Department of Civil Service

NY23-28

TO: New York State Agency Health Benefit Administrators
FROM: Employee Benefits Division
SUBJECT: 2024 Productivity Enhancement Program (PEP)
DATE: October 27, 2023

The Productivity Enhancement Program (PEP) for 2024 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 that 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 2023-05 In addition to an overview of the program, the memo includes the 2024 PEP Program Description and the 2024 PEP Enrollment Form. Your agency attendance and leave office must first review requests for eligibility prior to forwarding to the HBA for entry into NYBEAS.

Separately, SUNY Administration and the benefits offices for Legislative and Judicial branch employees will make available the 2024 PEP Program Description and Enrollment form specific to their employees.

PEP PREMIUM CONTRIBUTION CREDIT

The 2024 PEP credit will begin with the first 2024 health insurance premium deduction. Refer to the “Timing of NYBEAS Processing and Paycheck Dates” section of this memo for effective dates of the 2024 PEP credit.  

Please note changes in the number of forfeited days and credited amounts for the 2024 PEP year that will apply to PEF Non-Teachers and Institution Teachers, DC-37, UCS and UUP-represented employees due to collective bargaining agreement or administrative action. All other populations will have the same forfeited days and amounts as last year.

The amount that will be credited toward the biweekly employee share of the health insurance premium is reflected in the following charts and is based upon the employee’s Salary Grade and the number of leave days forfeited. The credit for parttime 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, PEF Non-Teachers and Management/Confidential 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 (through Grade 23 for M/C; Legislature): 

M/C employees of SUNY should refer to the 2024 PEP Program Description and Enrollment Form from SUNY Administration for specific PEP eligibility information.

Eligible DC-37 represented 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 at or below Judicial Salary Grade 17:

Full-time employees of the Unified Court System at and including Judicial Salary Grade 17 through 23: 

PEF Institution Teachers (may only forfeit floating day, compensatory days and/or personal leave)

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

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

UUP Represented Full-time 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 WINDOW

The NYBEAS PEP Enrollment panel will be open to HBAs for processing November 1, 2023 through December 29, 2023.  

Note: Forms submitted between November 1, 2023 and December 11, 2023 will be accepted for review and approval.

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/employeebenefits/hba/shared/e-learning/index.cfm.

For questions related to processing the PEP transaction on NYBEAS, contact the HBA Helpline at 518-474-2780. For questions related to PEP eligibility, calculation of PEP credits, or enrollment period dates please contact the attendance and leave office at 518-457-2295, or refer to Attendance and Leave Policy Bulletin 2023-05 which can be found at https://www.cs.ny.gov/attendance_leave/index.cfm.

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 staff handling your agency’s attendance and leave 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 2024 Plan Year. Retroactive PEP credits will be applied in the employee’s next paycheck.

2024 Institution Payroll Has 27 Pay Periods

The 2024 Institution payroll has a total of 27 pay periods rather than the typical 26 pay periods.  EBD will systematically process the 2024 PEP cancellations prior to the 2025 enrollment period.  Please see chart below identifying the paycheck in which the last 2024 PEP credit will appear for these populations.