Purpose: 

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide processing instructions to agencies for entering the new CUNY CLT Assignment Differential payment.

Affected Employees: 

CUNY employees in the following titles are affected:

Background: 

The Memorandum of Agreement between the City University of New York (CUNY) and the PSC for the Term of 2023-2027, establishes an Assignment Differential for employees in the CLT title series who have completed one or more years at the top step of their salary schedule.

Effective Dates: 

The new CLT Assignment Differential payment is effective beginning 01/13/2025.

Eligibility Criteria:  

To be eligible for the new CLT Assignment Differential payment, employees must:

• Have completed one or more years of service at the top step of their salary schedule in one of the titles listed in the Affected Employees section; and
• Be nominated by their supervisor or self-nominate themselves for the CLT Assignment Differential; and
• Have their CLT Assignment Differential application approved by the President or the President’s designee.

OSC Actions:  

OSC has provided the following Additional Pay Earnings Code to process the new CLT Assignment Differential payment:

Agency Actions: 

To process the new CLT Assignment Differential for eligible employees, agencies must submit the following information on the Additional Pay page:

Tax Information:    

The CUNY CLT Assignment Differential payments are taxable income, will be included in the employees’ taxable gross, and are subject to all employment and income taxes.

Special Wage Payments for Individuals Who Filed for Retirement Social Security Benefits:

Per Internal Revenue Service Publication 9857, OSC will report to the Social Security Administration (SSA) all retro payments made to individuals who have filed for Social Security benefits.

Since PayServ does not include this information, OSC will mail a Request for Special Wage Payment Report to inactive individuals who are 62 or older in the calendar year and active employees with a New York Retiree Indicator of RET in Modify a Person who receive the retroactive payment. Recipients of this mailing will be asked to fill out and return this request to OSC for inclusion on the Special Wage Payment report to SSA. This report will be submitted to SSA after the close of the 2026 tax year.

It is important that agencies ensure that RET is selected from the New York Retiree Indicator dropdown menu for all rehired retirees to prevent erroneous auto-enrollment. Please see Payroll Bulletin No. 2419  for further details on the New York Retiree Indicator.

Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice: 

Earnings Code HAD and the amount paid will be displayed on the Payroll Register. The corresponding Earnings Description in the OSC Actions section and the amount paid will be displayed on the employee’s paycheck stub or direct deposit advice. 

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. 

Questions:

Questions regarding eligibility for the CUNY CLT Assignment Differential payment may be directed to the University Manager of Payroll Systems and Operations at CUNY Central Office.

Questions regarding processing transactions for the CUNY CLT Assignment Differential payment may be directed to the Payroll Earnings mailbox.

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