Purpose: 

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide processing instructions to agencies for entering the new Referral Bonus payments for eligible employees at DOCCS.

Affected Employees: 

Employees at DOCCS (Agency 10xxx) in the Civil Service Employee Association (CSEA – BU02, BU03 and BU04), Public Employees Federation (PEF – BU05), Security Supervisors Unit (SSPU – BU61), Security Services Unit (SSU - BU01) as well as employees in a position designated as Management/Confidential (M/C – BU 06) are affected.

Background: 

Pursuant to all Memorandums of Agreement dated 07/09/2025 between DOCCS and the applicable bargaining units above, a $3,000.00 Referral Bonus, paid in two separate $1,500 installments, has been approved for certain employees in a position designated as one of the above bargaining units.

Effective Dates: 

The Referral Bonus is effective beginning 03/08/2025 and may be paid beginning in the Institution Pay Period 9 Lag checks dated 08/21/2025 and the Administration Pay Period 10 Lag checks dated 08/27/2025. 

Eligibility Criteria: 

Employees are eligible for the new Referral Bonus as follows:

• The new referred employee must not currently be employed at DOCCS.
• The new referred employee must become appointed to a Correction Officer, Correction Officer Spanish Language, Correction Officer Trainee or Correction Officer Trainee Spanish Language position as a result of the referral.
• The new referred employee must graduate from the Training Academy and complete on-the-job training for the referring employee to receive the first $1,500.00 Referral Bonus payment.
• The new referred employee must successfully complete the 52-week probationary period for the referring employee to be eligible for the second $1,500.00 Referral Bonus payment.
• The referring employee must be in a full-time annual salaried position designated as BU01, BU02, BU03, BU04, BU05, BU06, or BU61 at DOCCS with an employee status of A, L or P at the time the referred non-DOCCS employee begins and at the time of each installment. (Employees with an Employee Status of L will not be eligible until they return to the payroll)
• The following referring employees are prohibited from receiving a referral bonus:
  • All DOCCS Recruiters (including helpers and volunteers)
  • All DOCCS Employee Investigation Unit personnel; and
  • All DOCCS Employees whose salary is set by statute; Correction Law, Article 2, Section 19; and Executive Law Article 7, Section 169.

Note: Referring employees must not receive more than two installments ($3,000.00 total) per new employee they refer.

OSC Actions:

OSC has created the following Time Entry Earnings Code to process the Referral Bonus payment:

Agency Actions: 

To pay the new Referral Bonus payment to eligible employees, the following information must be submitted on the Time Entry page or the Time Entry Interface (NPAY502):

Please Note: Earnings Code RBN will automatically pay employees $1,500.00 per unit.

Retirement Information:

Monies paid using Earnings Code RBN are not included as salary for retirement purposes.

Tax Information: 

The Referral Bonus payment is supplemental taxable income, will be added to the employee’s taxable gross wages, and are subject to 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).

Payroll Register and Employee’s Paycheck/Advice: 

Earnings Code RBN 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 this bulletin may be directed to the Payroll Earnings mailbox.