State Agencies Bulletin No. 330

Subject
Additional Eligibility Criteria and Information Regarding the 2002 Productivity Gain Lump Sum Payment
Date Issued
August 1, 2002

Purpose

To provide information regarding additional eligibility criteria and procedures

Affected Employees

Employees in Bargaining Units 01 and 61

Effective Date

Immediately

Additional Eligibility Criteria

In accordance with GOER memorandums dated June 19 & July 2, 2002, employees who were on a leave without pay during the last program year (4/1/01-3/31/02) may be eligible for the Productivity Gain Program under the following conditions:

They must satisfy all the other conditions of the program consistent with the side letter to the agreement and Payroll Bulletin #327.

They must be in full pay status for at least four months (cumulative) during the program year.

Employees in the following Military Leave Statue categories during the program year will be considered in full pay status for the purpose of the Productivity Gain Program:

Military leave pursuant to Section 242 of the New York State Military Law

Supplemental Military Leave Pursuant to MOU with NYSCOPBA and Council 82

Time charged to leave credits while on approved absences for Military duty

Reduced pay status while on Military Leave at Reduced Pay (Military Stipend)

Note: Employees who are on Military Leave at Reduced Pay are deemed to be in full pay status, regardless of whether or not the employee receives a stipend payment.

Employees on Military Leave Without Pay are treated the same as employees on any other type of leave without pay.

Pro-rated PGP Amount for Employees on Leave without Pay

The amount of the Productivity Gain Payment (PGP) for an employee who is now eligible under the new criteria is decreased proportionately relative to the time spent on leave without pay, so that the employee receives a pro-rated amount. Refer to the example in the GOER memo, dated June 19, 2002.

Procedure for PGP Never Reported

Refer to Payroll Bulletin No. 327 for instructions for reporting the Productivity Gain Payment and the adjustment for Productivity Gain Exchange Options.

The agency will no longer be allowed to click the "OK to Pay " when the earn codes PGP or APG are reported on the Additional Pay panel.

The payment will be made in a separate check.

The agency must recalculate pre-shift briefing pay, effective the date of the PGP earnings, and update the Additional Pay panel to reflect the increased amount.

Procedure for Reporting Increases in PGP

To increase the amount of a Productivity Gain payment previously paid, use the following procedures.

For the earn code PGP, insert a new effective dated row on the Additional Pay panel, effective the first day of the current pay period.

Enter the original overtime effective date in the OT Eff Date field.

Enter the total amount of PGP (total amount = original PGP plus the additional PGP amount) in the Annual Addl Earnings field.

The Earn End Date will default from the previous row and should remain the same.

Enter the amount of the original Goal Balance in the Goal Balance field.

Enter the reason the employee is eligible for an additional payment in the General Comments panel.

Submit a Data Chg/Cor Hist on the Job Action Request panel, effective the date of the original PGP earnings, and notify OSC in the Status Reason block of the corrected pre-shift briefing earnings amount.

The difference between the original and the new amount will be paid in a separate check.

Procedures for Recovering Overpayment of PGP

A new earn code, PGA (Productivity Gain Adjustment), has been established to recover Productivity Gain payments previously overpaid to an employee for any of the following reasons:

The original amount of the PGP earnings was in excess of the amount the employee was eligible to receive.

The agency failed to report the earn code APG (Adjust PGP Health Insurance Credit) when the PGP earnings was originally reported.

The original amount of APG was under reported.

Procedure for reporting the earn code PGA in the Time Entry Panel

Earns Begin Date Enter the effective date of the original PGP payment
Earns End Date Same as above
Earns Code Enter the earn code PGA
AMOUNT ENTER THE AMOUNT OF OVERPAYMENT, preceded by a minus sign

Correcting Pre-Shift Briefing Pay on the Job Action Request Panel 
Request a Data Change/Cor Hist and report the corrected pre-shift briefing amount in Status Reason block.

Reporting Additional Retirement Salary Credit
Since the total amount of the PGP is non-pensionable, the agency is responsible for completing forms RS-2050 and RS-2050A for all employees whose regular check was reduced by the amount of the PGP overpayment. The agency must report the additional retirement salary credit. The amount of the credit is equal to the amount of the PGA.

Procedure When APG Was Previously Over Reported by Agency

If the agency previously reported an overpayment for the earn code APG, the agency must:

  • Insert a row on the Additional Pay panel, effective the first day of the current pay period for the earn code APG.
  • Enter the total amount owed to the employee in the Earnings and the Goal Amount fields.
  • The Goal Balance field should remain blank.
  • Enter the reason for the adjusted amount of APG in the General Comments panel.

The employee will receive the additional monies in a separate check.

Employees who Change Bargaining Units After PGP is Received

If an employee who received the PGP is subsequently transferred into a position with a different bargaining unit (including those who change from BU 01 to BU 61 or BU 61 to BU 01), the employee is no longer eligible to have the PGP included in the overtime calculation. To end the PGP earnings, the agency must use the following procedures:

Insert a row for the earn code PGP, effective the last day the employee was in the eligible bargaining unit.

Change the OT Eff Date to the original OT Eff Date.

The Annual Addl Earnings amount from the previous row will default and must remain the same.

Change the Earn End Date to the last date the employee was in an eligible bargaining unit.

Enter the Goal Balance amount from the previous row in the Goal Balance field.

Note: If the employee is changing bargaining units and also transferring to another agency, the former agency must end the PGP earnings on the Additional Pay panel before the employee is transferred to the new agency.

OSC Actions

When the earn code PGA is submitted in the Time Entry panel, OSC will make the following changes, where necessary, on the Additional Pay panel:

  • Adjust the PGP amount on the Additional Pay panel, effective the date of the original payment.
  • Insert a row to report the APG amount for employees who do not have an existing APG row.
  • Correct the previously reported APG amount.
  • Change the OT End Date for employees no longer eligible for a PGP.
  • Correct the amount of Pre-Shift Briefing pay as requested by the agency on the Job Action Request panel.
  • A description of the completed changes will be reported in the General Comments panel.

Note: Overtime earnings will be adjusted automatically based on the changes made to the employee's record.

Questions

If you have any questions on additional eligibility, contact Seren Hrachian at GOER @ (518) 473-3975. If you have any questions regarding payroll submission, contact your payroll auditor.