Article I. NAME

The name of this organization will be the New York State Payroll Users Group.

Article II. Mission

The New York State Payroll Users Group is a partnership between the Bureau of State Payroll Services of the Office of the State Comptroller and state agency payroll users, whose purpose is to act as consultant and advisor to the New York State Office of the State Comptroller's Bureau of State Payroll Services. To accomplish this, the Group has the following goals:

• Increase the knowledge and skill of NYS Payroll Professionals by:
  • Serving as a forum for addressing issues of mutual concern;
  • Seeking clarification and consistency regarding rules, regulations, and procedures to improve payroll processes; and
  • Providing members with an opportunity to network and exchange knowledge.
• Help shape payroll policies and procedures by:
  • Suggesting new initiatives;
  • Helping prioritize long and short term goals; and
  • Drafting uniform policies and procedures to support compliance.
•   Improve payroll processing performance results by:
  • Providing feedback to the Bureau of State Payroll Services about the quality and delivery of its services;
  • Conveying feedback to agencies about their processing performance; and
  • Identifying, prioritizing and offering resolution for issues of common concern.
• Develop and support the payroll profession in State government by:
• Surveying the condition of the State payroll community;
• Increasing the understanding of the payroll function in state agencies;
• Promoting the importance of payroll in the enterprise; and
• Developing the payroll profession as an identified career option in State government.

Article III. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

Section 1.Steering Committee:

There shall be a Steering Committee comprised of state agency policy level and functional staff representing payroll, personnel, and finance offices. The Director of the Bureau of State Payroll Services shall be a voting member separate and distinct from OSC’s Payroll Office. The Steering Committee shall select a Chair and a Vice Chair from among its membership. With the exception of OSC, where the Director of the Bureau of State Payroll Services has a separate vote from the OSC agency payroll office’s vote, no agency shall have more than one vote on a Steering Committee issue.

Section 2.Standing Committees:

There shall be four Standing Committees:

1. Operations
2. Systems
3. Training and Communication
4. Bylaws, Charter, and Membership

Members shall be drawn from agency functional level staff in payroll, personnel, and finance offices, with up to 12 people on each Committee. Standing Committee Chairs shall be drawn from the user community. There shall be at least one Bureau of State Payroll Services representative on each Standing Committee. No agency shall have more than one vote on a Standing Committee issue.

Section 3. Standing Committee Sub-Committees:

There shall be Sub-Committees as needed, created by the Standing Committees, drawn from the user community and from other groups as required. The size of Sub-Committees shall be governed by their tasks; the Bureau of State Payroll Services shall be represented on Sub-Committees as needed. No agency shall have more than one vote on a Standing Sub-Committee issue.

Article IV. MEMBERSHIP, TERMS OF OFFICE

Section 1.

The Steering Committee shall have a Chair and Vice Chair who will each serve for a term of two years. The Chair and Vice Chair shall each be elected at the November meeting by a majority vote of the voting members of the Steering Committee, and will take office on January first. Nominations from the floor will be accepted through the October meeting. Steering Committee Chair and Vice Chair elections shall take place during odd years, and the voting process will be done by secret ballot. Steering Committee members in good standing for two consecutive years are eligible to be Chair(s).

In the event that the Steering Committee Chair is not the Director of the Bureau of State Payroll Services, then the Bureau Director or the Director's designee(s) is required to meet with the Chair as necessary but not less than quarterly.

The Vice Chair shall assume vacancies that occur mid-term in the chairship of the Steering Committee. Vice Chair vacancies shall be filled by the Chair, and are subject to the approval of the Steering Committee. These terms will continue until the next scheduled elections.

Section 2.

Steering Committee members shall be seated by a two-thirds vote of the Steering Committee. Every agency seated on the Steering Committee shall have only one voting representative. Agencies shall be eligible to petition for Steering Committee membership after having attended at least six meetings in a calendar year. Agencies must participate at that meeting to petition for admittance; they will also be required to provide the name of their voting representative and proxy at the time of their petition. This voting process will be done by roll call. In seating new members the Steering Committee shall promote equity and breadth of representation. An agency shall be defined by their primary agency code.

Section 3.

The Chairs of the Standing Committees shall be representatives of members in good standing and serve a term of two years. The Chairs shall be elected at the November meeting in the year following the Steering Committee Chair election, by a majority vote of the voting members of the Steering Committee. The Chairs will take office on January first. Each Standing Committee must present either one nominee for Chair or two nominees for Co-Chairs of their respective Committee. Nominations from the floor will also be accepted through the October meeting. If a Standing Committee does not present a nominee, the Chair of the Steering Committee will nominate a Chair and additional nominations from the floor will be sought at the November meeting. If no one is available to chair a committee, other alternatives should be considered, such as rotating chairs, subsuming one Committee by another, etc.

The voting process will be done by secret ballot. Vacancies that occur mid-term shall be filled by the Standing Committee and reported to the Steering Committee at its next regularly scheduled meeting. The term will continue until the next scheduled elections.

Section 4.

Sub-Committee Chairs shall be appointed by their respective Standing Committee Chairs, and will serve for a term of two years. The Standing Committees shall determine the terms and method of filling vacancies on their respective Sub-Committees.

Section 5.

To maintain Steering Committee voting privileges and membership in good standing, an agency must be represented at six or more Steering Committee meetings per calendar year. Voting privileges will be suspended at the seventh meeting not attended within a calendar year, and the agency will be eligible to petition for reinstatement the following January. A representative from the agency petitioning for reinstatement must be physically present at the meeting at which they're petitioning, and reinstatement would require a two-thirds vote of the Steering Committee.

Section 6.

When the payroll function of a Steering Committee member is absorbed by or merged with another agency, the absorbing/merging agency is invited to attend Payroll Users Group meetings and will be eligible to petition for membership as outlined in Section 2 of this Article. Dissolved agencies will lose their membership on the Steering Committee. Representatives from absorbed or merged agencies will not carry their voting privileges to their new agency.

Section 7.

The Users Group shall involve stakeholders such as the New York State Personnel Council, the Departments of Civil Service and Tax and Finance, the Division of the Budget, the Governor's Office of Employee Relations, and other organizations and individuals, as necessary to accomplish its goals.

Article V. ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT

To the extent possible, the Bureau of State Payroll Services will provide support and resources (financial, staff, and other) to the initiatives and activities of the Payroll Users Group.

Article VI. MEETINGS

Steering Committee meetings will be held monthly and at other times as needed to accomplish the group's goals. Standing and Sub-Committees shall meet at least quarterly. All interested parties are welcome to attend Steering, Standing and Sub-Committee meetings. A quorum of 51% of voting members, including valid proxies, shall be necessary to constitute an official Steering Committee meeting.

Article VII. ACTIVITIES

Section 1. Steering Committee:

The Steering Committee shall be responsible for:

• The evolving development and refinement of the New York State Payroll Users Group into a mature, permanent organization which contributes to the management and success of the State payroll processes;
• Overseeing the work of the Payroll Users Group, including the Standing and Sub-Committees;
• Voting on bylaws, policies, and charter revisions, Standing Committee Chairs and Steering Committee membership; and
• Reviewing the need and feasibility of organizing a Users Conference.

Section 2. Standing Committees:

The Operations Standing Committee shall be involved with matters related to improving audit, deduction, and salary functions.

The Systems Standing Committee shall be involved with matters related to improving the automated payroll system, including system security and access, data access and customizations, as well as advise on and participate in system upgrade activities.

The Training and Communication Standing Committee shall be involved with matters relating to improving the training provided to agency users, enhancing the communication among users, and between users and the Bureau of State Payroll Services.

The Bylaws, Charter, and Membership Standing Committee shall review the bylaws and charter each year and make recommendations as necessary. The Committee will report on its activities as needed.

The Bylaws Committee shall review annual meeting attendance each January and create a list of Steering Committee agency members that have been absent for more than half of the meetings during the prior two calendar years; this list will be provided to the Steering Committee.

The Bylaws Committee shall verify the eligibility of candidates for all elected positions.

Article VIII. VOTING METHODS AND PRIVILEGES

The following decisions will be made by a vote of two-thirds of the members of the Steering Committee. Votes may be made in writing if they are made public.

Charter/Bylaws
Membership
Re-admittance of voting membership

All other decisions will be made by a majority vote of the members present. Votes may be made in writing if they are made public.

Each Steering Committee member agency shall designate one official voting representative. This person can assign their vote by proxy to a substitute in the event that they are unable to attend a meeting. Unless otherwise outlined in this charter, votes shall be done by roll-call vote. The Steering Committee Chair will poll the voting members present, and a recorder will duly record yes or no votes. The exception will be that the Chair of the Bylaws Committee shall preside at the November meeting when the Steering Committee Chair and Vice Chair elections are held.