All employee distribution "INFORMATION ON IMPLEMENTATION OF FEDERAL PERSONNEL/ PAYROLL SYSTEM" Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 13:13:42 -0400 To: "USGS Employees" From: " All Employee email, , " Subject: All employee distribution "INFORMATION ON IMPLEMENTATION OF FEDERAL PERSONNEL/ PAYROLL SYSTEM" INFORMATION ON IMPLEMENTATION OF FEDERAL PERSONNEL/ PAYROLL SYSTEM To: Employees of Department of Education, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Selective Service System, and Federal Labor Relations Authority Beginning in pay period 9811 (May 10 - 23, 1998), payroll and personnel actions for your bureau or office will be accomplished through the new Federal Personnel Payroll System (FPPS), instead of the current PAY/PERS system. The pay date for pay period 9811 is June 4, 1998. In most instances, this automated system change will not result in noticeable pay differences for individual employees. However, some employees will notice slight changes in their net pay calculations or in the information displayed on their leave and earnings statements (LES). The most significant of these differences are summarized in the following paragraphs. CHANGES IN PAY CALCULATIONS - Those employees who receive a foreign or non-foreign cost of living allowance/differential, or availability pay, will notice a small additional amount in the entitlement they receive. This is due to differences in rounding of the hourly rate of the entitlement between FPPS and the PAY/PERS system. - Employees who receive retroactive pay adjustments will now have their Thrift Savings Plan deductions adjusted at the same time as the pay adjustment. FPPS contains automatic adjustment programs, while PAY/PERS required a delayed manual adjustment. - FPPS will be using a standard tax formula for calculating state taxes for Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, and Georgia which differs slightly from the calculation formula used for those states by the PAY/PERS system. Because of this programming difference, some employees who are taxed in the states mentioned above may notice a slightly higher amount in their tax withholding. Those affected and the additional amount deducted will depend on each employee's withholding exemptions and marital status. Employees taxed in these states may wish to review their actual withholdings under the new system to determine if they want to change their exemption status. It is important to remember, however, that the employee is ultimately responsible for any tax liability at the end of the year to the state's taxing authority. - Non-Exempt employees who are being paid overtime for expired compensatory time will notice a difference in when they receive this payment. When an employee's compensatory time expires in the PAY/PERS system, the overtime hours are paid in the expiration pay period. In FPPS, the payment is made the pay period after expiration. LEAVE AND EARNINGS STATEMENT CHANGES FPPS leave and earnings statements (LES) were designed to resemble PAY/PERS statements. However, because of additional system capabilities in FPPS, employees will be furnished different and more detailed information for some pay and leave situations. - Employees who are subject to local tax withholding will notice that the name of the taxing locality now appears on the LES. - Total Year-To-Date figures will be provided for more types of entitlements and deductions than were provided on the PAY/PERS statement. - FPPS is capable of recording and displaying a number of additional leave types that were not available in PAY/PERS. Employees will see these new leave types, such as family friendly leave, displayed in the leave area of the LES. - When a bond is issued in FPPS, the face value of the bond being purchased will display. In PAY/PERS, when a bond was issued, the purchase price was displayed. - Under the EARNINGS/OTHER PAY area, a Non-Exempt employee earning overtime will notice that the overtime rate of pay (OVT) will display at the base rate of pay. The additional overtime amount due for FLSA (FLSA PREM), will display on the line directly below the OVT line. LEAVE SHARE RECIPIENTS AND DONORS - New system capabilities in FPPS will allow leave share recipients and donors to see more information about their leave balances on the LES. However, because of the complexity of the leave share program, it may not always be possible to balance an employee's leave account by adding and subtracting the carryover, accrued, and used columns. The balance available column should always display the accurate number of hours the employee has to use. - Leave Share recipients will notice additional leave categories in the leave area of the LES. They will display in the following manner: SPCSLM: Special Account Sick Leave for Medical leave share emergencies SPCANM: Special Account Annual Leave for Medical leave share emergencies SPCSLF: Special Account Sick Leave for Family leave share emergencies SPCANF: Special Account Annual Leave for Family leave share emergencies LVSHM: Leave donated to recipient for medical emergency LVSHF: Leave donated to recipient for family emergency These two categories will track the number of donated hours used and available to use. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Employee cash awards are processed differently in FPPS than in PAY/PERS. All cash awards are paid by completing an SF50 in FPPS. Cash awards are no longer paid through imprest funds. Please direct any questions you have about a cash award payment to your personnel office. If you have any questions about your pay under FPPS or about the information displayed on your leave and earnings statement, please contact your timekeeper, or the Payroll Information Line at 303-969-7732 or 1-800-662-4324.