Purpose:

The purpose of this bulletin is to inform agencies of OSC’s automatic processing of the April 2023 and April 2024 retroactive increases to Premium Overtime, Administrative Maintenance Pay, and Command Payment and to provide agencies instructions for submitting payments not processed automatically.

Affected Employees:

All employees in the Agency Police Services Unit (BU31) represented by PBANYS who meet the eligibility criteria are affected.

Background:

Chapter 174 of the Laws of 2024, which implemented the 2023-2026 Agreement between the State of New York and PBANYS, provides for April 2023 and April 2024 salary increase and increases to certain additional payments. Since Premium Overtime, Administrative Maintenance Pay, and Command Payment are calculated based on employees’ applicable annual earnings, these payments must be increased when there is an increase to employees’ annual earnings. 

Effective Dates:

The retroactive increases to Premium Overtime, Administrative Maintenance Pay, and Command Payment will be processed using the following effective dates and check dates:

Eligibility Criteria:

Employees in Bargaining Unit 31 who received an April 2023 or April 2024 increase to annual earnings and have a Payroll Status of Active, Leave With Pay or Leave of Absence on or after the applicable Effective Dates provided in the Effective Dates section who are receiving Premium Overtime, Administrative Maintenance Pay, or Command Payment are eligible for an increase to their existing payment.

OSC Actions:

After processing the retroactive annual earnings increases for APSU employees, OSC will automatically insert a row for eligible employees on the Additional Pay page for each effective date the employee is eligible if a row does not already exist with the respective effective date and update the Annual Addl Earnings amount with the applicable rate as described below. If a row with an effective date equal to the effective date of an applicable increase already exists, or there is a row(s) with an effective date greater than the respective effective date, the Annual Addl Earnings amount will be updated on the existing row with the applicable rate as described below provided the employee remains eligible.

Command Pay (Earnings Code COM)

Premium Overtime (Earnings Code PRO)

Automatic Retroactive Processing

OSC will automatically calculate retroactive adjustments for Additional Pay Earnings Codes AMP, COM and PRO and for Time Entry earnings that are calculated by the system and include Premium Overtime (Earnings Code PRO), Administrative Maintenance Pay (Earnings Code AMP), or Command Payment (Earnings Code COM) such as OT for Annual 2080 (Earnings Code OCS) and Holiday Pay (Earnings Code HPA). 

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 Employee 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:

To pay the April 2023 and 2024 retroactive increases to eligible employees not processed automatically, the agency must submit the following information on the Additional Pay page using the appropriate Earnings Code:

Command Pay (Earnings Code COM)

Premium Overtime (Earnings Code PRO)

Administrative Maintenance Pay (Earnings Code AMP)

On Friday, 08/02/2024, OSC will provide agencies with a list of employees who appear eligible for an Administrative Maintenance Pay (Earnings Code AMP) retroactive increase. Agencies must review the list to ensure all eligible employees and applicable rows are included and that the OSC provided rates are correct. Agencies must provide feedback to OSC by Friday, 08/02/2024. OSC will then insert new rows or update existing rows to reflect the appropriate payment amounts.

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 Pay Period 10L, agencies must report the adjustment amount for earnings codes such as OT Override (Earnings Code 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.
• For employees who had a change reported on the Job Data page since the effective date of the payment and the action resulted in an overpayment of earnings, the automatic negative retroactive adjustment may not have been processed because the overpayment was either not recoverable or was recovered using an overpayment earnings code or an AC-230. In this case, the negative retroactive adjustment may be re-generated when the payment is processed. OSC will turn off (not process) the automatic negative adjustment for these employees since in most cases these overpayments were either not recoverable or recovered using another method.

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 OTT), 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 the Earnings Code AJR, ARC or ARO:

Control-D Reports Available After Processing:

The following Control-D report will be available after processing of the automatic increases:

NHRP703 - Mass Salary Additional Pay Report

This report identifies all employees who received an automatic April 2023 or April 2024 retroactive increase for one or more of the Earnings Codes provided in the Eligibility Criteria section. Fields on this report include EmplID, Employee Record Number, Employee Name, Earn Code, Grade, Salary Plan, Bargaining Unit, and Additional Pay Amount.

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:

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 will be 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 military information may be directed to the Military Stipend mailbox.

Questions regarding general deductions may be directed to the Payroll Deduction mailbox. 

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