Department of Civil Service

NY06-39

TO: State Agency Health Benefits Administrators
FROM: Employee Benefits Division
SUBJECT: PEP PIP HOP
DATE: October 19, 2006

PEP PIP HOP for 2007

The Productivity Enhancement Program (PEP), the Productivity Improvement Program (PIP), and the Health Option Program (HOP) allow eligible CSEA, PEF, DC-37, UUP – represented and Managerial/Confidential employees to exchange previously accrued annual leave (vacation) and/or personal leave in return for a credit to be applied toward their employee share of NYSHIP premiums on a biweekly basis. Since several variations exist for eligibility of employees in each of the three branches of State government, a matrix summarizing the differing aspects of the programs is attached to this memorandum.

To be eligible to enroll in PEP or HOP, employees must meet the following criteria:

• Be a NYSHIP enrollee (contract holder) in either the Empire Plan or an HMO at the time of enrollment; and
• Be an Executive or Legislative branch employee covered by the 2003-2007 New York State/ CSEA, PEF, DC-37, collective bargaining agreements; or a Managerial/Confidential employee (except SUNY MC employees – NU 13) in a title at or below salary grade 17 or equated to a position at or below salary grade 17; or
• Be a Judicial branch employee covered by a collective bargaining agreement or in an unrepresented or Managerial/Confidential position (except Judges and Justices) and employed at or below Salary Grade 16; and
• Have a minimal combined balance of annual and personnel leave of at least 8 days after making the forfeiture for Executive branch and Legislative branch employees or 8 days of annual leave for Judicial branch employees.

Eligible part-time employees may participate on a prorated basis.

To be eligible to enroll in PIP, employees must meet the following criteria:

1. Be employed on a Calendar Year or College Year basis;
2. Be a full-time employee with an annual salary no greater than $53,873 for enrollment for the 2007 plan year, respectively or a part-time employee whose biweekly salary does not exceed $1,036 for enrollment for the 2007 plan year.
3. Be an employee covered by the 2003-2007 New York State/UUP Collective Bargaining Agreement or a SUNY M/C employee in bargaining unit 13;
4. Be a NYSHIP enrollee (contract holder) in either the Empire Plan or an HMO;
5. Be eligible to receive an employer share contribution toward NYSHIP premiums (or be on leave without pay from a position in which the employee is normally eligible for an employer share contribution toward NYSHIP premium);
6. Have a sufficient annual leave balance to make the full leave forfeiture without bringing their annual leave balance below 8 days for fulltime employees or 4 days for part-time employees respectively.

Exchanged Leave

Executive and Legislative branch eligible employees exchange 3 days of Annual and/or Personnel Leave for the PEP credit.

Teachers employed by the Department of Correctional Services, the Office of Children and Family Services. The Office of Mental Health, or the NYS Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (Executive branch) and represented by the Public Employees Federation (PEF) may exchange 1, 2, or 3 days of Personnel Leave for the PEP credit.

Eligible UUP represented employees and SUNY M/C employees (NU 13) exchange 3 days of Annual Leave for the PEP credit.

Judicial branch eligible employees exchange 3 days of Annual Leave for the PEP credit.

Enrollment

All eligible employees who wish to participate in the 2007 PEP, PIP and HOP must have filed an election form with their agency personnel office on October 30, 2006 through November 24, 2006.

Additional program details for the 2007 PEP for Executive and Legislative branch employees can be found in the Attendance and Leave Manual Policy Bulletin # 2006 – 01. This bulletin includes a PEP Institution Teachers Appendix with program information specific to teachers represented by PEF.

Eligible UUP represented employees and SUNY M/C employees (NU 13) refer to the PEP as PIP and for judicial branch employees PEP is being called HOP; however, the NYBEAS procedures applicable to PEP apply.

The 2007 enrollment forms for PEP, PIP and HOP are attached to this memo for your use.

Agencies are responsible for distribution and retention of the enrollment forms and coordination between the agency personnel office and the HBA with respect to certification of accrual adjustment(s) and initiating the PEP credit on NYBEAS.

Once enrolled for a program year, employees continue to participate in that year unless they separate from State service or cease to be NYSHIP contract holders. Leave forfeited in association with the program will not be returned, in whole or in part, to employees who cease to be eligible for participation in the program.

Any questions should be directed to your processor.

Health Insurance Premium Contribution Credit for PEP

For the 2007 PEP, the credit that will be applied to the biweekly employee share of the health insurance premium and can be calculated as reflected below:

Full-Time Employees
The biweekly credit is equal to $15.38 ($400/26 paychecks) OR the biweekly cost of the enrollee’s employee share NYSHIP contribution, whichever is less.

Part-Time Employees
The biweekly credit is equal to $15.38 multiplied by the employee’s payroll/employment percentage OR the biweekly cost of the enrollee’s employee share NYSHIP contribution, whichever is less. The biweekly credit for part time UUP and SUNY M/C program participants is 7.69 ($200/26).

Institution (PEF) Teachers
The biweekly credit is equal to $5.13 per day forfeited OR the biweekly cost of the enrollee’s employee share NYSHIP contribution, whichever is less.

The amount of credit will only be adjusted if the enrollee moves from individual to family coverage during the program year. For example:

NYBEAS PROCESSING

To ADD the Health Insurance Premium Contribution Credit for PEP

HBAs will process a PEP/ENR to add the credit to NYBEAS (see below). This transaction is part of the new PEP enrollment panel. The credit will show on the enrollee’s billing record as a premium credit.

HOW TO ADD THE PEP CREDIT

• Follow the NYBEAS links from Home, Compensate Employees, Administer NYBEAS Updates, Use, PEP enrollment.
• An input screen will display. Enter the enrollee’s identification number in the search dialog box and click the search button.
• In the Plan Type field, enter 10 (for Medical). Press Tab.
• The Action and Reason fields will automatically populate (PEP/ENR).
• If the enrollee is a PEF Teacher and is using less than the maximum 3 days, you should enter 1 or 2 days in the Exchange days field of the PEP Details section of the PEP enrollment form. (The default is 3 days) This is only to be used for teachers represented by PEF.

• In the Request Dt field, enter the date of signature on the PEP enrollment form. The date should be October 30, 2006 – November 24, 2006 for all eligible employees (PEP, PIP and HOP) Press Tab.
• In the PEP Percentage field Type the employee’s payroll/employment percentage. Click Save. (The default is 100%)

To view the PEP percentage, click on Inquire, PEP Enrollment Inquiry.

To view the PEP credit calculated, click on Inquire, NYBEAS Update History and the Billings tab

To view the actual PEP credit applied, click on Inquire, NYBEAS Update History and the Accounting tab.

* The actual PEP credit applied will be the lesser of the calculated amount or the enrollee’s health insurance premium.

Timing of NYBEAS Processing

It is important that the PEP Enroll transaction is keyed in time to impact the appropriate paycheck. Since the transaction can not be keyed until after the certification of the accrual adjustment, coordination with your agencies personnel/payroll staff who handles this is the key to timely PEP credit processing. See the below chart showing the dates to key the transaction for various payrolls. For example, if the transaction for an Administrative Lag employee is keyed late (12/15/2006) the first paycheck will not be credited, the next paycheck will be offset by two PEP credits and the subsequent paycheck will be appropriately offset by one PEP credit. The resulting impact on your employees’ paychecks may prompt numerous question and complaints for you to deal with.

PEP/PIP/HOP Eligibility

Attachments:
PIP Enrollment Form
HOP Enrollment Form
PEP Enrollment Form