State Agencies Bulletin No. 1296

Subject
2013-2015 Deficit Reduction Plan for PSNU Employees in Year-Round Lifeguard Titles Represented by the United University Professions (UUP)
Date Issued
January 15, 2014

Purpose

To inform agencies of new earnings codes and procedures for processing the 2013-2015 Year-Round Lifeguard Deficit Reduction Plan.

Affected Employees

Year-round employees (with a Pay Basis Code equal to ANN or HRY) of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; the Staten Island Developmental Disabilities Service Office or the Department of Environmental Conservation in the State University Professional Services Negotiating Unit (PSNU) – BU68 who meet the eligibility criteria.

Excludes hourly employees with an hourly rate less than $7.39.

Background

Pursuant to Section 7 of Part A of Chapter 491 of the Laws of 2011 and the Division of the Budget Bulletin B-1210 issued September 20, 2013, a plan has been established to reduce the compensation of any employee within the purview of the Agreement between the State of New York and the United University Professions.

Effective Dates

The second phase of the Year-Round Lifeguard Deficit Reduction Plan will commence Administration and Institution Pay Period 23L (State Fiscal Year 2013-2014) and will continue through Administration and Institution Pay Period 11L (State Fiscal Year 2014-2015).

Attachment A provides a breakdown of the 2013-2015 Year-Round Lifeguard Deficit Reduction Plan period by check date and includes the pay period number, pay period begin date and pay period end date for each pay type.

New Earnings Codes

OSC has created new earnings codes to process the 2013-2015 Year-Round Lifeguard Deficit Reduction Plan.

Additional Pay Earnings Code Description
D8D 13-15 68 DRP -1.923%
(Retro Code – R8D)
Time Entry Earnings Code Description
D9D 13-15 68 DRP Oth -1.923%

Automatic Set Up of the Additional Pay Record - OSC

In Administration and Institution Pay Period 23L, OSC will insert a row on the Additional Pay page for employees who meet ALL of the following criteria:

  • Employee is in a year-round position in Bargaining Unit 68 on the pay period end date.
  • Employee has a Payroll Status of Active, Leave With Pay or Leave of Absence on the pay period end date.
  • Employee was not in a position other than a year-round position in Bargaining Unit 68 with a Payroll Status of Active or Leave With Pay any time during the pay period.

Exception: The Additional Pay record will not be created automatically for employees in a composite position (identified by Increment Code 2222) since the system cannot determine if the hidden position is a year-round position in Bargaining Unit 68.

The inserted row on the Additional Pay page will be set up as follows:

Earnings Code: D8D
Effective Date: First day the employee is in a year-round position in Bargaining Unit 68 with a Payroll Status of Active or Leave with Pay in the above pay period; otherwise, first day the employee is in a year-round position in Bargaining Unit 68 with a Payroll Status of Leave of Absence in the above pay period.
Earnings: The field will be left blank; the system will calculate the D8D amount based on the eligible earnings.
End Date: Pay period end date for Administration or Institution Pay Period 11L (per Attachment A).

Manual Set Up of the Additional Pay Record - Agency

Employees Not Meeting the Automatic Set Up Criteria

The Additional Pay record will be created automatically for all employees in Bargaining Unit 68 with a Pay Basis Code equal to ANN and all employees in Bargaining Unit 68 with a Pay Basis Code equal to HRY who were identified by their agency as year-round. Therefore, no agency action is required.

Newly Eligible Employees

Agencies are responsible for creating the Additional Pay record for employees who are hired, rehired, concurrently hired or transferred into a year-round position in Bargaining Unit 68 with a Payroll Status of Active or Leave With Pay after Administration or Institution Pay Period 23L through Administration or Institution Pay Period 11L. Agencies must also create or restart the Additional Pay record if an employee returns from a Leave of Absence to a year-round position in Bargaining Unit 68 with a Payroll Status of Active or Leave With Pay during the 2013-2015 Year-Round Lifeguard Deficit Reduction Plan period.

The Additional Pay record should be set up as follows:

Earnings Code: D8D
Effective Date: Date of the hire, rehire, concurrent hire, transfer or return from leave transaction into a year-round position in Bargaining Unit 68 with a Payroll Status of Active or Leave With Pay within the 2013-2015 Year-Round Lifeguard Deficit Reduction Plan period.
Earnings: The field must be left blank; the system will calculate the amount based on the eligible earnings.
End Date: Pay period end date for Administration or Institution Pay Period 11L.

Note: An Additional Pay record using the 2013-2015 Year-Round Lifeguard Deficit Reduction Additional Pay Earnings Code listed above should only be created for an employee in a composite position (identified by Increment Code 2222) if each position making up the composite position is a year-round position in Bargaining Unit 68. Otherwise, the agency should submit the deficit reduction amount each pay period using the 2013-2015 Year-Round Lifeguard Deficit Reduction Time Entry Earnings Code (see Processing Adjustments section).

Calculating the Deficit Reduction Amount – D8D (Additional Pay)

Each pay period, the system will calculate the deficit reduction amount for employees with a D8D record that was active any time during the pay period being processed regardless of whether the employee was in a year-round position in Bargaining Unit 68. The system will total all monies for the following earnings codes where the earnings end date falls within the pay period dates being processed and multiply the result by -.01923.

Earnings Code Description
MSP Military Stipend Payment
RGH Regular Pay Hourly Employee
RGO Regular Pay Override
RGS Regular Pay Salary Employee
TSP Military Training Stipend

As with other Additional Pay Earnings Codes, it may be necessary to submit an adjustment in order to calculate the correct deficit reduction amount.

Employees No Longer Subject to the Year-Round Lifeguard Deficit Reduction Plan

If an employee transfers into a position where the bargaining unit is not 68 or into a summer seasonal position in Bargaining Unit 68, the agency must insert a row on the Additional Pay page for Earnings Code D8D and insert an End Date equal to the last date the employee is in the eligible position.

If the End Date must equal the original Effective Date or if a subsequent row(s) exists for Earnings Code D8D, the agency must submit a Data Change on the Job Action Requests page using the Reason Code COR (Cor History) and request that OSC enter the End Date or on the existing row or insert a new row.

If the End Date is retroactive and is other than the last day of a pay period, the employee is likely due a refund of a portion of the monies withheld in that pay period and all subsequent pay periods. Retroactive processing, however, will not pay back any monies taken for the pay period in which the End Date falls; therefore, the agency must submit a positive adjustment (see Processing Adjustments in Time Entry section). Retroactive processing will refund any monies taken in a subsequent pay period using the same earnings code.

Processing Adjustments in Time Entry

If an employee is in both a year-round position in Bargaining Unit 68 AND in a summer seasonal position in Bargaining Unit 68 or a position with a different bargaining unit during a pay period AND has a D8D record active any time during the same pay period, the system will calculate the deficit reduction amount on all eligible earnings where the earnings end date falls within the pay period dates being processed. It is the agency’s responsibility to determine the monies that should not have been included in the deficit reduction amount, multiply the amount by +.01923 and submit a positive adjustment using Earnings Code D9D.

In addition, the system will not include any monies paid using one of the eligible earnings codes listed above where the earnings end date is prior to the pay period begin date for the pay period being processed. It is the agency’s responsibility to determine those monies that should have been included in the deficit reduction amount, multiply the amount by -.01923 and submit a negative adjustment using Earnings Code D9D.

As mentioned above, an Additional Pay record using Earnings Code D8D should not be created for an employee in a composite position (identified by Increment Code 2222) if each position making up the composite position is not a year-round position in Bargaining Unit 68. Therefore, it is the agency’s responsibility to total the portion of monies paid each pay period for any of the eligible earnings codes listed above that are earned during the deficit reduction period in a year-round position in Bargaining Unit 68, multiply the total by -.01923 and submit a transaction using Earnings Code D9D.

A Time Entry transaction should be submitted as follows:

Earnings Begin Date: First earnings begin date within the deficit reduction period for the earnings codes included in this calculation for the pay period being processed.
Earnings End Date: Last earnings end date within the deficit reduction period for the earnings codes included in this calculation for the pay period being processed.
Earn Code: D9D
Amount: Total adjustment amount – can be negative or positive.

Control-D Report NPAY729

In order to assist agencies in identifying monies that should be included in the adjustment calculation, OSC created Control-D report NPAY729 (Earnings Requiring an Adjustment to the Deficit Reduction Calculation). This report identifies employees who have earnings in Paycheck Data for one or more of the earnings codes listed in the Calculating the Deficit Reduction Amount section provided:

  • The earnings end date is less than the pay period begin date associated with the check date on the report; and
  • The earnings end date falls within the deficit reduction period; and
  • The employee is in Bargaining Unit 68 with a Pay Basis Code equal to ANN and a Payroll Status of Active or Leave With Pay on the earnings end date for the specified earnings code.

NOTE: This report will not identify employees in a year-round position in Bargaining Unit 68 with a Pay Basis Code equal to HRY who are subject to the 2013-2015 Year-Round Lifeguard Deficit Reduction Plan. Agencies must ensure the correct deficit reduction monies are withheld for these employees.

The report is available the Thursday after the payroll period is confirmed.

The report is sorted by Employee Name and then by Earnings Begin Date and Earnings Code. Fields on the report include Emplid, Employee Record Number, Employee Name, Earnings Code, Earnings Begin Date, Earnings End Date, Hours, Earnings Amount and Addl DRP and Description.

Processing Deficit Reduction in Time Entry

Monies earned during the 2013-2015 Year-Round Lifeguard Deficit Reduction Period while in a year-round position in Bargaining Unit 68 using any of the earnings codes listed below are also subject to the deficit reduction but will not be calculated automatically.

Earnings Code Description
AMS Adjust Military Stipend
BAS Back Pay Administrative Settle
BJS Back Pay Judicial Settlement
BPA Back Pay Award
BPO Back Pay Court Order
BPS Back Pay Pre-Adjud Settle
EXT Extra Time
FAS Front Pay Admin Settlement
FJS Front Pay Judicial Settlement
FPA Front Pay Award
FPO Front Pay Court Order
FPS Front Pay Pre-Adjud Settle
S3G Step 3 Out-of-Title Grievance
WPS WC 60% Sup
WSP Award/Supp Program Supplement

Therefore, it is the agency’s responsibility to total monies paid each pay period for any of these earnings codes that are earned during the deficit reduction period while in a year-round position in Bargaining Unit 68, calculate the deficit reduction amount and submit a Time Entry transaction as follows:

Earnings Begin Date: First earnings begin date within the deficit reduction period for the earnings codes included in this calculation for the pay period being processed.
Earnings End Date: Last earnings end date within the deficit reduction period for the earnings codes included in this calculation for the pay period being processed.
Earn Code: D9D
Amount: Total the earnings for all of the earnings codes listed above earned during the deficit reduction period that are included in the pay period being processed and multiply by -.01923.

If the agency subsequently reduces the monies earned for any of the earnings codes listed above during the deficit reduction period, a corresponding Deficit Reduction Time Entry transaction should also be submitted to reduce the deficit reduction amount. The amount would be calculated by multiplying the adjustment to the earnings amount by +.01923.

Note: Monies earned using Earnings Code BAS, BJS, BPA, BPO, BPS, FAS, FJS, FPA, FPO, FPS or S3G, monies earned using one of the adjustment codes and monies paid retroactively or as the result of a correction, should be handled on a case by case basis depending on whether the monies were earned during the deficit reduction period.

Control-D Report NPAY726

In order to assist agencies in identifying monies that should be included in the Deficit Reduction Time Entry calculation, OSC created Control-D report NPAY726 (Earnings Requiring a Manual Deficit Reduction Calculation). This report identifies employees who have earnings in Paycheck Data for one or more of the earnings codes listed in the Processing Deficit Reduction in Time Entry section provided:

  • The earnings end date falls within the deficit reduction period; and
  • The employee is in Bargaining Unit 68 with a Pay Basis Code equal to ANN and a Payroll Status of Active or Leave With Pay on the earnings end date for the specified earnings code.

NOTE: This report will not identify employees in a year-round position in Bargaining Unit 68 with a Pay Basis Code equal to HRY who are subject to the 2013-2015 Year-Round Lifeguard Deficit Reduction Plan. Agencies must ensure the correct deficit reduction monies are withheld for these employees.

The report is available the Thursday after the payroll period is confirmed.

The report is sorted by Employee Name and then by Earnings Begin Date and Earnings Code. Fields on the report include Emplid, Employee Record Number, Employee Name, Earnings Code, Earnings Begin Date, Earnings End Date, Hours, Earnings Amount and Addl DRP and Description.

Earnings Not Subject to the Deficit Reduction

Monies earned during the deficit reduction period while in a year-round position in Bargaining Unit 68 in any of the following categories are not subject to the deficit reduction.

  • Bonus Pay
  • Extra Service
  • Fringe Benefits
  • Lost Time
  • Lump Sum Payments for Accruals
  • Overtime Pay
  • Over 40 Cash Out
  • Recall Pay
  • Standby Pay
  • Statutory Workers’ Compensation Benefits
  • Unpaid Leave

Summary of Agency Actions

Agencies are responsible for the following actions:

  • Create the D8D record for newly eligible employees after the initial pay period.
  • Create the D8D record for employees in a composite position where each position making up the composite position is a year-round position in Bargaining Unit 68.
  • Calculate and submit a D9D transaction for employees in a composite position where at least one position making up the composite position is not a year-round position in Bargaining Unit 68.
  • Calculate and submit a positive D9D transaction when monies earned in an ineligible position are included in the D8D calculation.
  • Calculate and submit a negative D9D transaction when eligible monies are paid outside the pay period being processed.
  • Calculate and submit a negative D9D transaction for eligible monies paid using those earnings codes in the Processing Deficit Reduction in Time Entry section.
  • Calculate and submit a positive D9D transaction when a reduction of the eligible monies included in the original D9D transaction occur.

Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice

Where appropriate, the following earnings codes and the associated amounts will be displayed on the payroll register. The earnings code description and the amount will be displayed on the employee’s paycheck stub and/or direct deposit advice.

Earnings Code Description
D8D 13-15 68 DRP -1.923%
R8D 13-15 68 Retro DRP -1.923%
D9D 13-15 68 DRP Oth -1.923%

Questions

Questions regarding the 2013-2015 Year-Round Lifeguard Deficit Reduction Plan should be directed to the applicable budget examiner at the Division of the Budget.

Questions regarding the granting of time as it relates to the 2013-2015 Year-Round Lifeguard Deficit Reduction Plan should be directed to the agency’s appointing authority.

Questions regarding the Payroll processing of the 2013-2015 Year-Round Lifeguard Deficit Reduction Plan should be directed to the Payroll Earnings mailbox.

Questions regarding the impact on taxes or deductions as it relates to the 2013-2015 Year-Round Lifeguard Deficit Reduction Plan should be directed to the Payroll Deductions mailbox.