Brevard Public Schools
Office of Non-bargaining Services
2016-17
Non-Bargaining
Salary Administration Handbook
Revised: July 27, 2016
Contents
I. PURPOSE OF THIS HANDBOOK - 3 -
II. OBJECTIVES OF A SALARY ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM - 3 -
III. SALARY ADMINISTRATION PHILOSOPHY - 4 -
IV. PROCESS OVERVIEW - 4 -
V. JOB DESCRIPTIONS - 4 -
VI. SALARY RANGES - 5 -
VII. SALARY SURVEYS - 6 -
VIII. SALARY ADMINISTRATION - 6 -
Salary Adjustments - 6 -
Creation of a New Position - 9 -
Reclassification - 9 -
Salary Negotiations - 10 -
Responsibilities - 10 -
Exceptions - 11 -
Movement from Teaching to a Non-bargaining Position - 11 -
Movement from L1010 or Professional/Technical to a Non-bargaining Position - 11 -
Supplements - 11 -
Minimum Wage - 11 -
Overtime and Compensatory Time Off - 11 -
Earned Service - 12 -
Appeals process - 12 -
Change in length of contract year - 12 -
Performance/Annual Increase - 12 -
In-service compensation - 12 -
IX. EQUITY REVIEW - 13 -
X. CALCULATIONS - 14 -
XI. GLOSSARY - 15 -
APPENDIX “A” - 17 -
APPENDIX “B” - 30 -
APPENDIX “C” - 36 -
APPENDIX “D” - 41 -
APPENDIX “E” - 43 -
- 2 -
I. PURPOSE OF THIS HANDBOOK
One of the most important Human Resource functions is salary administration. The basic mission of Human Resource Management is to obtain and retain a qualified and efficient work force. Pay is of central importance to our employees. It is the job of Human Resources Services, in conjunction with department management, to assure that our salary activities meet our goal of an effective, efficient, and motivated work force.
This handbook is a guide for all salary-related activities for Non-Bargaining employees. It explains the procedures for wage adjustments that might result from a variety of personnel actions including promotions, new hires, and transfers. Some procedures, such as job description development, apply to all employees of the District.
II. OBJECTIVES OF A SALARY ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM
The School Board of Brevard County is charged with the responsibility to “… adopt a salary schedule or salary schedules designed to furnish incentives for improvement in training and for continued efficient service to be used as a basis for paying all school employees and fix and authorize the compensation of school employees on the basis thereof.” 1012.22(1)(c), FS.
Beyond this statutory responsibility, the basic goal of any salary system is to support the Human Resource Management mission of obtaining and maintaining an effective, efficient, and motivated work force. The objective of a salary administration program is to create a system of rewards that is equitable to the employer and employee alike.
There are six criteria for effectiveness in a salary program:
1. Equitable: Each person is paid fairly. This means that pay is in line with an employee’s efforts, abilities, and training.
2. Balanced: Pay, benefits, and other rewards provide a reasonable total compensation package.
3. Cost Effective: Salaries are not excessive in light of what the organization can afford to pay.
4. Secure: Salaries are viewed by employees as sufficient to allow them to feel secure and aid them in satisfying their basic needs.
5. Incentive-providing: Pay levels motivate effective and productive work.
6. Acceptable to the employee: The employee understands the pay system and feels it is a reasonable system both for the organization and for the employee.
Salary administration must be viewed from a long-term perspective, with constant attention to overall equity and control of program integrity. The salary schedules and administrative procedures implemented by the School Board of Brevard County are designed to meet all of these criteria as well as fulfill the statutory obligation.
Salaries of all employees shall be determined by the Board on the recommendation of the Superintendent and shall be outlined in the annual salary schedule adopted by the Board.
III. SALARY ADMINISTRATION PHILOSOPHY
1. Our goal is to provide direct compensation at market value.
2. The appropriate time to establish a salary range is before the personnel action (hiring, promotion, salary adjustment, transfer, or demotion) is completed. The appropriate rate must be determined BEFORE salary is discussed with a candidate or employee.
3. Internal inequities will be evaluated and corrected as resources permit. A procedure for identification, evaluation, and correction is herein established and will be administered as established.
IV. PROCESS OVERVIEW
Job Description Draft
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Classification Determination
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Salary Range Determination ¬ Analysis of Salary Survey Data
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Grade Determination
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Individual Pay Recommendation ¬ Evaluation of Experience, Education, Skills, Abilities, Performance, and Responsibilities
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Equity Review ¬ Evaluation of same or similarly situated colleagues
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Individual Pay Determination
V. JOB DESCRIPTIONS
A job description outlines the tasks, duties, and responsibilities of a job, not the person currently performing the job. Job specifications detail the skills, knowledge, and abilities to perform the job in question. Our job specifications and the tasks, duties and responsibilities of a job are combined into one document. Our job descriptions also specify supervisory responsibility, physical demands, and other information relevant to the job.
Job descriptions support a wide variety of personnel-related activities. They are used to help define training needs, to support career counseling when discussing advancement possibilities with employees, in recruiting, for promotion and transfer, and for salary survey activities.
A written job description must be maintained for each position within the school system. A written job description is required whenever a personnel action of any type is proposed. All job descriptions must be approved by the Board before any use, publication, distribution, or personnel action can be taken.
In addition to updating job descriptions as needed to implement a personnel action, job descriptions will be reviewed periodically for accuracy and updated as necessary. Human Resources Services will be responsible for initiating this review process, however the position incumbent and the appropriate supervisor will be responsible for revising and updating documents as needed. In addition, the position incumbent and the appropriate supervisor may request job description revisions as necessary.
The steps taken to update an existing job description or create a new job description are as follows:
1. The need for a job description is identified. Grants, legal mandates, program requirements, Board direction, etc. may create the need.
2. Justification is submitted to Human Resources Services.
3. After review and the justification is approved:
a. Human Resources Services will request completion of a job description questionnaire, or requests a mark-up of the existing job description.
b. A Job Description Supplement form is completed by the incumbent or supervisor. Form templates are in the appendix of this handbook.
c. Human Resources Services, reviews draft documents and returns them for final review by the supervisor.
d. Changes are reviewed and the documents are returned to the supervisor for finalization.
e. Classification of the position is established by Human Resources Services.
f. The completed job description, to include all funding criteria, is taken to the Board for approval by Human Resources Services.
g. Upon approval by the Board, the job description is added to the web database maintained by Human Resources Services and the job is updated in the position control database.
Questionnaires are available to facilitate the development of new job descriptions. One questionnaire is used for management and professional jobs and a separate form for non-management positions. Copies of both questionnaires are in Appendix A. Appendix B is a copy of our job description form and supplement. The questionnaires, the job description form, and supplement are available from Human Resources Services and on the district website.
VI. SALARY RANGES
Our Non-bargaining salary system is market based. Each pay grade on the Non-bargaining Salary Schedule has a range of established dollar values. Minimums, midpoints and maximums are established for each grade. Dollar values can overlap adjacent pay grades. Both the spread and interval values are calculated with the goal of consistency throughout the schedule or portions thereof. The spread is the dollar value, expressed as a percentage of the minimum that exists between the minimum and the maximum for a specific range. The interval is the dollar value, expressed as a percentage, which exists between two adjacent ranges.
The salary paid for each position in a pay grade must fall between the minimum and maximum established for that pay grade. Salary schedules are adjusted periodically to account for inflation, changes in the external market, and changes in the cost of living. Administrative requirements may also create the need for salary structure adjustments.
The dollar ranges established for each pay grade are a function of an analysis of external market forces. The external market in which Brevard County Public Schools must compete for qualified individuals is our basis for comparison. Salary surveys are the primary method for obtaining this external market data.
VII. SALARY SURVEYS
A salary survey is nothing more than asking other school districts and organizations to share their salary schedules. Certain jobs are benchmarked and used for these surveys.
Benchmarking is a process of selecting a few representative jobs to serve as guides for the survey process. It would be impossible to survey every job in the school system. Great care is taken to ensure that the benchmarked jobs are similar in scope and responsibility within all the organizations being surveyed. At least one position from each pay grade is benchmarked for analysis. Ideally three positions in each pay grade are benchmarked. These positions are used as the standard for their ranges.
It is more common to share salary range data than to share actual salaries in a salary survey. Complete and up-to-date job descriptions are essential for accurate analysis of salary survey data. Longevity and educational requirements are also factored into the analysis to ensure that an accurate comparison is made. Salary surveys for Non-bargaining employees compare twelve-month positions, unless otherwise stated.
A wide variety of organizations conduct salary surveys including federal, state, and local governments; professional groups; and other school systems. Salary survey data we obtain from these sources are analyzed and compared to our salary schedules. We will conduct our own salary surveys as necessary. Human Resources Services is responsible for conducting salary surveys, for responding to requests for data for salary surveys, and for the analysis of data. This process allows us to remain competitive and equitable with the external labor market. The Board must approve changes in the Non-bargaining Salary Schedule.
VIII. SALARY ADMINISTRATION
Salary Adjustments
Salary Adjustments (other than periodic adjustments) are made in response to a personnel action or to correct an inequity. Promotions, transfers, demotions, and hiring someone from outside the school system are all personnel actions. Requests and/or recommendations for a salary adjustment are processed by Human Resources Services. Requests must be accompanied by all appropriate justifications (for example, a job description and an explanation of why the request is being made).
Salary adjustment requests for non-bargaining employees will be reviewed and approved by Human Resources Services prior to submission to the Superintendent for Board action. The request will be reviewed for both internal and external equity. It is the responsibility of the appropriate supervisor to prepare and submit to Human Resources Services the necessary forms and justifications when requesting any salary adjustment.
Employees’ salaries should not exceed the maximum and may not fall below the minimum of their established pay grades. Employees who are currently above the maximum of their ranges will be red-circled; employees whose salaries fall below the minimum of their salary range will be green-circled. Red-circled employees ordinarily will not receive a pay adjustment until they are reassigned to a different job, their job is reclassified, or the salary schedule is adjusted. Green-circled employees will receive special consideration and salary adjustments until their salaries are brought up to the minimum of their pay grade.
Human Resources Services is responsible for evaluating all salary adjustment requests and taking whatever action is appropriate. The Division will coordinate activities and take recommended actions to the Superintendent for Board approval.
1. Slotting: Slotting involves the determination of the individual salary level resulting from a hiring, promotion, transfer, or demotion activity. The market value of each salary range on the Non-bargaining Salary Schedule is the proper salary level for an individual who is fully functional in all aspects of his/her job. Typically, employees must meet or exceed all established job description criteria for the position in order to be considered eligible for a market value salary level. Movement to market value is NOT an automatic adjustment.
Education, experience, and current district and market conditions are evaluated when slotting individuals who are newly hired by the school district on the Non-bargaining salary schedule. It is important to remember that equity is the driving factor in all adjustments to salary. Equity issues may override experience and education considerations.
The slotting of employees who are promoted, transferred, or demoted is more difficult. Prior salary within the school system is a valid consideration for promotions, transfers and demotions, but experience and education may also be considered. An increase of 3-7% more than current base salary, based on education, experience, and the difference in salary grades between positions, or placement at the minimum of the new pay grade, whichever is higher, is the procedure to be used for placement.
Slotting a promotion, transfer, or demotion may require an analysis of all similarly situated employees as well as a review of the job descriptions for everyone in the applicable job classification in order to prevent inequities. The Human Resources Division is responsible for conducting equity analyses, initiating job description reviews, evaluating equity issues, and recommending non-bargaining salary decisions to the Superintendent for approval.
2. New Hires: New Hires are placed in the appropriate slot within a pay grade on the Non-bargaining Salary Schedule after consideration of their experience and education, the placement of similarly-situated existing employees, and the salaries of subordinates as well as superiors. Internal equity, external equity, and compression are all evaluated. All documents and employment verifications must be received in Human Resources Services no later than 45 calendar days following hire in order to be considered for adjusted placement on the salary schedule.