This Bulletin Supersedes Payroll Bulletin No. 2196
Purpose:
The purpose of this bulletin is to inform agencies of the new temporary compensation payment, OSC’s automatic processing of the payment and to provide processing instructions for entering the payment and adjusting existing payments as necessary.
Affected Employees:
Employees in the Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Unit (PS&T - BU05) who meet the eligibility criteria are affected.
Background:
Per the PS&T Unit Increased Hiring Rate side letter contained in the 2023-2026 Agreement between the State of New York and PEF and Chapter 190 of the Laws of 2023, eligible employees in PEF (BU05) who did not receive an increased hiring rate (Per Civil Service Law 130.4) in an eligible title shall receive $1,000 annually split into biweekly payments until the employee’s annual salary reaches Job Rate. The combination of this temporary compensation amount and the employee’s annual salary must not exceed Job Rate. In these instances, the temporary compensation amount must be reduced.
The new temporary compensation payment is pensionable, subject to across-the-board increases, and must be included in the calculation of overtime and in the calculation of a promotional salary.
Effective Dates:
The temporary compensation payments may begin on the following effective dates or the date the employee becomes eligible if after these effective dates:
| Pay Cycle/PP Type | Effective Date | Check Date |
|---|---|---|
| Administration 20 Lag | 08/03/2023 | 01/17/2024 |
| Institution 20 Lag | 08/10/2023 | 01/25/2024 |
Eligibility Criteria:
Employees working in a PEF (BU05) title with an approved IHR (Per Civil Service Law 130.4) who meet the following criteria are eligible for the temporary compensation payment:
- Employees must have an Employee Status of Active, Leave With Pay or Leave of Absence on or after the respective effective dates listed above.
- Employees must not have received benefit of an IHR (Per Civil Service Law 130.4) in an eligible title from the effective date of the increased hiring rate forward.
- Employees’ base salary must be less than Job Rate of their grade to receive the temporary compensation payment.
Please note: The combination of an employees’ base salary and annual temporary compensation payment must not exceed Job Rate of the employees’ grade. If this combination does exceed Job Rate, employees may be entitled to a reduced temporary compensation payment. In this situation, the temporary compensation payment amount must be reduced so the combination of the employees’ full base salary and the temporary compensation annual payment amount equals the Job Rate of the employees’ grade.
Exceptions
Employees in the following situations are not eligible for the Temporary Compensation Payment:
- Employees who transfer from an ineligible title to an eligible title after the increased hiring rate (IHR) effective date of that title are not eligible for the temporary compensation payment.
- Employees in a trainee title associated with an eligible title on or after that title’s increased hiring rate effective date are not eligible to receive the temporary compensation payment upon advancement to the full title or a transfer to a new eligible title.
OSC Actions:
OSC has created the following Earnings Codes to process the temporary compensation payment:
| New Earnings Code | Description |
|---|---|
| IHP | Temporary Compensation IHR |
| AHP | ADJ Temp Compensation IHR |
| RIH | Retro Temp Compensation IHR |
OSC identified employees who occupied an eligible title from the effective date of the increased hiring rate of that title through Administration and Institution Pay Periods 20L. Using this population, a lookback was conducted to determine if employees met the eligibility criteria. If the eligibility criteria was met, the appropriate payment amount was calculated.
In Administration and Institution Pay Periods 20L, the Additional Pay records of eligible employees were updated as follows:
| Earnings Code: | IHP |
|---|---|
| Effective Date: | Effective Date in chart above, or date employee became eligible |
| OT Eff Date: | Same as Effective Date |
| Annual Addl Earnings: | $1,000 or reduced amount if applicable based on the information contained in the Eligibility section above |
| End Date: | If applicable, date prior to movement to an ineligible position, date prior to employee’s salary reaching job rate, date prior to employee receiving benefit of an increased hiring rate in a new position or date prior to an employee being placed on leave of absence or becoming inactive. |
OSC inserted any necessary subsequent rows for the initial population.
Recalculation of Salaries for Employees who were Promoted
Employees who are receiving a Temporary Compensation IHR (Earnings Code IHP) payment and are subsequently promoted after the effective date of the IHP are eligible for the IHP amount to be included in the calculation of their promotional salary (Please refer to the “Calculating the Promotional Salaries of Employees Receiving the Temporary Compensation IHR Payment (IHP Portability)” section). OSC will recalculate the promotional salaries of eligible employees using the newly inserted IHP rows and will update the employee’s salary in PayServ, as appropriate.
Automatic Retroactive Processing
OSC will automatically calculate retroactive adjustments for Time Entry earnings that are calculated by the system that must include Temporary Compensation IHR (Earnings Code IHP) in the payment calculation such as OT for Annual 2080 (Earnings Code OCS).
If an employee is eligible for a retroactive increase and has been paid by multiple agencies in the same Employee Record Number since the effective date of the increase, all retroactive adjustments will be paid in the most current agency within that record number. If an employee has been paid in multiple record numbers, each record number will be evaluated separately, and retroactive payments will be processed in the record number in which the increase occurred.
Agency Actions:
Beginning in Administration and Institution Pay Period 21L, agencies will be responsible for submitting new Temporary Compensation IHR payments into the Additional Pay page for employees who become eligible as a result of the following:
- Employees who were inactive or on an unpaid leave of absence from the effective date of the Temporary Compensation IHR payment through the pay period end date of Administration or Institution Pay Period 20L may be eligible if they subsequently return to a paid status and meet all eligibility criteria above.
- Employees whose salary equals or exceeds job rate may become eligible if they subsequently receive a salary that is less than job rate as a result of a position transfer to another eligible position or reallocation of their current position.
- Employees working in a PEF (BU05) title in which a new IHR (Per Civil Service Law 130.4) is approved may be eligible if they meet all eligibility criteria above.
In addition, agencies are responsible for entering new Temporary Compensation IHR payment rows into the Additional Pay page to adjust, restart or end date existing payments. These adjustments may be needed as a result of the following:
- Employees who receive salary changes that impact the amount of the Temporary Compensation IHR they are eligible to receive must have their Temporary Compensation IHR payment amount adjusted.
- Employees whose Temporary Compensation IHR record is ended as a result of being placed on an unpaid leave of absence must have their Temporary Compensation IHR restarted upon return from leave.
- Employees who move to an ineligible position must have their Temporary Compensation IHR ended.
Please note: OSC will systematically adjust existing Temporary Compensation IHR amounts for impacted employees when systematic raises or systematic performance advances are processed.
To enter new or adjust existing Temporary Compensation IHR payments, agencies must enter the following information of the Additional Pay page:
| Earnings Code: | IHP |
|---|---|
| Effective Date: | Effective Date in chart above, or date employee becomes eligible or the payment amount must be adjusted. |
| OT Eff Date: | Same as Effective Date |
| Annual Addl Earnings: | $1,000 or reduced amount if applicable based on the information contained in the Eligibility section above |
| End Date: | If applicable, date prior to movement to an ineligible position, date prior to employee’s salary reaching job rate, date prior to employee receiving benefit of an increased hiring rate in a new position or date prior to an employee being placed on leave of absence or becoming inactive. |
Calculating the Promotional Salaries of Employees Receiving the Temporary Compensation IHR Payment (IHP Portability)
For employees receiving the Temporary Compensation IHR payment at the time of promotion, the payment is included in the calculation of the promotional salary.
In addition, a promotion recalculation or FIS salary (Fixed Incremental Salary) must be calculated for those due a performance advance in the prior lower grade before a performance advance in the new grade is payable. The IHP payment may be included in the calculation of the FIS, as noted below.
To calculate an employee's promotional salary, the agency must:
- Add the IHP Annual Addl Earnings amount the employee is receiving in their grade prior to promotion to the employee's current salary (not to exceed job rate of that grade). The result is the employee's base pay.
- Apply the appropriate percentage increase for the promotion to the base pay determined above and round up to the next dollar.
- Compare the resulting salary to the Hiring Rate (or Increased Hiring Rate, if applicable) of the new grade to determine the higher salary.
- The salary upon promotion will be the greater salary.
To calculate an employee's FIS salary, the agency must:
- Add the performance advance amount of the lower grade (using the salary schedule in effect) to the employee's current salary (not to exceed job rate of that grade).
- If the resulting salary is below job rate of the lower grade, add the IHP Annual Addl Earnings amount the employee is receiving in their grade prior to promotion to the salary determined above (full or partial IHP amount not to exceed job rate of that grade). The result is the employee's base pay.
- If the addition of the performance advance resulted in job rate, the employee is not eligible for the IHP amount to be included in the promotion recalculation and the employee's base pay is job rate.
- Apply the appropriate percentage increase for the promotion to the base pay determined above and round up to the next dollar.
- Compare the resulting salary to the Hiring Rate (or Increased Hiring Rate, if applicable) of the new grade to determine the higher salary.
- If the FIS salary is less than Hiring Rate (or Increased Hiring Rate, if applicable) of the new grade, no FIS salary is due.
Agency Actions – Retroactive Processing:
Reporting Retroactive Adjustments
Time Entry earnings codes that are submitted with an amount will not be adjusted automatically. Therefore, beginning in Administration or Institution Pay Period 21L, the agency must report the adjustment amount for earnings codes such as OT Override (OTO).
Correcting an Automatic Retroactive Adjustment
When certain conditions exist in an employee’s record, the automatic retroactive adjustment may be incorrect. Therefore, the agency is responsible for identifying employees who meet the following conditions and, if necessary, submitting the necessary adjustment:
- If an employee has a check returned or exchanged on an AC-230 for dates on or after the effective date of the payment, the payroll system does not consider the AC-230 when calculating the automatic retroactive adjustment.
- Adjustments for earnings that are calculated automatically, such as OT for Annual 2080 (Earnings Code OCS), will be calculated incorrectly if the dates previously reported as a single entry on the Time Entry page overlap the effective date of the payment. The system will calculate an adjustment for all earnings reported in a single entry based on the salary in effect on the Earnings End Date.
If an overpayment of earnings is identified after the automatic payment is processed but before the paycheck is received by the employee, the employee must be notified of the overpayment and the adjustment that will be reported in a subsequent pay period.
Submitting an Adjustment
When an adjustment is needed for COVID-19 related overtime such as Covid-19 OT Override (Earnings Code CVO), Earnings Code ARC (Adjust Retro Raise for C19 OT) must be used to process the adjustment. When an adjustment is needed for non-COVID-19 related overtime or recall such as OT Override (Earnings Code OTO), Earnings Code ARO (Adj Retro Raise for OT and RCL) must be used to process the adjustment. Please refer to Payroll Bulletin 1893 – Reporting Adjustments to Overtime for more information. Agencies must continue to use Earnings Code AJR (Adjust Raise) for all other override Time Entry Earnings Codes requiring a manual adjustment as a result of a retro salary increase.
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 Earnings Code AJR, ARC, 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 |
PS Query Available After Processing:
The following PS Query is available for agency use and identifies all employees who have a Temporary Compensation IHR (Earning Code IHP) in their Additional Pay record:
Q92_IHP
The query identifies the following information:
- Dept ID: Employee’s current Department on their Job Data Record
- ID: Employee’s Identification Number
- Empl Record: Employee’s record number
- Earn Code: IHP
- Eff Date: Effective Date of the IHP
- Earn End Dt: End of IHP, if applicable
- Addl Seq #: Sequence number of the IHP
- NY Annual: Annual payment amount of IHP
- Oth Py: Biweekly payment amount of IHP
When running the query, agencies will be prompted to enter Department ID.
General Deductions:
All general deductions for employees whose Payroll Status is Terminated, Retired, or Deceased will be automatically canceled by OSC with the exception of percentage-based dues and the following:
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| 404 | SUNY 403(b) |
| 406 | Strike/Discip Fine |
| 410 | Health Care Spending Account |
| 416 | Deferred Comp |
| 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 |
| 475 | CSEA Hourly Dues |
| 500 | Medicare Deficiency |
| 501 | Social Security Deficiency |
| 502 | NYS SS/Medicare Deficiency |
| 603 | TIAA Before Tax Arrears |
| 673 | SUNY ORP Before Tax Arrears |
| 674 | SUNY Suspense BTax Arrears |
| 682 | VDC Before Tax Arrears |
| 685 | VDC Suspense Before Tax Arrear |
| 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 (Earnings Codes AJR, ARC, and ARO) and retroactive payments (Earnings Code 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 (1.95975% 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 2024 tax year.
It is important that agencies ensure the New York Retiree Indicator box is checked for rehired retirees. Please see Payroll Bulletin No. 1728 – New York Retiree Indicator for further details on the New York Retiree Indicator box.
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 submitted as a stop payment request with a reason of Exchange in PayServ. The Report of Check Exchange (AC 1476-P), Next of Kin Affidavit (AC 934-P) and original death certificate should be submitted to the Payroll Reversal and Exchange mailbox at the same time as the stop payment request. 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.
Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice:
All retroactive adjustments will be displayed on the Payroll Register using the appropriate Earnings Code and the amount paid and will be displayed on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice using the appropriate Earnings Description and the amount paid unless the number of earnings codes exceeds 13. Agencies should utilize Locked Query LQ_PCD_PAYCHECK_EARNINGS_BY_ID to identify a complete list of regular earnings and retroactive adjustments if there are more than 13 earnings codes.
Questions:
Questions regarding this bulletin may be directed to the Payroll Earnings mailbox.
Questions regarding deductions may be directed to the Payroll Deduction mailbox.
Questions regarding taxes may be directed to the Tax and Compliance mailbox.