Promotions are the movement from a lower grade to a higher graded position. The promotion salary is calculated by increasing the lower graded salary by applying a percentage determined by the range of grades the employee is moving or assigning the minimum Hiring Rate of the new grade, whichever is greater.

• The increase is 1 ½% for the promotion itself and 1 1/2 % for each grade. Note: Management/Confidential (MC) grades 661 (M1) and higher represent a combination of two grades. For example, an M/C grade 661 represents grades 24/25. Employees who are promoted into or within the M/grades are given 3% for each M/grade in addition to the 1 ½% increase for the promotion itself  
  • When applying the above promotional percentages always round up to the nearest whole dollar for annual employees and nearest cent for hourly employees.
  • Employees may go over Job Rate of the higher grade when applying promotional percentages.
• The above applies to employees in classified titles in Executive agencies who are either Union represented or designated Management/Confidential.

Examples:

1: An employee promoting from a grade 08 to a grade 09 is due a 3% promotion. 

2: An employee promoting from a grade 18 to a grade 23 is due a 9% promotion. 

3: An employee promoting from a grade 23 to a grade 662 (M2) is due a 7.5% promotion.

Other groups, such as employees in City University of New York (CUNY), Unified Court System (UCS), NYS Troopers, and the Legislature use other methods that will not be covered in this specific section.

Key Concepts to Remember:

Traineeships: Employees are not promoted into traineeships, rather, they are placed into the traineeships and assigned the minimum trainee rate at the appropriate level or may retain their current salary provided the prior grade is not higher than the target grade of the traineeship. Refer to the Traineeship section of this manual and the Civil Service Traineeship memorandum for additional guidance.

Longevity Payments: Longevity Lump Sum (LLS) or Longevity Service (LGS) payments received, or Security longevity held may impact the promotion salary depending on the employee’s bargaining unit and that of the new grade.

Higher Graded Service: In all cases an employee who previously held a higher grade must have their salary history reviewed in order to determine if reinstatement and salary reconstruction based on the former higher graded service will result in a higher salary than the current promotion calculation. Reconstruction should include credit for the higher grade, any Performance Advances earned and not paid, and any raises missed. This salary should be compared to the current resultant promotion calculation. Employees are entitled to whichever calculation is greater. 

Statute: Civil Service Law Section 131.2, 131.6 provides the statutory requirements for determining and adjusting the salaries of New York State employees in the Classified Service per Civil Service Law Section 130. It is an important reference when processing salary transactions involving appointments, promotions, transfers, reinstatements, demotions, and salary advancements. 

Security (BU 01, 21, 31, 61, & 91)

• If no longevity is held, promote using the required percentage. 
• If the employee is holding longevity and the promotion is within the security bargaining units, subtract the value of the longevity of the current grade and security bargaining unit, promote using the percentage, then add the corresponding value of longevity of the new grade and security bargaining unit; a 10 year longevity in the old grade will now entitle the employee to a 10 year longevity in the new grade.
  • If the promotion is within security bargaining units, the Anniversary Date, which represents the total security service, remains the same.
• The Increment Code will vary due to the date of the promotion, status of base salary (below, at, or above Job Rate), and longevity held. The Increment Code represents both increment eligibility and longevity status as indicated by the third and fourth digit. The third digit represents both the employee’s increment eligibility and longevity status. The last digit represents the projected fiscal year the next longevity payment is due. 
  • Example: For employees with Increment Code 0046, the 4 means the employee is below Job Rate and holding one longevity payment. The 6 indicates the next longevity payment due in the fiscal year ending in 6.
• If the promotion is to a non-security bargaining unit, do not remove the value of the longevity held and promote using the promotion percentage applied to the total combined prior salary.
  • If the promotion is to a non-security bargaining unit, the Anniversary Date and Increment Code is based on the date of promotion. 
• If the employee is below Job Rate in the prior grade and upon promotion will not have 100 work days in the new grade, a promote recalculation in the next Performance Advance rating cycle may be due. This will require a FIS salary (Fixed Incremental Salary) and corresponding FIS Increment Code.
  • If the employee’s base salary is less than the Job Rate of lower grade and would be due a Performance Advance in the lower grade before a Performance Advance in the new grade is payable, add the value of the increment to the current grade, not to exceed Job Rate of the current grade, and promote to the new grade. If promotion is within security bargaining units, add the longevity of the new grade if applicable. The resulting salary must be entered into the FIS salary field and will be paid in the next rating cycle. 
  • For promotions within security bargaining units the Increment Code is 0008.
  • For promotions to non-security bargaining units the Increment Code is 0004.
• Refer to the Performance Advance section for service requirements associated with Performance Advance eligibility.

PS&T (BU 05)

• If the employee has not earned an LLS or LGS, promote using the required percentage. 
• If the employee received an LLS or LGS within 12 months prior to the promotion, portability is to be applied by adding the amount of the LLS or LGS to the current salary and promote using the required percentage. The LLS or LGS is only added to the base salary for one promotion per 12-month cycle. The LLS or LGS payment amounts used in the promotion calculation may be prorated due to part-time employment.
  • LLS or LGS portability is dependent upon the bargaining unit the employee is moving from. Therefore, if the employee is moving from PEF to an ineligible bargaining unit, such as a Security unit, or an ineligible grade/position; the LLS or LGS would be applied to the promotion calculation and end dated effective the day before the date of movement.
    • The agency must enter a row on the Additional Pay page with the new End Date effective the last date the employee was eligible. All information fields from the previous row will remain the same with the exception of the end date, which should be the employee’s last day in the eligible position.
• If movement is between bargaining units with a different raise percentage in the fiscal year of movement, refer to Payroll Bulletin No. 702, Recalculation of Salary When There Is Movement Between Bargaining Units with Differing Raises
• Compare the resulting salary to the Hiring Rate of the grade promoting to. The employee is entitled to whichever salary is higher at the time of appointment. 
• Compare final salary to Job Rate to determine appropriate Increment Code.
• The Anniversary Date will be the date of the promotion, and the Increment Code will reflect increment eligibility (if not at Job Rate) in the new grade, either April or October. 
  • Exception: Teachers with Comp Rate Codes of CAL or 21P are paid increments in September. Eligibility is based on the number of workdays completed in an academic year as opposed to the employee’s Anniversary Date. 

End dating LLS or LGS upon promotion for PS&T Represented Employees

• Receiving LGS and remains LGS eligible in new position – no action needed.
• Receiving LGS and becomes LGS ineligible in new position – LGS must be ended.
• Receiving LLS and falls below Job Rate in new position – LLS must be ended.
• Receiving LLS and is at or above Job Rate in new position – no action needed.

Promotional Recalculation

• If below Job Rate and due a Performance Advance in lower grade – the employee may be due a promotional recalculation. This is also called a FIS (Fixed Increment Salary)
  • FIS calculation for employees who have not received a LGS in the past 12 months – First apply the Job Rate Performance Advance amount (the larger amount) of the lower grade to the lower graded salary. If this brings the salary to Job Rate, exceeds Job Rate, or is within $5 of Job Rate then cap the salary at Job Rate and apply the promotion percentage.
  • When applying a Performance Advance, the lower graded salary can never exceed Job Rate.
  • If the Job Rate Performance Advance amount does not bring the lower graded salary to Job Rate, add the smaller Performance Advance of the lower grade to the lower graded salary, then apply the promotion percentage.
  • FIS calculation for employees who have received a LGS in the past 12 months – Follow above steps to determine the appropriate Performance Advance amount to apply, add the LGS and then apply the promotion percentage. Note: the lower graded salary can go over Job Rate on application of LGS prior to applying the promotion percentage.
  • The Increment Code is 0004 or 1004 depending on the employee’s payment cycle of the lower grade.
• Refer to the Performance Advance section for service requirements associated with Performance Advance eligibility.

CSEA (BU 02, 03, 04, 47 & 97)

• CSEA portability took effect 4/1/2020. Prior to 4/1/2020, there was no portability, therefore for all promotions, promote based on current base salary only using the required percentage.
• Prior to 4/1/2020, there was no portability. The promotion is based on current base salary only using the appropriate promotion percentage.
• Effective on or after 4/1/2020, if the employee received a Longevity Lump Sum payment (LLS) within 12 months prior to the promotion, portability is to be applied by adding the amount of the LLS to the current salary and promote using the appropriate percentage. 
• The LLS is only added to the base salary for one promotion per 12-month cycle based on the effective date of the longevity paid.
• The LLS payment amounts used in the promotion calculation are prorated for part-time employment. 
• The portability methodology as described above must also be applied to the Longevity Service Payment (LGS) which was implemented April 1, 2025.
• LLS or LGS portability is dependent upon the bargaining unit the employee is moving from. Therefore, if the employee is moving from CSEA to an ineligible bargaining unit, such as a Security unit, or an ineligible grade/position; the LLS or LGS would be applied to the promotion calculation and end dated effective the day before the date of movement. 
  • The agency must enter a row on the Additional Pay page with the new End Date effective the last date the employee was eligible. All information fields from the previous row will remain the same with the exception of the end date, which should be the employee’s last day in the eligible position.
• If movement is between bargaining units with a different raise percentage in the fiscal year of movement, refer to Payroll Bulletin No. 702, Recalculation of Salary When There Is Movement Between Bargaining Units with Differing Raises.
• Compare the resulting salary to the Hiring Rate of the grade promoting to. The employee is entitled to whichever salary is higher at the time of appointment. 
• Compare final salary to Job Rate to determine appropriate Increment Code.
• The Anniversary Date will be the date of the promotion and the Increment Code will reflect increment eligibility (if not at Job Rate) in the new grade, either April or October pay cycle.

End dating LLS or LGS upon promotion for CSEA Represented Employees

• See steps above for end dating LLS or LGS upon promotion for PS&T represented employees.

Promotional Recalculation

• If the employee is below Job Rate and due a Performance Advance in the lower grade, the employee may be due a promotional recalculation. This is also called a FIS (Fixed Increment Salary)
  • FIS calculation for employees who have not received a LGS in the past 12 months – First add the Performance Advance amount of the lower grade to the lower graded salary. If this brings the salary to Job Rate, exceeds Job Rate, or is within $5 of Job Rate, then cap the salary at Job Rate and apply the promotion percentage.
  • When applying a Performance Advance, the lower graded salary can never exceed Job Rate.
  • FIS calculation for employees who have received a LGS in the past 12 months – Follow above steps to determine the appropriate Performance Advance amount to apply, add the LGS payment amount, and then apply the promotion percentage. Note: the lower graded salary can go over Job Rate on application of LGS prior to applying the promotion percentage.
  • The Increment Code is 0004 or 1004 depending on the employee’s payment cycle of the lower grade.
• Refer to the Performance Advance section for service requirements associated with Performance Advance eligibility.

MAN/CON (BU 06, 46, 66, 79 & 96)

• There is no portability of the LLS or LGS for grades 603-617, therefore for all promotions, promote based on current base salary only using the required percentage.
• For employees in grades 661-667 there is a 3% increase for each M grade in addition to the 1 ½% increase for the promotion itself.
• If movement is between bargaining units with a different raise percentage in the fiscal year of movement, refer to PB#702.
• Compare the resulting salary to the Hiring Rate of the grade promoting to. The employee is entitled to whichever salary is higher at the time of appointment. 
• Compare final salary to Job Rate to determine appropriate Increment Code.
• The Anniversary Date is not tracked and maintained for Man/Con employees. The Increment Code will reflect increment eligibility for the following April in the new grade.
• If the promotion salary is over the Job Rate of the new grade, the employee retains Job Rate credit from the prior grade.
• If the employee had received an LLS or LGS payment in the prior grade and the promotion salary falls under the Job Rate of the new grade or the employee moves to an ineligible position, the LLS or LGS must be ended.
  • The agency must enter a row on the Additional Pay page with the new End Date effective the last date the employee was eligible. All information fields from the previous row will remain the same with the exception of the end date, which should be the employee’s last day in the eligible position.
• If the employee is below Job Rate in the prior grade and upon promotion will not have 13 complete pay periods in the new grade, a promote recalculation in the next Performance Advance rating cycle may be due. This will require a FIS salary (Fixed Incremental Salary) and corresponding FIS Increment Code.
  • April cycle in lower grade- If the employee’s salary is not at the Job Rate of current grade and would be due a Performance Advance in the lower grade before a Performance Advance in the new grade is payable, add the value of the increment (Performance Advance amount) to the lower grade salary, not to exceed Job Rate, and promote to the new grade. This salary is entered into the FIS salary field and will be paid in the next processing cycle. The Increment Code is 0004.
  • October cycle in lower grade - The promotion recalculation must be manually processed by the agency for an employee who was on the October Performance Advance cycle in their prior grade. PayServ will not process payments to Management Confidential employees on the October cycle. The agency should enter $10 in the FIS field to allow the employee to be identified by query.

Refer to the Performance Advance section for service requirements associated with Performance Advance eligibility.