Information for Department of Labor Employees

Below is critical information for Department of Labor employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please be sure to check this page regularly.

For the latest information and resources on COVID-19, visit the NYS Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

NYSDOL Continuity of Operations Plan for a State Disaster Emergency Involving a Communicable Disease

UIAB Continuity of Operations Plan for a State Disaster Emergency Involving a Communicable Disease

Updated 6/14/2022

The NYS Office of Employee Relations announced the weekly testing program for unvaccinated State employees will be suspended effective Tuesday June 7, 2022. Given the wide availability of tests, all employees are encouraged to continue testing through home tests or at testing locations which can be found by using the search tool at the New York State Department of Health's website.

Employees should continue to comply with the obligation to submit test results for COVID-19 during the seven-day period that ends June 7. Thereafter, until further notice, employees do not need to test weekly pursuant to the state testing program.

Employees who test positive, are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, or feel that they have been exposed to COVID-19, should continue to follow the latest isolation and quarantine guidance from New York State Department of Health.

Questions that are not addressed by a careful reading of L-Memo 15-21 on the DOL intranet may be submitted to [email protected]

NY State Employee COVID-19 Vaccination Proof (DOL)

Pursuant to ongoing NYS Office of Employee Relations direction, all DOL employees are required to submit proof of vaccination to the Employee Vaccination Submission Portal.

Employee Vaccination Submission Portal
The Office of Information Technology Services has created a secure portal at covidsubmit.ny.gov that allows you to submit proof of COVID-19 vaccination. It also allows agencies to review that proof against rosters of employees.

The following provides information on how to submit proof of COVID-19 vaccination:

Proof of vaccination is done by either:

• Scanning or uploading your Excelsior Pass/Excelsior Pass Plus QR Code, or
• Uploading a picture of your CDC Vaccination Card

Other acceptable documentation that can be uploaded includes:

• A copy of your NYIIS/CIR (New York State Immunization Information System/Citywide Immunization Registry) record, or
• A copy of your Electronical Medical Record from your provider.

Portal Instructions

1. Navigate to https://covidsubmit.ny.gov/ (on any internet-connected device: phone, tablet, computer)
2. Click the “Submit Vaccination Proof” button
3. Complete the following:

• Mandatory Information
  • Your Agency (Department of Labor)
  • Your Employee Type (A NYS Employee)
  • Your employee number including the leading “N”
  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Date of Birth
  • Work Email
  • Group (populate with Division Name – i.e., DEWS, UI, etc.)
  • Work Location (City or Town Name)
  • Vaccination Proof Type (Excelsior Pass or CDC Card)

• Upload or Scan your Proof
  • For Excelsior Pass – Scan or Upload
  • For CDC Card/Provider Medical Record – Take Photo or Upload

• Review the information you have provided, attest that the information is accurate and true, and submit.

Troubleshooting
If you are having trouble accessing the application, please make sure your browser is supported, or try using a different device. You may use a personal computer or mobile device, if desired.

Supported Browsers:

• Google Chrome
• Safari
• Microsoft Edge
• Firefox

Camera
Features that require a camera, such as taking a photo and scanning, work best on mobile devices.

For assistance with Excelsior Pass/Excelsior Pass Plus, go to http://on.ny.gov/epass-help.

You can access the portal from your work computer or from your own personal device. You can use office equipment to scan a copy of your CDC vaccination card (or other acceptable information) and sign up for Excelsior Pass from your work computer.

Other than for the use of the portal to upload vaccination information during your regular work hours, no time spent uploading the information is compensable.

Information submitted to the portal is subject to review and verification, if necessary, by DOL Human Resources, for the purpose of matching submitted records to existing agency employees. Be cooperative with any outreach efforts from Human Resources staff.

Unvaccinated employees who want to get vaccinated should visit https://covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov to learn how to make an appointment at either a State-run vaccination site or other vaccination sites.

You are eligible for paid leave from your job to become vaccinated. Information on that paid leave is available at https://www.cs.ny.gov/attendance_leave/PolBull21-01-a.cfm.

Questions
Questions and concerns should be raised through your supervisor and/or by contacting DOL COVID Unit at [email protected]

Updated: February 10, 2022

Consistent with recently released Governor’s office of Employee Relations (GOER) guidance, Department of Labor (DOL) is providing staff with an update regarding applicable COVID-19 health precautions.

Effective Friday, February 11, 2022: In light of the recently changed mask requirements for businesses and indoor settings, the mandatory mask policy for agencies in State leased or owned space will be rescinded. As a result, persons at all DOL locations may choose whether or not to wear a mask (regardless of vaccination status), provided they are not otherwise subject to a county/local mask mandate and/or other requirement for masking in the workplace. Such requirements would remain in effect.

Masks will continue to be made available for employees. Contact your local PPE coordinator or supervisor for information.

If you have questions, please contact the DOL Office of Employee Relations at [email protected] or 518-457-6651.

Updated: January 25, 2022 with 2022 Paid Family Leave Rate Increase 

The Paid Family Leave (PFL) provides eligible employees (currently only M/C who meet criteria), paid time off to:

• Bond with a newly born, adopted or fostered child,
• Care for a family member with a serious health condition, or
• Assist loved ones when a spouse, domestic partner, child or parent is deployed abroad on active military service.

It also provides the following protections:

• Job protection
• Continued health insurance
• Protectionfrom discrimination or retaliation

The New York State Department of Financial Services announced the 2022 premium rate and the maximum weekly employee contribution for Paid Family Leave coverage to be 0.511% (0.00511) of employees’ weekly wage. The maximum employee premium deduction for Paid Family Leave in 2022 will be $423.71 per year. This will be effective for all 2022 paychecks beginning January 5, 2022.

For any questions regarding PFL, please contact Personnel at [email protected]

Updated 12/27/2021

The Governor’s Office of Employee Relations has announced two important updates to the Flexible Spending Accounts:

• Health Care Spending Account Carryover for Plan Year 2021
  Employees will now be able to use up to $550 of monies remaining in their 2021 Health Care Spending Account (HCSA) towards eligible expenses incurred during the 2022 calendar year. Employees must be enrolled as of December 31, 2021 for carryover to occur. The last day to submit claims is March 31, 2023.


• Dependent Care Advantage Account Grace Period Extended
  The grace period for the 2020 Dependent Care Advantage Account (DCAA) plan year has been extended. The 2020 plan year now covers expenses incurred between January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2021. Employees may seek reimbursement for children who turned 13 during the 2020 plan year. The last day to submit DCAA claims is January 31, 2022 for expenses incurred January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2021 from 2020 DCAAs.

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected] or call WageWorks/Health Equity at 1-800-358-7202.

Please be aware that the HCSA carryover is available now. Employees will see the carryover when they log in to their FSA account. The DCAA modification will be available online in the next few days; employee should not submit claims until then. WageWorks/Health Equity will notify participants of these changes directly.

The New York State and Public Employees Federation (PEF) Professional Development Committee (PDC) are pleased to announce the availability of the following reimbursement programs for PEF-represented employees:

• College Tuition Reimbursement (CTR) Program
• Nurses’ Enhanced College Tuition Reimbursement (NECTR) Program
• Workshop and Seminar Reimbursement (WSR) Program
• Nurses’ Enhanced Workshop and Seminar Reimbursement (NEWSR) Program
• Certification and Licensure Exam Fee Reimbursement (CLEFR) Program
• Certification and License Renewal Fee Reimbursement (CLRFR) Pilot Program

These programs provide reimbursement for qualifying courses, events, exams, and certification or license renewal fees at any approved provider. Complete program guidelines are available at goer.ny.gov/public-employees-federation-afl-cio-pef. Here you will find a summary of the programs where interested employees can visit for further information, full program guidelines, and printable application forms.

Updated 11/5/2021

The Governor’s Office of Employee Relations has authorized that all unused annual leave can now be carried through December 31, 2022. All affected employees may disregard the notification banner displayed in LATS-NY which advises employees of a loss of vacation accruals to occur at close of business December 31, 2021, for Management Confidential (M/C) employees and March 31, 2022 for CSEA, and September 30, 2022 for NYSCOPBA employees.

The BSC will extend leave carryover as appropriate for all eligible employees through December 31, 2022 in LATS-NY.

Employees should see extended time in the “Vacation20” leave bucket on their timesheets once the following has occurred:

• M/C Employees: Administrative timesheets ending on January 5th, 2022 are submitted, approved, and processed. The excess vacation accruals will be available in LATS-NY the week of January 17th, 2022, for employee timesheets submitted and approved by January 10th, 2022.
• CSEA and PEF employees: Administrative timesheets ending on April 13th, 2022 are submitted, approved, and processed. The excess vacation accruals will be available in LATS-NY the week of April 25th, 2022, for employee timesheets submitted and approved by April 18th, 2022.
• NYSCOBA employees: Administrative timesheets ending on October 12th, 2022 are submitted, approved, and processed. The excess vacation accruals will be available in LATS-NY the week of October 24th, 2022 for employee timesheets submitted and approved by October 17th, 2022.

If you have any questions, please contact the Business Service Center at [email protected] or use the online BSC Help Center at https://nys-ogs.custhelp.com/app/home.

Updated: May 28, 2021

Please be aware that the NYS Cyber Command Center has seen an increase in reported phishing attempts through various communication channels, including email, online postings, text (SMiShing) or phone (vishing).

Malicious actors, masquerading as legitimate NYS and federal government and contracted entities, use these messages to collect personal information from victims and often include logos and other materials taken from legitimate government or vendor-related websites.

Recent examples include voicemail, text messages and emails asking recipients to update their username and password for various accounts, directing recipients to click a link to access files or information related to their jobs or to current events, or to access fax transmissions purporting to be shared by NYS employees or other known partners.

Many of these messages appear at first to be legitimate from Microsoft or Agency Support, but they often include warning banners, misspellings, or other red flags that should alert users to be cautious.

What to look for:

Remember that if a message is unexpected or just does not feel right, there is a good chance it could be a phishing attempt. We encourage you to remain vigilant and adopt the following best practices to protect our network and your agency's sensitive data:

• Pay special attention to email messages that include an orange and yellow warning banner at the top.  If this banner is present, it indicates that the email came from an external source even if it claims to be from someone within a state agency. Email from NYS agencies within our O365 environment will not include this banner.
• Inspect the sender’s information to confirm the message was generated from a legitimate source by ensuring that the email address in parenthesis on the "From" line is consistent with the displayed "From" address.
• Use your mouse to hover over links in email messages to confirm that the URL matches that of a legitimate site before clicking. Do NOT click on any links from an unknown sender or unexpected email, and be suspicious of unsolicited phone calls, visits, or email messages from unknown individuals claiming to be from a legitimate organization.

For more information on phishing scams, visit the NYS Office of Information Technology Services Cyber Security resources page at: https://its.ny.gov/resources – (click the "Phishing Awareness" tab). You can also visit the following website from CISA: Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks - https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/tips/ST04-014.

If you are in receipt of a phishing email/text/voicemail, simply delete it and no further action is necessary. If you have inadvertently clicked on a link or opened an email attachment that seems malicious, please contact the NYS Cyber Command Center at [email protected] or (518) 242-5045. If you have provided any personal information, such as a Social Security number or banking information, we encourage you to report the incident to your local police department. In addition, you can visit https://www.identitytheft.gov/#/Info-Lost-or-Stolen for tips on what steps you can take to protect yourself from identity theft.

All Employee Responsibilities:

Continually monitor all forms of DOL communication 

• Provide alternate contact information to supervisor (phone # and email)

• Reference instructions and videos on this site: https://its.ny.gov/working-remotely, including:
  • Request and utilize an RSA token
  • Fill out if not already completed https://password.ny.gov/PMUser/
• Connect to 0365 Microsoft Office online
• Connect to MS Teams
• Monitor Outlook email and MS Teams communication throughout the workday
• Whenever working remotely, forward your work desk telephone to your work cell phone or home telephone following these instructions.
• Complete LATS entries (https://time07.lats.ny.gov/default.aspx?redirect=y) and submit LATS timesheet after each pay period
• Follow the telecommuting guidelines, including submitting a work plan to your supervisor, before your workday, on at least a weekly basis

Supervisor Responsibilities:

• Ensure staff are connected to 0365 Microsoft Office online
• Ensure staff are connected to MS Teams
• Provide tasks for staff to complete while working remotely
• Staff who are unavailable to work while at home due to illness (other than COVID-related illnesses), appointments, or other reasons for unavailability, must charge their accruals

Your status as an essential or non-essential employee can change daily. Please be prepared to return to your DOL workstation.

Updated: May 1, 2020

The Governor’s Office of Employee Relations recently provided clarification to State Agencies regarding the calculation of overtime related to COVID-19 as follows:

There have been questions about the calculation of overtime in extra service and out of title work assignments related to COVID-19, the following information is provided to inform you about how the State is calculating this overtime.

Any extra service or out of title overtime earned in a position allocated to a salary grade other than your regular position, including work in DOL and DOH call centers or any other aspect of COVID-19 response, shall be computed in accordance with Budget Bulletin G-1024, for overtime eligible employees, and Budget Bulletin H-0501, for overtime ineligible employees in salary grades 23 through 27/M2.

Under Budget Bulletin G-1024 for overtime eligible employees, when the out-of-title or extra service is worked in an overtime eligible position which is allocated to a higher or lower salary grade than the employee’s regular overtime eligible position, the employee will be paid at an overtime rate which is based on the average regular hourly rate for the two positions or, with the employee’s advance agreement, the actual regular hourly rate of the position for which the type of work is performed plus any longevities. When computing the average regular hourly rate in a lower graded position, the calculation shall include the maximum salary of the lower graded position plus longevity increments, if applicable. When computing the average hourly rate in a higher graded position, the calculation shall include the rate of compensation the employee would otherwise be entitled if permanently promoted to the higher position.

Under Budget Bulletin H-0501, which covers emergency overtime for employees in salary grades 23-27/M2, if the extra service position is allocated to a salary grade lower than the employee’s regular position, the overtime calculation shall be based on the maximum salary of the lower grade position plus longevity increments in such lower grade position. If the extra service position is allocated to a higher salary grade than the employee’s regular position, the overtime calculation shall be based on the rate of compensation the employee would be entitled if permanently promoted to the higher position. Please note that Budget Bulletin H-0501 requires that overtime payment to employees in salary grades 23 through 27/M-2 can only be made for hours of work directly attributable to COVID-19 preparedness and response.

Updated: 4/7/2020

The unfortunate reality of the current COVID-19 emergency is that some New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) members may become seriously, or even fatally, ill. At a time like this, it is vitally important members understand how to apply for retirement, if they need to take that step. Here is some guidance:

NYSLRS members who become seriously ill from the COVID-19 virus may wish to file for retirement in order to provide a continuing pension benefit to their beneficiary if they were to die, rather than the one-time, in-service death benefit.

Members, or their employer on their behalf, need to file the disability retirement application that is appropriate for his or her retirement plan. Select “Find Your Application” on the NYSLRS website to help you find the right application (scroll down on the web page). Additionally, the member, or the member’s spouse, should file a pension payment option election form to identify a beneficiary to receive the continuing benefit. An option election form cannot be filed by the employer.

Application and option election forms can be emailed directly to NYSLRS’ Disability Processing Unit.

Eligible members may also file for a service retirement. Please see the NYSLRS website for more detailed information.

Updated: 3/17/2020

All paychecks (including both pay stubs and physical paper checks) dated 3/18/2020 and beyond will be mailed to the address on the paycheck until further notice.

Employees should verify their address on their pay check/pay stub is correct. If you need to update your address, please complete this form: https://bsc.ogs.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2021/02/personal_data_change_form.pdf and email it to [email protected].

Direct Deposit

The Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) encourages all employees paid through the New York State Payroll System to enroll in direct deposit. Enrolling in direct deposit will help ensure employees are able to safely access their payroll funds. An informational pamphlet is available on the OSC internet page at: https://www.osc.state.ny.us/payroll/files/dir_dep_broch.pdf.

To enroll in direct deposit, employees must complete the Direct Deposit Form for NYS Employees (AC-2772) and submit it to [email protected]. Note that it typically takes two pay periods for a direct deposit request to process and begin receiving direct deposit into the bank account identified.

Link to AC-2772: https://www.osc.state.ny.us/payroll/files/ac2772.pdf.