General Circular 1412

General Circular No. 001412

To: Heads of State Agencies and Human Resource Directors

Subject: Salary Calculations Beginning October 2, 2000

Issue Date: November 1, 2000

This circular contains an updated job aide on salary calculations for use by all agencies, regardless of the payroll system through which their employees are paid. These instructions will serve to enhance information that was provided to you during "Conversations With Allen Reynolds".

All pay calculations described in this job aide go into effect beginning October 2, 2000, which corresponds to the "go live" date of the new ISIS HR system. Any pay related action with an effective date of October 1, 2000 or prior should be calculated using the old calculation rules.

If you have inadvertently entered salary amounts using the old calculation rules during these first hectic weeks of conversion, it is not necessary for you to re-do those calculations. However, it is important that you begin to apply the new calculation rules immediately.

Please be aware as you implement the new rounding procedures that the amounts shown on the Civil Service Pay Grid and the ISIS HR "Salary Amounts" do not exactly match. There are a few cents difference between the two at certain points. The next time we issue a new pay grid, we will address this issue. This mismatch is within accepted tolerance levels and is NOT a problem.

IMPORTANT NOTE TO UPS AGENCIES:

Until ISIS HR Payroll is available, you will still enter a monthly rate into UPS. Please apply any salary increase or decrease calculations to the hourly rate of pay as described in the attached job aide, and enter this information into ISIS HR. Then, use the Salary / Monthly figure displayed in the ISIS HR Salary Amounts as the figure you enter into UPS. Please enter dollars and cents.

If you have any questions regarding this circular, please contact the Civil Service Help Desk at (225) 219-9441 (e-mail to cshelpdesk@dscs.state.la.us) or Judy McGimsey in the Compensation Division at (225) 342-8083
( jmcgimsey@dscs.state.la.us ).

Sincerely,

Allen H. Reynolds

Director

Attachment

JOB AIDE

CALCULATING PAY FOR CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEES

Note: All pay calculations described in this job aide go into effect beginning October 2, 2000, which corresponds to the "go live" date of the new ISIS HR system. Any pay related action with an effective date of October 1, 2000 or prior should be calculated using the old calculation rules.

FOR ALL AGENCIES REPORTING CLASSIFIED SALARY INFORMATION

Effective October 2, 2000, merits, promotions, reallocations, demotions and other pay related actions for ALL classified employees must be calculated from the employee’s HOURLY RATE of pay.

All Salary Amounts must be reported to Civil Service as a BIWEEKLY RATE for full time employees and an HOURLY RATE for part time employees. Salary reporting requirements are the same for agencies entering directly into ISIS HR, those sending information via electronic interface, or those sending information on paper documents.

Normal mathematical rounding will apply to all HOURLY RATES. Rounding should be done from the 3^rd decimal place.

Example 1: $10.524 = $10.52

Example 2: $10.525 = $10.53

For promotions, reallocations up, job corrections up, details or merits:

hourly rate X increase amount (example 1.04 for 4%)

Apply normal rounding 1.07 for 7%

1.105 for 10.5%

1.14 for 14%

For demotions or other salary reductions:

hourly rate / decrease amount (see examples above) Apply normal rounding

For both of the previous examples:

Resulting hourly rate X 80 = biweekly amount

If you are working with a position that did not correctly convert into ISIS HR and need to calculate the correct October 2, 2000 salary, please apply the following formula. NOTE: This formula should only be used to manually calculate pay for a position that did not convert or that converted with incorrect salary amounts on Oct. 2 and should only be used once to arrive at the correct "starting" salary for ISIS HR.

Conversion Formula:

Correct monthly rate (as entered in CS02) X 12 = Annual Salary

Annual Salary / 26 = Biweekly rate Apply old rounding

Biweekly rate / 80 = Hourly rate Apply normal rounding

Enter the biweekly rate into ISIS HR.

TO CORRECTLY COMPUTE SALARY CHANGES:

If your agency is currently paid through UPS and will be paid through ISIS HR:

Identify the current hourly rate of pay by viewing the Basic Pay Infotype for the employee. Select the gray rectangle that says "Salary Amounts." A table showing various salary amounts for the employee is displayed. Use the figure shown under "Salary / Hourly" as the hourly rate as the basis for your calculations.

If your agency is paid through a payroll system other than UPS and will not be paid through ISIS HR:

If your payroll system currently provides an hourly rate, you may use it as the basis for your salary calculations.

If you need to convert an annual rate to an hourly rate:

annual salary / 2080 apply normal rounding X 80 = biweekly

If you need to convert a monthly rate to an hourly rate:

(Monthly salary X 12) / 2080 apply normal rounding X 80 = biweekly

TO CONVERT MONTHLY RATES FOR POSITIONS WITH SPECIAL ENTRANCE RATES OR 6.5G HIRES or TO CALCULATE FORMER RATE EARNED FOR EMPLOYEES RE-ENTERING THE CLASSIFIED SERVICE AFTER A BREAK IN SERVICE:

Begin with the approved monthly SER rate, the monthly 6.5(g) rate you wish to pay (up to the monthly midpoint reflected on the Civil Service Pay Grid), or the monthly former rate earned.

monthly rate X 12 = annual rate

annual rate / 2080 = hourly rate apply normal rounding

hourly rate X 80 = biweekly rate

FOR NEW EMPLOYEES BEING HIRED AT THE MINIMUM OF THE PAY RANGE:

For ISIS HR Paid Agencies:

When hiring new employees, enter the biweekly amount noted in the ISIS HR Salary Amount for the minimum of the pay range for the GS or MS level assigned to the position the employee will occupy.

To view the ISIS HR biweekly minimum salaries for any GS / MS level, navigate to Display Master Data (Path = SAP Easy Access > Human Resources > Personnel Management > Administration > HR Master Data > Display). Enter any valid personnel number and validate. Go to the Basic Pay Infotype and select PS Group. Click on the match code icon. The minimum and maximum biweekly amounts will display for all GS levels (including base supplements) and MS levels.

For Agencies that will not be paid through ISIS HR:

If your payroll system has been programmed to match the current Civil Service Pay Grid, it will not exactly match the Salary Amounts reflected in ISIS HR. There are a few cents difference at certain points, because of rounding differences. This is NOT a problem. If you attempt to enter a salary that is correct according to the Civil Service Pay Grid, the ISIS system may give you a message that the salary is below the minimum when you validate the information. If so, please double check the amount you are attempting to enter to ensure that it consistent with the Civil Service Pay Grid. If the amount is correct, save the record in ISIS HR and proceed. For jobs at GS Levels 1 – 4 (where the range minimum is less that minimum wage) you must pay employees at least minimum wage or 5.15 per hour. We have adjusted the Civil Service Pay Grid to accurately reflect minimum wage.