STATE OF LOUISIANA
DEPARTMENT OF STATE CIVIL SERVICE
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
General Circular No. 001461
To: Heads of State Agencies and Human Resource Directors
Subject: Revised Criteria For Individual Pay Adjustments per Civil Service Rule 6.16(c)
Issue Date: December 11, 2001
This is to advise the Human Resource community of the information required to
request an Individual Pay Adjustment (Civil Service Rule 6.16 (c)). On January
8, 1997, the Civil Service Commission gave approval for criteria to be used by
our staff in making Commission recommendations regarding agency requests for pay
increases under Civil Service Rule 6.16(c). While these criteria will guide our
staff in such recommendations, the Commission will consider the circumstances of
each request on a case by case basis and use their best judgment for each.
Some general points are as follows:
1. In order to request a 6.16 (c) the Compensation Division will need to the
following information:
Name of employee.
Classified job title of the employee.
The bi-weekly adjustment amount (requested bi-weekly salary – present
bi-weekly salary = bi-weekly adjustment amount).
Any information that the agency feels that may be important to the situation
such as a chronology of events or actions that affected the employee.
When requesting a 6.16(c) to match a job offer from private industry, please
include a copy of the written job offer and the name of the person who has
verified the offer.
Requested effective date.
2. Applications of Rule 6.16(c) are optional with appointing authorities.
No agency is required to make these requests. There is no blanket or group
authorization. No request will be effective until it is approved by the
Commission.
3. Agencies may chose to provide compensation for the retention of an employee whose loss would to be detrimental to the State service or to adjust pay differentials between comparable employees or to compensate employees for performing additional duties or to recruit employees into positions for which recruiting is difficult according to the agency’s Optional Pay Policy (Civil Service Rule 6.16.2) instead of using Rule 6.16(c).
4. Awards for education and training credentials should be handled as premium
pay under Rule 6.16(a) or under an agency policy for Rewards and Recognition
(Rule 6.16.1). Please see General Circular #001462 for details.
5. Please note that for pay requests for hiring/recruitment, retention of the
employee, or work performance, the agency's letter of request to the Commission
must be posted in a conspicuous place in the requesting agency at least two
weeks in advance of the Commission meeting so that it is easily seen by
employees of that agency.
CRITERIA FOR USE OF RULE 6.16(c)
An individual pay adjustment per Rule 6.16(c) should only be requested when an
agency cannot address the problem fully under their Optional Pay Policy (Rule
6.16.2) or Rewards and Recognition Policy (Rule 6.16.1). Following are the
criteria that the Compensation Division will use in recommending actions to the
Commission for requests for individual pay adjustments:
1. To correct mechanics of the pay plan and/or results of classification
procedures
An agency may request an Individual Pay Adjustment per Rule 6.16(c) to correct
differentials in pay caused by the mechanics of the pay plan such as a reduction
in an employee’s pay caused by the retroactive application of job
corrections/reallocations or other rare, obvious pay inequities. Rule 6.16(c)
should not be requested for normal cases where subordinates earn more than their
supervisors due to the subordinate’s seniority.
2. To address hiring/recruitment problems that cannot be addressed by other
rules
An agency may request an Individual Pay Adjustment per Rule 6.16(c) when there
are recruiting problems provided that other rules cannot solve the problem,
e.g., Special Entrance Rates, Special Pay Rates and/or Pay for Extraordinary
Qualifications or Credentials.
3. Retention of an employee deemed critical to the agency
An agency may request an Individual Pay Adjustment per Rule 6.16(c) to retain an
employee deemed critical to the agency, provided that the agency has verified
the job offer. The agency must clearly explain the importance of the person's
loss and the difficulty of replacing him/her. This may include the factor of
high turnover. The job offer may not be from another State agency.
4. Work Performance
Agencies desiring to compensate an employee for either significant work
achievements or for the performance of additional duties should do so under the
applicable agency policy for either rule 6.16.1 (Rewards and Recognition) or
6.16.2 (Optional Pay).
If you have any questions please call Marianne Pisanie or Lisa Lusk in the
Compensation Division at 225-342-8083.
Sincerely,
Allen H. Reynolds
Director