Purpose
The purpose of this bulletin is to inform campuses of OSC’s automatic processing of the December 2019 minimum wage increases for hourly employees and provide instructions for payments not processed automatically.
Affected Employees
SUNY employees in hourly positions who meet the eligibility criteria are affected.
Background
Chapter 54 of the Laws of 2016 increased the New York State minimum wage for employees in non-governmental positions. The Director of the Budget establishes the pay rate for State seasonal and other non-statutory positions paid using an hourly rate.
A Memorandum dated 09/14/2016 from Nancy L. Zimpher, Chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY), authorizes the alignment of the minimum wage paid to hourly employees and student workers with the minimum wage levels approved as part of the 2016/17 enacted State budget.
Effective Date(s)
The December 2019 minimum wage increase for hourly employees will be processed using the following effective dates and check dates:
| Pay Cycle/Pay Period Type | Effective Date | Check Date |
| Administration 21 Lag | 01/09/2020 | 02/05/2020 |
| Institution 21 Extra Lag | 01/09/2020 | 02/13/2020 |
Eligibility Criteria
Employees with a Pay Basis Code of HRY on or after the appropriate effective date and an hourly rate less than the amount provided on the chart below are eligible for the 2019 minimum wage increase.
| Campus | Minimum Hourly Wage |
| Other (job location outside of NYC) | $11.80 |
| Nassau, Suffolk, or Westchester County | $13.00* |
| Job location in NYC | $15.00 (effective December 31, 2018) |
*The increase to $13.00 for employees whose job location is within the counties of Nassau, Suffolk, or Westchester will not be automatically processed. It is the campus’s responsibility to process these additional increases, as appropriate (see Agency Actions).
OSC Actions
OSC will process the December 2019 minimum wage increase as follows: If the employee meets the eligibility criteria and has a Payroll Status of Active, Leave with Pay or Leave of Absence on the appropriate effective date, OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page using the appropriate effective date and Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/CRT (Chg Rate) and will increase the employee’s hourly rate to the new minimum hourly wage of $11.80.
Agency Actions – Beginning Pay Period 21 for Employees Within the Counties of Nassau, Suffolk or Westchester
Campuses must process the additional increase to $13.00 for employees whose job location is within the counties of Nassau, Suffolk or Westchester.
Campuses must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code CRT (Chg Rate) and the appropriate effective date as indicated on the above chart.
Campuses must update all subsequent effective dated rows, provided the employee remains in an eligible position.
Campuses that use the New York State Electronic Personnel System (NYSTEP) for compensation adjustments must also enter these adjustments through NYSTEP if the rate frequency of the position is less than the appropriate amount indicated on the chart above. Further, campuses must ensure that the employee’s job location is accurate in NYSTEP, especially for those individuals whose job location is within the counties of Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester.
Note: If an employee’s job location changes to a location with a different minimum wage in effect, the campus must update the employee’s rate to reflect the appropriate rate for the new location.
Questions
Questions regarding this bulletin may be directed to the Payroll Earnings mailbox.