TO: eCATS State Appointing Authorities
FROM: Adeseye Sotimehin
Deputy Director, Agency Services
SUBJECT: Workers’ Compensation Changes for Impact on Vacation Accrual and Adjusted Service Start Date
DATE: July 18, 2018
In August 2014, the Civil Service Commission (Commission) issued a decision In the Matter of Thomas M. Jardine and Karriem Beyah (CSC, decided August 13, 2014) (Jardine and Beyah). In that matter, the Commission determined that during a leave of absence while an employee is on Workers’ Compensation (with pension), “benefits shall not be deducted from an employee’s ‘continuous service’ or seniority for the calculation of vacation leave accrual”. As a result of Jardine and Beyah, the appellants in that case had their vacation balances adjusted based on their years of “continuous service” including the time they spent on unpaid Workers’ Compensation leave. Accordingly, the appellants were awarded a vacation increment increase based on the date the Commission granted their appeals. However, the vacation increment increase was not granted on a retroactive basis.
Recently, the Commission received a similar request to include an unpaid Workers’ Compensation leave in the calculation of an employee’s vacation leave increment. As the Commission has determined in Jardine and Beyah, supra, a leave of absence while an employee is receiving Workers’ Compensation benefits shall not be deducted from an employee’s continuous service or seniority for the calculation of vacation leave accrual. As its decision was not limited to any unique circumstances or facts in that case, the Division of Agency Services has been advised that the Commission’s decision from August 2014 should be applied to employees who are in a similar situation. Therefore, the Division of Appeals and Regulatory Affairs (DARA) has advised that programming changes to eCATS and TALRS should be made accordingly and need not wait for an amendment to the rules. In addition, the KRONOS programming requirements must be updated to include this change.
It must be emphasized that Jardine and Beyah, supra, is only limited to vacation leave entitlement. Therefore, when an employee is on an unpaid Workers’ Compensation leave, she or he does not accrue paid leave time and benefit time must continue to be prorated for this unpaid leave.
The eCATS, TALRS and KRONOS timekeeping systems are currently in the process of implementing programming changes to support this feature. These programming changes will ensure that all Job Numbers and Codes which identify unpaid Workers’ Compensation leave shall not be deducted from the calculation of an employee’s continuous service or seniority in terms of vacation leave accrual. For eCATS, the WKRSCOMP and/or WKRSCMPI Job Numbers will no longer be deducted. These programming changes will only affect new Workers’ Compensation unpaid leaves and timesheet revisions going forward from the implementation date (TBD).
eCATS Appointing Authorities may begin to use the instructions on page 3 to manually correct Adjusted Service Start Dates which were impacted from previous Unpaid Workers’ Compensation leaves that were recorded beginning on August 13, 2014, which is the date of the Jardine and Beyah decision[1].
SPECIAL NOTE: If there are any retroactive eCATS timesheet revisions for dates between 8/13/2014 and the implementation date (TBD) that involve adding or removing the Workers’ Compensation Job Numbers, the Appointing Authorities must use the manual procedures described beginning on page 3. These procedures will be used to reconcile the affected employee(s)’ Adjusted Service Start Date and possibly adjust vacation increment benefit time that may be awarded to the employee. There will not be any programming changes made to incorporate timesheet or calendar revisions which affect dates prior to the implementation date.
eCATS Instructions:
The Appointing Authority will need to determine the number of calendar days the unpaid Workers’ Compensation Job Number (i.e. WKRSCOMP and/or WKRSCMPI) have been recorded on affected employee’s timesheets beginning on August 13, 2014 (see Footnote #1 for instances where 08/13/2014 falls in between the start and end dates of an employee’s Workers’ Compensation leave).
A Business Objects report should be generated and executed by each agency to determine the employees who have been impacted. Using this report, the Appointing Authority will need to obtain a total count of the number of unpaid Workers’ Compensation days for each calendar year beginning on 08/13/2014 to the present date. This count may include separate instances of Workers’ Compensation leaves or intermittent Workers’ Compensation days within the same calendar year. A cumulative total of Workers’ Compensation days for each employee will also need to be determined starting on 8/13/2014 up to the present year. If the 8/13/2014 date is in the middle of a continuous Workers’ Compensation leave, then that entire leave needs to be credited back to the employee’s vacation leave accrual.
With this enhancement, the total number of unpaid Workers’ Compensation Days will now be included in the employee’s continuous service and should be applied towards the calculation of vacation leave accrual. This adjustment will impact the employee’s Adjusted Service Start Date (ASSD). The year of the Adjusted Service Start Date may also be impacted and the revised ASSD may be in a previous year. If this is the case, then the vacation benefit time increment adjustment must be granted retroactively.
Once the Appointing Authority determines the total number of Workers’ Compensation calendar days that must be counted towards the employee’s continuous service for vacation accrual, he/she will need to access the Employee Maintenance Screen to manually enter the “Days Not In Service” value (the cumulative count of Workers’ Compensation days), which will automatically update the Adjusted Service Start Date accordingly. (The Appointing Authority must enter a negative number in the “Modify Days Not in Service” field so that the Adjusted Service Start Date is adjusted to become a previous date. For example, if the employee has a cumulative total of 271 Workers’ Compensation Days, a value of -271 must be entered. The original Adjusted Service Start Date of 01/17/1981 will then automatically get updated to become 01/04/1980). The program logic will automatically include weekend days and regular days off when it performs the calculation, so only the total number of Workers’ Compensation days recorded on the employee’s timesheet should be entered.
Once the updated Adjusted Service Start Date is displayed, the Appointing Authority will need to access the Benefits Adjustment screen to adjust the earned vacation time for the employee if a vacation increment is to be awarded retroactively. The Appointing Authority must keep in mind that if any Workers’ Compensation days were recorded during the year that a vacation benefit adjustment is made, the earned benefit time for that year must still be prorated accordingly to account for the unpaid days. Descriptive comments must be entered into the Comments field so that the transaction is documented accurately and correctly. The retroactive vacation increment adjustment will automatically cascade forward through the years up until the current calendar year.
You may contact Susan Kosa at Susan.Kosa@csc.nj.gov with questions about this process.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- After the Vacation Increment(s) are awarded, what happens in the scenario where an employee loses Vacation Days due to the Maximum Vacation Carry Forward?
Answer: The Vacation Days lost due to the Maximum Vacation Carry Forward rule will be lost for good. The employee is not eligible for any compensation for the lost Vacation Days.
- How are retired/separated employees who had Workers’ Compensation leaves on or after August 13, 2014 treated?
Answer: Personnel actions having retroactive effective dates shall only apply to employees who remain on a State payroll on the date the retroactive adjustment is processed.
- An employee is still on a continuous Workers’ Compensation leave as of the implementation date. How should this be handled?
Answer: It is recommended that the Appointing Authority wait until the employee returns to work from the Workers’ Compensation leave before making any manual adjustments to the employee’s Days Not In Service and Adjusted Service Start Date. It will be easier to do this calculation once when all the Workers’ Compensation days have been recorded and accounted for.
Adjusted Service Start Date Revision Example 1:
Employee John Doe began State Service on October 22, 2012. His Adjusted Service Start Date is March 14, 2013, due to a combination of Unpaid Leaves of Absences and Unpaid Workers’ Compensation Leaves of Absences. On January 1, 2018, he received a Vacation increase from 12 to 15 Days.
A Business Objects report indicates that the employee was on unpaid Workers’ Compensation leaves on the following dates:
- Wednesday, September 10, 2014 through Thursday, November 13, 2014. He returned to work on Friday, November 14, 2014. His regular days off are Saturday and Sunday each week. (This amounts to 47 Workers’ Compensation days recorded on the employee’s timesheet in 2014).
- Friday, May 1, 2015 through Wednesday, July 1, 2015. He returned to work on Thursday, July 2, 2015. His regular days off are Saturday and Sunday each week. (This amounts to 43 Workers’ Compensation days recorded on the employee’s timesheet in 2015).
- Total Unpaid Workers’ Compensation Days: 90 total days off for Workers’ Compensation on the employee’s timesheets in 2014 and 2015. 47 Days in 2014 and 43 Days in 2015.
- In this example, assume there were also 16 Non-Pay Status Days in 2014 that were not recorded as Workers’ Compensation Days. They will have no impact on the Adjusted Service Start Date Revision.
In order to recalculate the employee’s revised Adjusted Service Start Date so as not to deduct Workers’ Compensation leave, the total number of Workers’ Compensation days must be determined. In this example, the total is 90 days.
The 90 unpaid Workers’ Compensation days must be granted back to the employee’s continuous service for vacation accrual. This will be done by entering -90 in the “Modify Days Not in Service” field on the Employee Maintenance Screen. After this is done, the Adjusted Service Start Date will be automatically updated and will automatically account for all weekend days and regular days off.
The revised Adjusted Service Start Date is now November 7, 2012. The employee must now be awarded 15 Vacation Days on January 1, 2017. Note that the employee was already awarded 15 Vacation Days on January 1, 2018.
A manual adjustment must be done to retroactively award John Doe with 15 Vacation Days in 2017. The Vacation Days Carry Forward Balance from 2017 to 2018 will be automatically adjusted. The employee will receive his next future vacation increment from 15 to 20 Vacation Days on January 1, 2024.
Adjusted Service Start Date Revision Example 2:
Employee Jane Smith began State Service on November 15, 1999. Her Adjusted Service Start Date is January 8, 2000, due to an Unpaid Workers’ Compensation Leave of Absence in 2014. She has already received a Vacation Increase from 15 to 20 Vacation Days, which were awarded on January 1, 2011 and she has received 20 Vacation Days each subsequent calendar year after that to the present year.
A Business Objects report indicates that the employee was on unpaid Workers’ Compensation leave on the following dates:
- Wednesday, July 23, 2014 through Monday, September 15, 2014. She returned to work on Tuesday, September 16, 2014. Her regular days off are Saturday and Sunday each week. (This amounts to 40 Workers’ Compensation days recorded on the employee’s timesheet in 2014).
- Total Unpaid Workers’ Compensation Days: 40 total days off for Workers’ Compensation on the employee’s timesheets in 2014.
In order to recalculate the employee’s revised Adjusted Service Start Date so as not to deduct Workers’ Compensation leave, the total number of Workers’ Compensation calendar days must be determined. In this example, the total is 40 days. Note that the entire Workers’ Compensation Leave will be included since August 13, 2014 falls in between the Leave Begin Date and the Leave End Date and it is a continuous leave.
The 40 unpaid Workers’ Compensation days must be granted back to the employee’s continuous service for vacation accrual. This will be done by entering -40 in the “Modify Days Not in Service” field on the Employee Maintenance Screen. After this is done, the Adjusted Service Start Date will be automatically updated and will automatically account for all weekend days and regular days off.
The revised Adjusted Service Start Date is now November 15, 1999.
The employee was already awarded her increase from 15 to 20 Vacation Days on January 1, 2011, so no manual Benefit Adjustments are currently required for this employee. The employee will be awarded her next future vacation increment from 20 to 25 Vacation Days on January 1, 2019.
Adjusted Service Start Date Revision Example 3:
Employee Joe Jones began State Service on February 22, 2012. His Adjusted Service Start Date is July 15, 2012, due to a combination of Unpaid Leaves of Absences and Unpaid Workers’ Compensation Leaves of Absences. On January 1, 2017, he received a Vacation increase from 12 to 15 Vacation Days and he received 15 Vacation Days in 2018 as well.
A Business Objects report indicates that the employee was on unpaid Workers’ Compensation leaves on the following dates:
- Wednesday, September 10, 2014 through Thursday, November 13, 2014. He returned to work on Friday, November 14, 2014. His regular days off are Saturday and Sunday each week. (This amounts to 47 Workers’ Compensation days recorded on the employee’s timesheet in 2014).
- Friday, May 1, 2015 through Wednesday, July 1, 2015. He returned to work on Thursday, July 2, 2015. His regular days off are Saturday and Sunday each week. (This amounts to 43 Workers’ Compensation days recorded on the employee’s timesheet in 2015).
- Total Unpaid Workers’ Compensation Days: 90 total days off for Workers’ Compensation on the employee’s timesheets in 2014 and 2015. 47 Days in 2014 and 43 Days in 2015.
- For the purposes of this example, there were also 16 Non Pay Status Days that were not recorded as Workers’ Compensation Days and therefore, will have no impact on the Adjusted Service Start Date Revision.
In order to recalculate the employee’s revised Adjusted Service Start Date so as not to deduct Workers’ Compensation leave, the total number of Workers’ Compensation calendar days must be determined. In this example, the total is 90 days.
The 90 unpaid Workers’ Compensation days must be granted back to the employee’s continuous service for vacation accrual. This will be done by entering -90 in the “Modify Days Not in Service” field on the Employee Maintenance Screen. After this is done, the Adjusted Service Start Date will be automatically updated and will automatically account for all weekend days and regular days off.
The revised Adjusted Service Start Date is now March 9, 2012.
The employee was already awarded his increase from 12 to 15 Vacation Days on January 1, 2017, so no manual Benefit Adjustments are currently required for this employee. The employee will be awarded his next future vacation increment from 15 to 20 Vacation Days on January 1, 2024.
[1] Only Workers’ Compensation leaves which began on or after August 13, 2014 shall be credited back to the employee’s continuous service and vacation leave accrual. If August 13, 2014 occurs in the middle of a continuous Workers’ Compensation leave, then the entire leave shall be credited to the employee’s continuous service. Any other Workers’ Compensation leaves which began and ended prior to the August 13, 2014 date are not included and may be evaluated on a case by case basis on appeal to the Commission.
