential (GEO) and/or Occupational Pay Differential (OPD):
Agencies must review employees receiving GEO and/or OPD to determine if employees’ GEO and/or OPD pay needs to be updated as a result of the April 2023 PEF Retroactive Salary Increase. Agencies must insert a new row on the Additional Pay page using the appropriate effective date (as listed in Effective Dates above) and the new GEO and/or OPD amount.
Automatic Retroactive Processing:
OSC will automatically calculate retroactive adjustments for regular and Time Entry earnings calculated by the system based on annual salary, such as OT for Annuals 2080 (OCS) and Holiday Pay (HPA), resulting from payment of the April 2023 PEF Retroactive 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, 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 to which the payment was made.
Agency Actions- Retroactive Processing:
Reporting Retroactive Adjustments
Time Entry earnings codes submitted with an amount will not be adjusted automatically. Therefore, beginning in Administration or Institution Pay Period 11L, agencies must report the adjustment amount for earnings codes such as Extra Time Override (EXO) and 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 has a check returned or exchanged on an AC-230 for dates on or after the effective date of payment, the payroll system does not consider the AC-230 when calculating 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 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 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 Covid-19 OT Override (Earnings Code CVO), Earnings Code ARC (Adjust Retro Raise for C19 OT) must be used. When an adjustment is needed for non-COVID-19 related overtime or recall such as Out of Title Overtime (Earnings Code OTT), ARO (Adjust Retro Raise for OT and RCL) must be used to process the adjustment. Please refer to Payroll Bulletin No. 1893 Reporting Adjustment to Overtime for more information. Agencies must continue to use Earnings Code AJR (Adjust Raise) 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 |
Military Stipend Leave:
OSC will recalculate the military stipend amount for employees placed on a Paid or Unpaid Military Stipend Leave on or after the effective date of the payment as the result of new military orders.
- If the employee received a stipend, OSC will insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page, effective the date the employee is entitled to the increase, using the Action/Reason Code of Pay Rate Change/MSC (Military Stipend Change) and will increase the employee’s biweekly stipend amount. In addition, updates will be made to all subsequent rows requiring an increased biweekly stipend amount.
- If the employee did not receive a stipend but becomes eligible for a stipend as a result of the payment, OSC will insert the following in PayServ:
- A row on the employee’s Job Data page, effective the date the employee is entitled to a stipend, using the Action/Reason Code of Paid Leave of Absence/MLS (Mil Stip) and the new biweekly stipend amount.
- A row on the employee’s Job Data page for each affected subsequent row using the Action/Reason Code of Pay Rate Change/MSC (Military Stipend Change) and the new biweekly stipend amount.
- A row on the Time Entry page using the Earnings Code MSP (Military Stipend Payment) to pay the stipend for each pay period the employee is eligible.
- Any additional adjustment required due to the increased biweekly stipend amount, that will not be calculated automatically, will be reported by OSC on the Time Entry page using the Earnings Code AMS (Adjust Military Stipend).
General Deductions:
All general deductions for employees with Payroll Status of Terminated, Retired, or Deceased will be automatically canceled by OSC with the exception of percentage-based dues and the following:
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| 406 | PEF 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 |
| GARNSH | Garnishments |
| HIBTRG | Regular Before Tax Health |
| HIBTSP | Special Before Tax Health Adj |
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 (Earnings Codes AJR, ARC, ARO) and retroactive payments (Earnings Codes 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 (1.95975% 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 2023 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 amount paid. Retroactive adjustments will also be displayed on employees’ paycheck stub or direct deposit advice using the appropriate Earnings Description and amount paid, unless the number of Earnings Codes exceed 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 submitted as a stop payment request with a reason of Exchange in PayServ. The required AC 1476, Next of Kin Affidavit, and original death certificate should be submitted to the Payroll Reversal and Exchange mailbox at the same time as the stop payment request. 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 position change requests may be directed to the Position Management mailbox.
Questions regarding military information may be directed to the Military Stipend mailbox.
Questions regarding general deductions may be directed to the Payroll Deduction mailbox.