BSC Emergency Assistance

To assist the Business Services Center (BSC) customer agencies with responding to an emergency situation, we are providing the following guidance. This applies to situations when the Governor declares a state of emergency or when an agency needs to respond to an unexpected event that requires immediate action. While BSC staff is prepared to respond to customer needs 24 hours per day, in those cases when there is advance warning of a potential emergency, agencies should immediately review these procedures to ensure they are prepared before they need to respond.

Travel cards are used to reserve lodging for the cardholder. If an employee does not have a travel card and is required to immediately travel in response to the state of emergency, the following options are available, in this order:

1. The agency issues a travel advance from an agency advance account. Generally, agency advance accounts are checking accounts. A check is written to the employee who cashes the check and uses cash for lodging and meals. Travel advances are reconciled by the agency.
2. If the agency has a NET (Non-Employee Travel) card, it may be used for lodging in emergency situations only. The standard process to reconcile NET card charges is followed.
3. The agency may make arrangements with a hotel in advance to book a block of rooms and request the hotel direct bill the agency. The bill is then processed as an accounts payable voucher.
4. If none of the above options are available, travel expenses may be charged to the travel card of a coworker that is also responding to the emergency.
5. The traveler may use a personal credit card or cash and submit for full reimbursement by completing an expense report.

Agencies should procure needed goods or services via a P-Card whenever possible. To request an increase to a P-Card, follow the procedure detailed above in "Credit Cards." If the vendor will not accept a P-Card, request the needed goods or services directly from the vendor and submit a requisition as soon as practical to the BSC purchasing unit following standard procedures. In addition, please request expedited processing of the order by notifying the BSC purchasing unit at [email protected] and a purchase order will be issued as soon as possible. If the vendor requires a procurement document up front, print the requisition from SFS and provide it to the vendor as proof of the order.

In the event of a state of emergency, agencies receiving BSC HR services are asked to send HCM templates for critical transactions only. Critical transactions are defined as hiring, retirement or termination, and any other transaction required to avoid an over or absence of payment. In the event that HCM is nonfunctional, printable versions of these templates will be provided along with procedural instructions. For HCM operations questions regarding templates or transactions please contact [email protected].

In the event that LATS-NY is nonfunctional, please have employees manually track their time until the system is operational. In the case of prolonged outages, the BSC will provide printable blank time cards along with procedural instructions. Please contact the BSC with questions on completing timesheets or problems with LATS-NY at [email protected].