Department of Civil Service

NY18-26

TO: New York State Agency Health Benefit Administrators
FROM: Employee Benefits Division
SUBJECT: 2019 Productivity Enhancement Program (PEP)
DATE: October 16, 2018

The Productivity Enhancement Program (PEP) for 2019 is available to Executive Branch employees represented by CSEA, PEF, UUP, DC-37, Executive Branch Management/Confidential employees, SUNY M/C 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 2018-05. In addition to an overview of the program, the memo includes the 2019 PEP Program Description and the 2019 PEP Enrollment Form. 

Separately, SUNY Administration and the benefits offices for Legislative and Judicial branch employees will make available the 2019 PEP Program Description and Enrollment form specific to their employees. 

PEP PREMIUM CONTRIBUTION CREDIT

The 2019 PEP credit will begin with the first 2019 health insurance premium deduction. Refer to the “Timing of NYBEAS Processing and Paycheck Dates” section of this memo for effective dates of the 2019 PEP credit. 

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 and DC-37 employees 

Full-time employees in positions at or equated to Salary Grade 17 and below: 

 
Full-time employees in positions at or equated to Salary Grade 18 through 24: 

Eligible Unified Court System (UCS) employees 

Full-time employees of the Unified Court System (non-COBANC) at or equated to Judicial Salary Grade 16 and below: 

Full-time employees of the Unified Court System (non-COBANC) at or equated to Judicial Salary Grade 17 through 23: 

Full-time employees represented by the Court Officers Benevolent Association of Nassau County (COBANC) in positions at or equated to Judicial Salary Grade 16 and below: 

Full-time employees represented by COBANC in positions at or equated to Judicial Salary Grades 17 through 23 

Eligible Executive Branch Management/Confidential employees [1], PEF (non-teachers) and Legislative Branch employees

Full-time employees in positions at or equated to Salary Grade 17 and below: 

Full-time employees in positions at or equated to Salary Grades 18 through 24 (Grade 23 for M/C; Legislature): 

PEF Institution Teachers (may only forfeit personal leave)

 Institution Teachers in positions at or equated to Salary Grade 17 and below: 

  1] M/C employees of SUNY should refer to the 2019 PEP Program Description and Enrollment Form from SUNY Administration for specific PEP eligibility information.

Institution Teachers in positions at or equated to Salary Grades 18 through 24: 

UUP Represented Employees (may only forfeit annual leave), 

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 22, 2018 through December 18, 2018. 

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. PEP enrollments processed in NYBEAS after the Processing Cutoff Date below will not be processed in time for the first paycheck in the 2019 Plan Year. Retroactive PEP credits will be applied in the employee’s next paycheck. 

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