Purpose:

The purpose of this bulletin is to inform agencies of OSC’s automatic processing of the July 2025 Increase to Location Pay and Location Mid-Hudson Pay and provide instructions for payments not processed automatically.

Affected Employees:

Employees in PSNU – BU08 positions who meet the eligibility criteria are affected.

Background:

Chapter 189 of the Laws of 2023, which implemented the 2022-2026 Agreement between the State of New York and UUP, provides for a July 2025 increase in Location Pay and Location Mid-Hudson Pay.

Effective Dates:

The increase to Location Pay and Location Mid-Hudson Pay will be paid with an effective date of 07/03/2025 in the Administration check date of 07/30/2025.

Eligibility Criteria:

Employees in a BU08 position who received Location Pay (Earnings Code LOC) or Location Mid-Hudson (Earnings Code LMH) Pay on or after 07/03/2025 are entitled to the increase.

Earnings Codes and Payment Amounts

Earnings Code LOC – NYC (Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens and Richmond counties) and Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland, Westchester counties

Earnings Code LMH – Orange, Putnam, Dutchess counties

OSC Actions:

Location Pay (Earnings Code LOC) and Location Mid-Hudson (Earnings Code LMH) Pay

OSC will automatically insert a row on the Additional Pay page to process the July 2025 increase for all employees in a BU08 position receiving Location Pay or Location Mid-Hudson Pay at the current amount as of 07/03/2025 provided the employee has a Payroll Status of Active, Leave With Pay, or Leave of Absence (only if the Action/Reason code is Leave of Absence/WDL (WC Dis Lv), Leave of Absence/WPS (WC 60% SUP), or Long Term Disability/WCL (Worker’s Comp IPP).

If a row already exists for Earnings Code LOC or Earnings Code LMH at the current amount with an effective date of 07/03/2025, OSC will update the Annual Addl Earnings field regardless of the employee’s Payroll Status. In addition, OSC will automatically update the Annual Addl Earnings field on any eligible row with an effective date greater than 07/03/2025 regardless of the employee’s Payroll Status.

Agency Actions:

The agency must submit the following information on the Additional Pay page to pay the July 2025 Location Pay and Location Mid-Hudson Pay increase to eligible employees who are not processed automatically by OSC (see OSC Actions section for LOA Reason codes processed automatically) who subsequently return to the payroll in an eligible position after the automatic processing.

Tax Information:

The bi-weekly Location Pay (Earnings Code LOC) and Location Mid-Hudson Pay (Earnings Code LMH) payments are taxable income, will be included in the employee’s taxable gross, and are subject to all employment and income taxes.

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.

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