State Agencies Bulletin No. 1246

Subject
April 2013 Public Employees Federation (PEF) Performance Advances
Date Issued
March 28, 2013

Purpose

To inform agencies of OSC’s automatic processing of the April 2013 Performance Advances 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

Effective Date(s)

The April 2013 Performance Advances will be paid using the following effective dates and check dates:

Pay Cycle/Pay Period Type Payment Effective Date Check Date
Administration 1 Lag 03/28/13 04/24/13
Institution 1 Lag 04/04/13 05/02/13

Background

Chapter 37 of the Laws of 2012, which implemented the 2011-2015 Agreement between the State of New York and PEF, provides for payment of performance advances on April 1 to eligible employees.

Eligibility Criteria

Performance Advance

Employees in graded positions (Grade 001-037) and NS positions (Grade 600) which are equated to a grade and whose annual salary is below the Job Rate of the employee’s current grade on the 04/01/10 Salary Schedule are eligible for a performance advance provided the employee:

  • Is in a BU05 position on the payment effective date; and
  • Has completed one (1) year of service in such grade by 04/01/13; and
  • Has a Pay Basis Code of ANN on the payment effective date; and
  • Was rated at least “Satisfactory” or its equivalent on their last rating date; and
  • Did not receive a performance advance in October 2012.
Promotion Recalculation

Employees who would have been eligible to receive a performance advance in April 2013 but were promoted to a higher grade prior to April 2013 may be eligible for a revised promotion salary (promotion recalculation) provided the employee is not eligible for a performance advance in the higher grade in April 2013.

Ineligible for Performance Advance

Employees with an “Unsatisfactory” evaluation on their last rating date are ineligible to receive an April 2013 Performance Advance. The agency must submit a Data Chg on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code USP (Unsat Perf) and an increment code of 0003 in the Incr. Code field to withhold the performance advance. The effective date should be the employee’s last rating date. These transactions should be submitted as soon as practicable following the employee’s rating date.

In addition, employees who have not completed one (1) year of service in their grade are ineligible to receive an April 2013 Performance Advance and are also identified using Increment code 0003.

In preparation for next year’s performance advance processing, the increment code must be updated.

Control-D Report Available Prior to Processing

The following Control-D report will be available for agency use on 03/29/13 (Administration) and 04/05/13 (Institution). This will give agencies time to correct employees’ records, if necessary, prior to the automatic processing of the April 2013 Performance Advances. The report will be sorted by agency code, then by employee name in alphabetical order.

NHRP708 – Mass Increment Payment Exception Report

This report is a preliminary listing of employees who appear ineligible to receive an April 2013 Performance Advance, Promotion Recalculation or Increment Code Update based on information available as of the date the report is produced. Included on the report is one of the following messages which identifies the reason the employee’s record will not be updated.

  • NYS Position Has Both Equated Grade and NTE
  • Position and Job do not match
  • FIS Missing
  • FIS At or Below Current
  • FIS Below Hiring Rate
  • Increment Code Missing
  • Increment Code Invalid
  • Inc Code not in Anniv Dt range
  • Sal Below Hiring Rate
  • Sal At or Above Job Rate

If an employee appears on this report but is due a performance advance, promotion recalculation or increment code update, 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 Pay Period 1, the automatic performance advance, promotion recalculation or increment code update 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 performance advance, promotion recalculation or increment code update will be processed provided the agency’s position request contains the same information as the position information in NYSTEP.

Agency Actions – Pay Period 1

The following procedures must be used by the agency when submitting transactions in Pay Period1L.

For pay changes, position changes and transfers requested on the Job Action Requests or Transfer Requests page with an effective date on or before 03/28/13 (Administration) or 04/04/13 (Institution):

  • The agency must not include the performance advance in the salary rate reported in the Pay Rate field.
  • The agency must report the proper increment code for April 2013 in the Incr. Code field.

For pay changes, position changes and transfers requested on the Job Action Requests or Transfer Requests page with an effective date after 03/28/13 (Administration) or 04/04/13 (Institution):

  • The agency must include, if applicable, the performance advance in the salary rate reported in the Pay Rate field.
  • The agency must report the projected increment code based on the employee’s next performance advance cycle in the Incr. Code field.
Time Entry

To report miscellaneous earnings that are automatically calculated by the system (e.g. overtime), agencies must separate earnings by pay period so the earnings will not overlap the effective date of the Pay Change transaction.

OSC Actions

OSC will process the April 2013 Performance Advances, Promotion Recalculations and Increment Code Updates for those employees who meet the eligibility criteria and have a Payroll Status of Active, Leave With Pay or Leave of Absence due to a Workers’ Compensation Leave on the payment effective date with the following exceptions:

  • Eligible employees in a composite position (identified by Increment Code 2222).
  • Eligible employees in a position which was previously downward reallocated (identified by Increment Code 0069).
  • Eligible employees with a Payroll Status of Leave With Pay and an Action/Reason code of Paid Leave of Absence/SKL (Sick Lv).
Performance Advance Processing

Performance advances will be processed for employees with Increment Code 0001and an Anniversary Date between 10/02/xx and 04/01/xx. OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/28/13 (Administration) or 04/04/13 (Institution) using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/PAV (Perf Adv) and will increase the employee’s salary rate to reflect payment of the performance advance. The employee’s salary rate will be capped at the Job Rate of the employee’s current grade on the 04/01/10 Salary Schedule.

Promotion Recalculation Processing

Promotion recalculations will be processed for employees with Increment Code 0004 who are entitled to a revised promotion salary based on the FIS (Fixed Incremented Salary) Amount on the Job Data/Compensation page.  The FIS Amount:

  • Must be equal to or greater than the Hiring Rate; and
  • Must be greater than the employee’s current salary; and
  • May exceed the Job Rate of the employee’s current grade on the 04/01/10 Salary Schedule.

OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/28/13 (Administration) or 04/04/13 (Institution) using the Action/Reason code of Pay Rate Change/PMR (Prom Recal) and will update the employee’s salary rate to reflect the FIS Amount.

Increment Code Update Processing

OSC will automatically update the increment code on the inserted row for employees who receive a performance advance or promotion recalculation as follows:

Current Code Updated Code
0001 0001 if the new salary is below Job Rate
2013 if the new salary is equal to Job Rate
0004 0001 if the new salary is below Job Rate and the Anniversary Date is 10/02/xx – 04/01/xx
1001 if the new salary is below Job Rate and the Anniversary Date is 04/02/xx – 10/01/xx
2013 if the new salary is equal to or greater than Job Rate

OSC will automatically insert a row on the employee’s Job Data page effective 03/28/13 (Administration) or 04/04/13 (Institution) using the Action/Reason code of Data Change/CIC (Chg IncCd/or AnnDt/or FIS Sal) and update the following increment code:

Current Code Updated Code
0003 0001 if the current salary is equal to or greater than Hiring Rate and below Job Rate and the Anniversary Date is 10/02/xx – 04/01/xx
Workers’ Compensation

For employees who are receiving Workers’ Compensation under the PEF Medical Evaluation Program, the supplement will be recalculated by OSC when processing payments for disability dates beginning on 03/28/13 (Administration) or 04/04/13 (Institution).

Transactions processed automatically will appear on the NHRP520 Daily Outbound Transaction file.

Control-D Reports Available After Processing

The following Control-D reports will be available for agency review after the automatic payments have been processed. All reports will be sorted by agency code, then by employee name in alphabetical order.

NHRP704 – Mass Increment Payment Report

This report identifies all employees who received the automatic April 2013 Performance Advance or Promotion Recalculation. The report includes the Action/Reason code used as well as the old compensation rate and new compensation rate.

NHRP708 – Mass Increment Payment Exception Report

This report identifies employees who did not receive an automatic April 2013 Performance Advance, Promotion Recalculation or Increment Code Update. Included on the report is one of the following messages which identifies the reason the employee’s record was not updated:

  • NYS Position Has Both Equated Grade and NTE
  • Position and Job do not match
  • FIS Missing
  • FIS At or Below Current
  • FIS Below Hiring Rate
  • Increment Code Missing
  • Increment Code Invalid
  • Inc Code not in Anniv Dt range
  • Sal Below Hiring Rate
  • Sal At or Above Job Rate

Agency Actions – Beginning Pay Period 2

Beginning in Pay Period 2L, agencies may submit the appropriate transaction for the following employees who are eligible on the payment effective date but will not be processed automatically. Refer to the appropriate instructions described below.

  • Eligible employees who are in a composite position (identified by Increment Code 2222) on the payment effective date.
  • Eligible employees who are in a position which was previously downward reallocated (identified by Increment Code 0069) on the payment effective date.
  • Eligible employees with a Payroll Status of Leave With Pay and an Action/Reason code of Paid Leave of Absence/SKL (Sick Lv) on the payment effective date.
  • Eligible employees who are on a Paid or Unpaid Military Stipend Leave on the payment effective date.
  • Eligible employees who are Inactive or on a Leave of Absence not related to a Workers’ Compensation Leave on the payment effective date.
Increment Code 2222

Agencies must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code PAV (Perf Adv) or PMR (Prom Recal) effective 03/28/13 (Administration) or 04/04/13 (Institution). Information regarding the composite position must be included on the General Comments page.

Increment Code 0069

Agencies must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code PAV (Perf Adv) effective 03/28/13 (Administration) or 04/04/13 (Institution). The performance advance amount is based on the previous grade and the new salary rate cannot exceed the Job Rate of that grade. Information regarding the payment must be included on the General Comments page.

Paid Sick Leave

Employees with a Payroll Status of Leave With Pay and an Action/Reason code of Paid Leave of Absence/SKL (Sick Lv) on the payment effective date who completed one (1) year of service in their grade prior to the effective date of the Paid Sick Leave are eligible to receive the performance advance or promotion recalculation in April 2013. Agencies must submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code PAV (Perf Adv) or PMR (Prom Recal) effective 03/28/13 (Administration) or 04/04/13 (Institution).

Military Stipend Leave

Employees who are on a Paid or Unpaid Military Stipend Leave on the payment effective date may receive the performance advance or promotion recalculation when they return to the payroll.

If the effective date of the return from leave transaction is prior to Pay Period 1L, the agency must enter a Return from Leave on the Job Data page and submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code PAV (Perf Adv) or PMR (Prom Recal) effective 03/28/13 (Administration) or 04/04/13 (Institution).

If the effective date of the return from leave transaction is after Pay Period 1L, the agency must enter a Return from Leave on the Job Data page and submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code CSL (Cor Sal) and the effective date of the Return from Leave with the next available sequence number.

Inactive or Leave of Absence (not related to Workers’ Compensation Leave)

Employees who are Inactive or have a Payroll Status of Leave of Absence not related to a Workers’ Compensation Leave on the payment effective date and who completed one (1) year of service in their grade prior to becoming inactive or being placed on Leave of Absence are eligible to receive the performance advance or promotion recalculation when they return to the payroll.

If the effective date of the return from leave transaction is prior to Pay Period 1L, the agency must enter a Return from Leave on the Job Data page and submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code PAV (Perf Adv) or PMR (Prom Recal) or a Data Chg on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code CIC (Chg IncCd/or AnnDt/or FIS Sal) effective 03/28/13 (Administration) or 04/04/13 (Institution).

If the effective date of the return from leave transaction is after Pay Period 1L, the agency must enter a Return from Leave on the Job Data page and submit a Pay Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code CSL (Cor Sal) or a Data Chg on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason code CIC (Chg IncCd/or AnnDt/or FIS Sal) and the effective date of the Return from Leave with the next available sequence number.

Determining Adjusted Performance Advance Cycle

When processing a transaction that may affect performance advance eligibility, such as, but not limited to, a return from leave transaction, the agency must determine if the employee will remain on the performance advance cycle on record and if necessary, update the employee’s increment code and anniversary date.

Questions

Questions regarding this bulletin may be directed to the Payroll Earnings mailbox.