The Empire Plan is a unique health insurance plan designed especially for public employees in New York State. Empire Plan benefits include inpatient and outpatient hospital coverage, medical/surgical coverage, Centers of Excellence for transplants, infertility and cancer, home care services, equipment and supplies, mental health and substance abuse coverage and prescription drug coverage.
NY15-25
TO: New York State Agency Health Benefit Administrators
FROM: Employee Benefits Division
SUBJECT: 2016 Productivity Enhancement Program (PEP)
DATE: October 23, 2015
The Productivity Enhancement Program (PEP) for 2016 is available to Executive Branch employees represented by CSEA, UUP and DC-37, Executive Branch Management/Confidential employees and Legislative and Judicial Branch employees.
The program allows eligible employees to exchange previously accrued annual leave and/or personal leave, in return for a biweekly credit which reduces their share of New York State Health Insurance Program (NYSHIP) premium.
For information regarding the PEP eligibility requirements, the calculation of PEP credit and the enrollment period dates, please refer to Attendance and Leave Policy Bulletin 2015-02. In addition to an overview of the program, the memo includes the 2016 PEP Program Description and the 2016 PEP Enrollment Form.
Separately, SUNY Administration and the benefits offices for Legislative and Judicial branch employees will make available the 2016 PEP Program Description and Enrollment form specific to their employees.
PEP PREMIUM CONTRIBUTION CREDIT
The 2016 PEP credit will begin coincident with the first 2016 health insurance premium deduction. Assuming there is no retroactivity, all employees will receive the 2016 PEP credit over 26 pay periods. Refer to the “Timing of NYBEAS Processing and Paycheck Dates” section of this memo for the dates the 2016 PEP credit is effective.
The amount that will be credited toward the biweekly employee share of the health insurance premium is reflected in the charts below and is based upon the employee’s Salary Grade and the number of leave days forfeited. The credit for part-time employees will be prorated based upon their payroll percentage. In no case will the PEP credit exceed the employee’s biweekly NYSHIP premium due.
Eligible Executive Branch CSEA, DC-37, and Management/Confidential employees1, Judicial Branch employees2 and Legislative Branch employees2
Full-time employees in a position at or equated to Salary Grades 1 through 17:
| Forfeited Days | NYSHIP Credit | Bi-weekly Credit |
| 3 | $500 | $19.23 |
| 6 | $1000 | $38.46 |
Full-time employees in a position at or equated to Salary Grades 18 through 24:
| Forfeited Days | NYSHIP Credit | Bi-weekly Credit |
| 2 | $500 | $19.23 |
| 4 | $1000 | $38.46 |
UUP-Represented employees3
Refer to the 2016 PEP Program Description and Enrollment form for UUP represented employees from SUNY Administration for additional guidance.}
| UUP Employee Group | Forfeited Days | NYSHIP Credit | Bi-weekly Credit |
| Employees earning at or below $62,998 annually | 3 | $500 | $19.23 |
| Employees earning above $62,998 and below $90,022 annually | 2 | $500 | $19.23 |
Agencies are responsible for distribution and retention of the enrollment forms and for the coordination between the agency personnel office and the HBA, with respect to certification of accrual adjustment(s) and initiating the PEP credit on NYBEAS.
NYBEAS PROCESSING
The NYBEAS PEP Enrollment panel will be open to HBA’s for processing from October 26, 2015 through January 19, 2016.
Video tutorials providing guidance on how to process a PEP Enrollment in NYBEAS can be found in the E-Learning section of HBA Online at https://www.cs.ny.gov/employee-benefits/hba/shared/e-learning/index.cfm.
For questions related to processing the PEP transaction on NYBEAS, contact the HBA Helpline at 518-474-2780.
TIMING OF NYBEAS PROCESSING AND PAYCHECK DATES
Since the transaction to enter the PEP credit cannot be keyed until after the certification of the accrual adjustment, coordination with the staff who handles your agency’s time and attendance function is key to PEP credit processing. The following charts explain which checks will be impacted when you process the PEP enrollment. Be prepared to answer questions once the employee’s paycheck has been impacted.
| Employee’s Payroll Cycle | PEP Enrollment Keyed During These Dates | First Paycheck Impacted with PEP Credit for 2016 | # of Retro PEP Credits |
| Administration Lag | 10/26/15 – 12/15/15 | 12/30/15 | 0 |
| Administration Current | 10/26/15 – 12/1/15 | 12/16/15 | 0 |
| Institution Lag | 10/26/15 – 12/22/15 | 1/7/16 | 0 |
| Institution Current | 10/26/15 – 12/8/15 | 12/24/15 | 0 |
| Triple Lag | 10/26/15 – 12/22/15 | 1/7/16 | 0 |
| Administration Lag | 12/16/15 – 12/29/15 | 1/13/16 | 1 |
| Administration Current | 12/2/15 – 12/15/15 | 12/30/15 | 1 |
| Institution Lag | 12/23/15 – 1/5/16 | 1/21/16 | 1 |
| Institution Current | 12/9/15 – 12/22/15 | 1/7/16 | 1 |
| Triple Lag | 12/23/15 – 1/5/16 | 1/21/16 | 1 |
| Administration Lag | 12/30/15 – 1/12/16 | 1/27/16 | 2 |
| Administration Current | 12/16/15 – 12/29/15 | 1/13/16 | 2 |
| Institution Lag | 1/6/16 – 1/19/16 | 2/4/16 | 2 |
| Institution Current | 12/23/15 – 1/5/16 | 1/21/16 | 2 |
| Triple Lag | 1/6/16 – 1/19/16 | 2/4/16 | 2 |
| Employee’s Payroll Cycle | Last Paycheck with PEP Credit for 2015 |
| Administration Lag | 12/16/15 |
| Administration Current | 12/2/15 |
| Institution Lag | 12/10/15 |
| Institution Current | 11/26/15 |
| Triple Lag | 12/24/15 |
1 M/C employees of SUNY should refer to the 2016 PEP Program Description and Enrollment Form from SUNY Administration for specific PEP eligibility information.
2 Legislative and Judicial Branch employees should refer to the 2016 PEP Program Description and Enrollment Form from their benefits office for specific PEP eligibility information.
3 UUP represented employees should refer to the 2016 PEP Program Description and Enrollment Form from SUNY Administration for specific PEP eligibility information.