Reallocations are the change in grade either upward or downward of an entire job title. This process is authorized by the NYS Department of Civil Service, with the approval of the Director of the Division of the Budget.
Civil Service Law Section 132.3

Salaries of incumbents of the title at the time of reallocation are entitled to special handling. Employees who have a change in grade resulting from reallocation of their positions receive credit for service in the incumbent* grade toward eligibility for performance advances in the reallocated grade. Therefore, the anniversary date and payment cycle of the original grade remains.

*Separations due to S71 (Workers’ Comp) or S73 (ordinary disability) and who are reinstated via Rein 71/73 reinstatement as reported in NYSTEP fulfills incumbency for the purposes of reallocations.

Note: If a change to a job title results in a change in bargaining unit only with no change in grade, Lateral Transfer procedures should be followed.

Traineeships:

If a change in equated grade is approved for a traineeship title, reallocation rules do not apply. As traineeships are considered non-statutory positions equated to a grade and salaries may include service payments or performance advances for positive evaluation ratings that must be considered, OSC should be contacted for guidance on salary calculations.

Hourly Positions:

Hourly rate of pay is not determined by OSC. If an employee is serving in a title being reallocated, with a Comp Rate Code of HRY, Assigning an Hourly Rate procedures should be followed.

Salary Determination upon Reallocation:

Upward Reallocations for employees in positions represented by Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA BUs 02,03,04 and 47), Public Employees Federation (PEF BU 05), District Council 37 (RRSU BU 67) and designated as Management/Confidential (M/C BUs 06,46 and 66):
For employees in Administrative, Operational and Institutional Services, Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (except grade 38), Rent Regulation Services, Division of Military and Naval Affairs Unit, and Management/Confidential (except grade M-8) positions, the following calculation steps must be applied when determining salary upon reallocation:

• Employees Below Job Rate Prior to Reallocation:
  Regular promotion procedures may be applied to determine the reallocated salary, including any applicable LGS portability. The employee’s anniversary date (of prior grade) remains unchanged. As the employee retains anniversary date credit, no promotional recalculation (FIS) is needed. Increment code also remains the same as long as Job Rate of the new grade is not attained upon reallocation.
  Civil Service Section 132.3
• Employees whose salary is equal to or above the Job Rate of the lower graded position and did not receive a performance advance in their last rating cycle:
  Regular promotion procedures may be applied to determine the reallocated salary, including any applicable LGS or LLS portability. If the salary following an upward reallocation falls below the Job Rate of the higher grade, a performance advance of the higher grade may be applied immediately upon reallocation, not to exceed Job Rate. *
  • If the salary of the higher grade then falls below Job Rate, the employee retains the original anniversary date and rating cycle for payment of their next advance.
  • If the salary in the higher grade reaches Job Rate, the employee retains both the original anniversary date and increment code of the lower grade.

*For PEF employees only, evaluate if application of Job Rate Advance brings the employee back to Job Rate. If it does not, a regular performance advance is applied. For specific examples regarding PEF reallocation calculations please see Upward Reallocation Salary Calculation Guidelines attachment in Payroll Bulletin No.2096.1.

• Employees whose salary is equal to or above the Job Rate of the lower graded position and received a performance advance in the last twelve months:
  Regular promotion procedures may be applied to determine the reallocated salary, including any applicable LGS or LLS portability. No additional performance advance of the higher grade is due at the time of reallocation, regardless if salary falls below Job Rate. Employees retain the original anniversary date of appointment to the lower position.
  • If employee reaches Job Rate of higher grade, increment code of the lower grade can be retained.
  • If employee does not reach Job Rate of the higher grade, increment code is assigned based on the employee’s prior performance advance cycle (April or October) since anniversary date remains unchanged. 
    Note: In order to become performance advance eligible, employees must also have the required service in their current bargaining unit (Examples: one year for CSEA and 13 complete pay periods for M/C).
• Restoring Job Rate Credit:
  Employees who were previously established on an LLS payment cycle, who do not have the qualifying years of service needed to receive an LGS payment, are entitled to the Job Rate credit for service in the lower grade. If the employee’s salary following a reallocation action fell below the Job Rate of the higher grade, their increment code must be evaluated upon attainment of Job Rate in the higher grade. Their increment code should reflect the original date the employee reached Job Rate in the lower grade, adjusted for any Leave of Absence not related to a Workers’ Compensation Leave or Military Leave. Agencies are responsible for manually entering a Data Chg, Reason code CIC (Chg IncCd/or AnnDt/or FIS Sal) to complete this update.
  Civil Service Section 130.11 (a)

Upward Reallocations for employees in positions represented NYSCOPBA (BUs 01 and 21), APSU (BU31) and Council 82 (BUs 61 and 91):

For employees in Security Services Unit, Agency Police Services and Security Supervisors Unit positions the following calculation steps must be applied when determining salary upon reallocation:

• Employees below job rate, holding no longevity payment(s), and on step in lower grade
  Bring the employee to same step of the higher grade they are being upward reallocated into. Anniversary date and increment code remain the same.
  Employees above job rate, holding no longevity payment(s), and off step in lower grade
  Bring the employee to job rate of the higher grade they are being upward reallocated into. Anniversary date and increment code remain the same.
• Employees below job rate, not on step, and not holding a longevity step
  Go to the next higher step on the chart of the current grade, take the difference between the step of the new grade and the step of the current grade and add that amount to their salary. Anniversary date and increment code remain the same.
• Employees holding longevity payment(s), and on step in lower grade
  Subtract any longevity payment(s) from the employee's current salary to get to the base salary. If the base salary in the lower grade is equal to the hiring rate, one of the job performance advance rates or the Job Rate, increases to the corresponding step of the higher grade. Then add the longevity payment(s) of the higher grade to the new base salary. If the employee is on step holding one longevity in the lower grade, they will be on step holding one longevity in the higher grade. Anniversary date and increment code remain the same.
• Employees holding longevity payment(s), and not on step in lower grade
  (1.) Subtract any longevity payment(s) from the employee's current salary to get to the base salary. Determine where the base salary falls:
  • If the base salary is less than the Job Rate and not equal to a step on the schedule, go to the next higher step on the chart in the current grade take the difference between that step of the new grade and that step of the current grade and add that amount to their base salary.
  • If the base salary of the lower grade is above the Job Rate, increase to the Job Rate of the higher grade.
• (2.) Add the longevity payment(s) of the higher grade to the new base salary. Anniversary date remains the same. Increment code will remain the same unless job rate status changes. 
  Civil Service Law Section 132.1

Historical Limits to Salary Calculations upon Upward Reallocations:

• Since 1987, there has been no cap on the salary upon reallocation for PEF. Refer to P-543, issued 10/16/1987.
• From 1987 to 2010- Per the Civil Service Law Section 132.3 and 132.4, the reallocated salary could not exceed Job Rate of the higher grade. During this period, there were longevity steps for CSEA and MC grades 617 and below where the maximum Job Rate was the Job Rate plus the two longevity steps totaling $1500. Per these sections, a reallocated salary was not to exceed that cap of the second longevity step. Refer to P-536, issued 8/3/1987.
• 2010 until 2020 – For CSEA and MC grades 617 and below, the reallocated salary could not exceed Job Rate of the higher grade. Longevity steps were removed from the salary schedules; therefore, the Job Rate became the maximum step on the salary chart.
• 2020 to Present - For CSEA, portability of the LLS paid was established and there is no limit on the reallocation salary established. Per OER, the salary is calculated using the provisions of CS Section 130 and may exceed the Job Rate. Per Section 132.4, MC still has a cap as no portability has been established.

Downward Reallocation:

Employees who are incumbents (active on the payroll or on an approved leave without pay and subsequently returned from leave) of these positions on the date of downward reallocation are entitled to continue to receive the salary of the higher grade prior to reallocation. All future salary calculations such as performance advances will continue to be processed as if the employee were still in the former higher grade as long as the employee remains an incumbent of that position.
Civil Service Section 132.5

For all Bargaining Units:

If the title is reallocated to a lower grade, the salary is determined as follows:

• Prior to 12/9/2022 - If the employee is a temporary incumbent, they receive their actual salary entitlement in the lower grade based on their years of service and performance advance eligibility as calculated like a regular demotion.
• 12/9/2022 to Present - If the employee is an incumbent they retain their same salary, but future salary calculations are based on the performance advance amounts, Job Rate and longevities of the prior higher grade. Civil Service Section 121.2(a) & (b) no longer differentiates between permanent and temporary employees

Processing Downward Reallocation, Effective January 2020:

Effective in January 2020, a new procedure was put in place to utilize the NYS Position when a downward reallocation has occurred. New job codes and NYS Position numbers were created to note the original grade of the title in order for the title* and grade of the position number to be the allocated at the budgeted position level but allow the employee to continue to be paid at their original grade level. All processing and validations will be done from the NYS Position numbers.
*Upon reallocation, the title of the position may or may not change.

Due to the change, the following updates were made to current employees’ records who were in a downward reallocated position. This process continues to be used as titles are downward reallocated:

• NYS Positions numbers and Title codes will be created that begin with 69XXXXX.
• The NYS item number is 99999, similar to other items that are appointment level changes such as trainees and other positions filled at a lower grade.
  The new title is prefixed by DR (Downward Reallocation) to distinguish the NYS title from the title of the reallocated position that appears in the Title and Salary Plan Search Engine and NYSTEP. Note: The NYS positions and DR titles are in PayServ only and do not appear in NYSTEP.
• The NYS grade is the higher grade in effect prior to reallocation.
• Increment codes and anniversary dates will remain the same as the employee will be processed as if they had remained at the higher level.
  Note: If in January 2020, the employee was already in a downward reallocation situation, the increment code will be changed from either 0069 or 6900 (noting downward reallocation) to the correct increment code for the employee’s bargaining unit, grade, and salary.

Refer to Payroll Bulletin No.1811 - New Procedure for Maintaining Job Data Information for Employees in Reallocated Positions in order to Facilitate Automatic Payment Processing

Last Updated: 01/16/2026