State Police Bulletin No. SP-208.1

Subject
April 1, 2020 and April 1, 2021 Retroactive Salary Increases for State Police Employees Represented by the New York State Police Investigators Association (NYSPIA)
Date Issued
May 20, 2021

This bulletin supersedes Payroll Bulletin No. SP-208.1.

Purpose

The purpose of this bulletin is to inform the Division of the State Police of OSC’s automatic processing of the April 1, 2020 and April 1, 2021 Retroactive Salary Increases for NYSPIA and provide instructions for payments not processed automatically.

Affected Employees

Employees of the Division of State Police in the State Police Investigators Unit (BCI) – BU62 who meet the eligibility criteria are affected.

Background

Chapters 234 of the Laws of 2019 implements the 2018-2023 Agreement between New York State and NYSPIA, provides for a 2% salary increases for eligible employees effective April 1, 2020 and April 1, 2021 for Investigators, Senior Investigators, and Investigative Specialists in Bargaining Unit 62.

Due to the Division of the Budget decision to defer the 2020 and 2021 salary increases, these increases will be processed retroactively.

Effective Dates

The April 1, 2020 and April 1, 2021 Retroactive 2% Salary Increases (Bargaining Unit 62) will be paid using the following effective dates and check dates:

Year Pay Cycle/Pay Period Type Payment Effective Date Check Date
2020 Administration 3 Lag 04/02/2020 05/26/2021
2021 Administration 3 Lag 04/01/2021 05/26/2021

Contract Provisions and Eligibility Criteria

A retroactive 2.00% Salary Increase rounded to the nearest dollar for employees in Bargaining Unit 62 for all unit members is payable effective 04/02/2020. The attached April 1, 2020 Salary Schedule reflects the 2.00% increase and includes the new step for members with six (6) or more years of service.

April 1, 2021 Retroactive 2% Salary Increase

Bargaining Unit 62

A retroactive 2.00% Salary Increase rounded to the nearest dollar for employees in Bargaining Unit 62 for all unit members is payable effective 04/01/2021. The attached April 1, 2021 Salary Schedule reflects the 2.00% increase and includes the new step for members with six (6) or more years of service.

Control-D Reports Available Prior to Processing

The following Control-D report was made available for agency use on 04/29/2021 (Administration). This gives the agency time to correct employees’ records, if necessary, prior to the automatic processing of the April 2020 and April 2021 Retroactive 2% Salary Increases. The report is 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 2020 and April 2021 Retroactive 2% Salary Increases (Bargaining Unit 62) based on information available as of the date the report was 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:

  • 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 Date page and Position Date page are not equal.
  • Salary off step – if the employee’s Pay Basis Code is ANN and Grade is Equal to 704 or 707 but the salary is not equal to a step on the 4/1/2019 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 transactions(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 03L, 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 Date 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.

Agency Actions Administration Pay Period 3L

The following procedures must be used by the agency when submitting transactions in Administration Pay Period 3L:

For pay changes, position changes and transfers requested on the Job Action Requests or Transfer Requests page with an effective date on or after 04/02/2020 (Administration):

  • The agency must not include the April 2020 and April 2021 Retroactive Salary Increase in the salary reported in the Pay Rate field. The 04/01/2019 Salary Schedule must be used to calculate the salary.

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 2020 and April 2021 Retroactive 2% Salary Increase. Agencies should submit the appropriate transactions to correct the employee’s record and submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the appropriate Reason code (see below) to pay the salary increase beginning in Administration Pay Period 4L, paycheck date 06/09/2021.

OSC Actions

OSC will automatically insert rows in the Job Data page to reflect the April 2020 and April 2021 Retroactive 2% Salary Increases for Investigators, Senior Investigators and Investigative Specialists in Bargaining Unit 62*.

  • A row will be inserted in the employee’s Job Data record using the Action/Reason code of PAY/SAC (Pay Rate Change/Mass Salary Increase) with an effective date of 04/02/2020 for the April 2020 increase, and 04/01/2021 for the April 2021 for employees whose status is Active or Paid Leave of Absence.
  • For employees who were Inactive or on a Leave of Absence without Pay on the effective date of the increase, the increase will be applied to the employee’s Job Data record only if the employee was subsequently returned to the payroll in an eligible bargaining unit. Rows will be inserted as of the effective date of the Return from Leave action using the Action/Reason code of PAY/CSL (Pay Rate Change/Correct Salary) and the new salary.
  • Any subsequent rows on Job Data will be updated automatically by inserting additional rows with the Action/Reason code of PAY/CSL (Pay Rate Change/Correct Salary) provided the employee remained in an eligible bargaining unit.

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, resulting from payment of the April 2020 and April 2021 Retroactive Salary Increases.

Agency Actions-Retroactive Processing

Additional Pay earnings such as, but not limited to, GRV and its adjustment code AGR will not be processed by the program. The agency will need to enter a row onto the Additional Pay page with the New GRV amount with the effective date of the raise and submit adjustments to these earnings where necessary.

Time Entry earnings that are paid as an amount such as, but not limited to, ADJOTORGO, and SCO will not be automatically adjusted.

When an adjustment is needed for COVID-19 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 entered. Please refer to Payroll Bulletin 1893 for more information.

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 AJRARC, or ARO:

Earnings Begin Date: The first date included in the adjustment
Earnings End Date: The last date included in the adjustment
Earnings Code: AJR, ARC, or ARO
Amount: Amount to be adjusted
Comments: An explanation of the adjustment

Retroactive Payments for Employees Receiving Military Stipends

For employees who were placed on Military Stipend Leave with or without pay on or after the effective date of the increase as a result of new military orders, OSC will recalculate the amount of Military Stipend. The recalculations will be processed beginning in Pay Period 4L, Paychecks dated 06/09/2021.

  • For those employees who received a stipend, the increase in biweekly stipend will be updated on the Job Data record by inserting a new row to reflect the new biweekly stipend amount. Any additional adjustment required due to the change in stipend that will not be calculated automatically by the retro process will be reported by OSC in the Time Entry page using the Earn Code AMS (Adjust Military Stipend)
  • For those employees who did not receive a stipend by became eligible for a stipend as a result of the increased salary OSC will take the necessary actions on the Job Date and/or Time Entry pages to pay the required increases.

Control-D Reports Available After Processing

The following Control-D reports will be available after processing of the automatic increases on 05/13/2021:

NHRP704 - Mass Salary Payment Report

This report identifies all employees who received the general salary increase. The report identifies the employee’s last salary that was automatically increased in an eligible bargaining unit. Other fields on the report include the EmplID, Employee Record Number, Employee Name, Grade, Bargaining Unit, Pay Basis Code, Part-time Percentage, Action Reason and Increment Code.

NHRP709 – Mass Salary Increase Exception Report

The report identifies all employees who did not receive the automatic April 2020 and April 2021 Retroactive Salary Increases (Bargaining Unit 62). Included on the report is one or more of the following messages which identifies the reason(s) the employee’s salary was not updated:

  • 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 Position Data page are not equal.
  • Salary off step – if the employee’s Pay Basis Code is ANN and Grade is Equal to 704 or 707 but the salary is not equal to a stop on the 04/01/2019 Salary Schedule.

Agency Actions Administration Pay Period 4L

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 2020 and April 2021 Retroactive 2% Salary Increases. The Agency should submit the appropriate transactions to correct the employee’s record and submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the appropriate Reason code (see below) to pay the salary increase beginning in Administration Pay Period 4L, Paycheck date 06/09/2021.

Deduction Information

All general deductions for employees whose status is Terminated, Retired or Deceased will be automatically cancelled by OSC with the exception of percentage based dues and the following:

Code Narrative
406 Strike/Disciplinary Fine
410 Health Care Spending Account
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
HIATRG Regular After Tax Health
HIATSP Special After 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 (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 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 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 associated amount. The description of each earnings code and the associated amount will appear on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice unless there are more than 13 earnings codes. For these employees, agencies should utilize Locked Query LQ_PCD_PAYCHECK_EARNINGS_BY_ID to identify a complete list of all regular earnings and retroactive adjustments.

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 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 Position information may be directed to the Position Management mailbox.

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

Questions regarding Taxes may be directed to the Tax and Compliance mailbox.