Purpose: 

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide agency instructions for processing the CUNY 2026 3.50% general salary increases for Classified Managerial Service employees.

Affected Employees: 

Employees in the following titles who meet the eligibility criteria are affected:

Background: 

On May 19, 2025, the CUNY Board of Trustees approved salary increases for employees in the Classified Managerial Service that include a 3.50% general salary increase for 2026.

Effective Dates: 

The 2026 general salary increases will be processed in Institution Pay Period 07C, paychecks dated 07/09/2026. The rate and effective date are as follows:

Eligibility Criteria:  

All employees meeting the eligibility criteria below on the effective date may be eligible for the general salary Increase:

•    Employees must be appointed to a CMS title (see Affected Employees) with an Employee Status of Active for at least one day as of 07/01/2026.

•    Employees must have an Employee Status of Active as of 6/24/2026 (the close of the payroll processing period just prior to the payment date).

•    Employees on authorized paid leave on 07/01/2026 will be eligible for the increase according to the established pay cycle.

•    Employees on authorized unpaid leave on 07/01/2026 will be eligible for the increase upon return to work.

•    Employees are entitled to all applicable increases for the duration of their period on Travia.

Note: CMS employees who have reached or exceeded the maximum salary range for their position will receive an increase, even if this results in a salary above the range.

Agency Actions:   

Reporting the Rate Increases

To process the general salary increase for eligible employees, the agency must submit the following:

• For all general salary increases, request a Pay Change using the Action/Reason code of PAY/SAC (Pay Rate Change/Mass Salary Increase) on the Job Action Requests page, using 07/01/2026, along with the new applicable rate.
• A separate Pay Change request must be submitted for each subsequent row that exists on the employee’s Job Data page using the Action/Reason code PAY/CSL (Pay Rate Change/Cor Sal) on the Job Action Requests page using the next available sequence number, regardless of status and provided the employee remains in an eligible position.

Tax Information:    

These funds 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.

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. These forms can be found here: Payroll Forms | Office of the New York State Comptroller

Questions:

Questions regarding eligibility for the 2026 3.50% General Salary Increases for CMS employees may be directed to the University Manager of Payroll Systems and Operations at CUNY Central Office.

Questions regarding processing transactions for the 2026 3.50% General Salary Increases for CMS employees 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.