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USPS Process Guide –
Chapter 10: Special Pays –
HTPSA – Adjusting Special Pays

Screen: HTPSA
Prerequisites:

Employee must have a status code of 01, 02, or 03 on H0BUS.

Note: If the status code is 07, you must change the status to 03 on H0BUS.
Key Fields: AGENCY, EMPLOYEE SSN, PAGE NUMBER
Note: You may use HTPSA in the following situations:
  • When recouping an overpayment of special pay to which the employee is no longer entitled. (If an employee repays an overpayment by personal check, however, use HTMU1 and follow the procedures for returned money as explained in Chapter 11.)
  • When the original payment was issued as the wrong special pay and must be corrected.
  • When a special pay has been paid and taxed in the wrong tax period.

When entering an adjustment on this screen, the employee’s accumulators (H0A, H0B, H10) are updated that night. Earnings history (H0H) for the transaction, however, is not written until the next final payroll is processed. If a final payroll is not processed on the same night the HTPSA was entered, the transactions go into the pending file until a final payroll is run. DO NOT delete these 400 through 6XX transactions off of the pending file.

Step Action
1 Access HTPSA.
2 Enter I in the SUBCOMMAND field.
3 Enter the following fields as required:
AGENCY (Key)
EMPLOYEE SSN (Key)
PAGE NUMBER (Key)
Enter a new page number for each adjustment.

503 Transaction/Row

Note: Enter the 503 transaction fields to record the original payment information.

REF NO (Display)
The USPS-assigned reference number for this transaction.
PYMT DT (Required)
Enter the date the original payment was issued. If adjusting more than one payment record, enter the latest payment issue date.
BEG DTE/END DT (Required)
Enter the pay period begin and end date for the special pay being adjusted.
REAS (Optional)
A user-defined, alphanumeric value identifying the reason for the transaction.
NET (Required)
Enter the net amount of the adjustment. Enter a value in this field only if either paying or recouping a special pay.

Note: All amount fields on this screen assume two decimal places.

+ (Adjustment Indicator) (Required on this row)
Enter the type of adjustment to be made. If net does not equal zero, enter P or M. If net equals zero, enter + or –. Enter the same set of indicators throughout the transaction set.
P Pays on the next regular payroll
M Subtracts from the next regular payroll
+ Adds this amount to the appropriate periods’ net accumulators (does not generate a payment)
– Subtracts this amount from the appropriate periods’ accumulators (does not reduce a payment)

Note: An indicator of P or M affects payment to the employee and goes through USAS. Both generating a payment (P) to an active or terminated employee, and generating a recoupment (M) from an active employee must be done on a regular payroll.

The + and – indicators do not generate payment; they only adjust accumulators. They do, however, affect reporting totals for the tax period(s) that are indicated in the Y field. Be aware of this when entering adjustments for periods that have already been reported.

Y (Optional)
Indicates which tax period's accumulators to adjust.
Blank field year-, quarter-, and month-to-date accumulators (Default – this value is used in most cases)
Y Year-to-date accumulators only
Q Year- and quarter-to-date accumulators only
P Prior quarter accumulators only
C Year-to-date and prior quarter accumulators only

Note: Enter the same indicator in each Y field throughout this transaction set.

400 Transaction Row

This row is not necessary for adjusting special pays.

500 Transaction Row

ST/L (Optional)

Enter this field only if payments were made in the wrong state or locality (if income taxes apply), and the payment needs to be moved to the correct state or locality.

The first two digits designate the state code; the second two digits designate the local taxing district. These codes are established and maintained on H0BUD and H0ATX. See Appendix K – Local, State, and Federal Codes for valid values.

Note: If an employee was paid and taxed in the wrong state and/or locality, two pages of transactions must be created. One page must contain the incorrect state/local code that was reported, using the – indicator, and the other page must contain the correct taxing district(s) using the + indicator.

FIT (Optional)

Amount of federal income tax to be adjusted with this transaction.

Note: If the adjustment is being made outside of regular pay (on a supplemental), withhold FIT from the payment and enter a P indicator in the + field. If the payment is added to the regular pay, entering taxes is not required. The system includes this special pay as taxable income when calculating federal income tax.

OASDI (Optional)
Amount of OASDI tax to be adjusted with this transaction.
HI (Optional)

Amount of Medicare tax to be adjusted with this transaction.

Note: If the employee is active, entering the tax fields is not necessary. This manual pay set adjusts OASDI and Medicare wages, and the taxes self-adjust on the next regular pay. If the employee is terminated, entering values in the tax fields is recommended.

SIT (Optional)
Amount of state income tax to withhold from this payment.
LOCAL (Optional)
Amount of local tax to withhold from payment, if applicable.
GROSS (Optional)
This amount must equal the amount of the special pay.
+ (Adjustment Indicator) (Required on this row)

Enter the same indicator as entered in the 503 row.

Note: A value is always required in this field of the 500 row, even if every other field on this transaction row is blank.

Y (Optional)
The same indicator as entered in the 503 row.

6XX Transaction/Row (First 6XX Row)

SP NO (Required)
Enter the special pay number to be paid, recouped, or adjusted. Special pay numbers are defined on H0WCP.
ST/LOC (Optional)
The same state or local code(s) as entered in the 500 row.
DPT/SEC (Optional)
Overrides the last five characters of the organization code assigned to the position on HNPU1.
DATE FROM (Optional)

The date the pay period begins. If this field remains blank, the system defaults to the value from the PERIOD BEG DT field on the 503 transaction.

Note: This field is required if your agency has a value of Y in the VALIDATE PCA field on H0CUS, or if you are overriding the last five characters of the organization code.

DATE TO (Optional)

The date the pay period ends. If this field remains blank, the system defaults to the value from the PERIOD END DATE field on the 503 transaction.

Note: This field is required if your agency has a value of Y in the VALIDATE PCA field on H0CUS or if you are overriding the last five characters of the organization code.

SP PAY HOURS (Optional)
Enter only if the special pay is based on hours.
SP PAY AMOUNT (Required)

Enter the dollar amount of the special pay.

Note: This field holds amounts up to $999.99. Multiple entries are required if the amount exceeds $999.99.

LABOR DISTRIB CODE (Optional)

Defaults to the current primary PCA (or index) and position, but you may override this value.

Note: If your agency has a value of Y in the VALIDATE PCA field on H0CUS, the Program Cost Account/index must be valid for the organization code on HMMU1 for the DATE FROM and DATE TO entered on HTPSA.

+ (Adjustment Indicator) (Required)

If increasing or reducing a special pay, enter the same indicator that was entered in the 503 and 500 rows. If correcting a past payment with the correct special pay code, enter the appropriate + or – indicator.

Example: An employee was paid comp per diem and should have been paid partial per diem. Enter offsetting 6XX indicators of + and – to “back out” the comp and increase the partial.

Y (Optional)
The same indicator as entered in the 503 and 500 rows.

6XX Transaction/Row (Second 6XX Row)

Note: Make an entry on this row only if adjusting more than one special pay is necessary or if offsetting the payment of an incorrect special pay with the correct special pay code.

If adjusting more than one special pay, enter the same fields and indicators as on the first 6XX row. If offsetting an incorrect special pay with the correct one, the amount appears the same on both rows, but one row has a + indicator and the other row has a – indicator.

SP NO (Required)
Enter the additional (or correct) special pay number. Special pay numbers are defined on H0WCP.
ST LOC (Optional)
Enter the same state or local code(s) as entered in the 500 row.
DPT/SEC (Optional)
Overrides the last five characters of the organization code assigned to the position on HNPU1.
DATE FROM (Optional)

The beginning date of the pay period. If this field is blank, the system defaults to the value from the PERIOD BEG DATE field on the 503 transaction.

Note: This field is required if your agency has a value of Y in the VALIDATE PCA field on H0CUS or if you are overriding the last five characters of the organization code.

DATE TO (Optional)

The ending date of the pay period. If this field is blank, the system defaults to the value from the PERIOD END DATE field on the 503 transaction.

Note: This field is required if your agency has a value of Y in the VALIDATE PCA field on H0CUS or if you are overriding the last five characters of the organization code.

SP PAY HOURS (Optional)
Enter only if the special pay is based on hours.
SP PAY AMOUNT (Required)

Enter the dollar amount of the special pay.

Note: This field holds amounts up to $999.99. Multiple entries are required if the amount exceeds $999.99.

LABOR DISTRIB CODE (Optional)

Defaults to the current primary PCA (or index) and position, but you may override this value.

Note: If your agency has a value of Y in the VALIDATE PCA field on H0CUS, the PCA/index must be valid for the organization code on HMMU1 for the DATE FROM and DATE TO entered on HTPSA.

+ (Adjustment Indicator) (Required)

If increasing or reducing a special pay, enter the same indicator as entered in the 503 and 500 rows. If correcting a past payment with the correct special pay code, enter the appropriate + or – indicator.

Example: An employee was paid comp per diem and should have been paid partial per diem. Enter offsetting 6XX indicators of + and – to “back out” the comp and increase the partial.

Y (Optional)

The same indicator as entered in the 503 and 500 rows.

Note: Enter additional pages if adjusting more than two special pays for the same employee is necessary.
4

Press Enter to process the transaction.

Note: This transaction only processes if it is balanced. TAXES + NET must equal TOTAL PAYS, which must equal GROSS. If a fatal error message displays, see the values of these fields at the bottom of the screen and correct as necessary.