General Circular No. 001273

To: Heads of State Agencies and Human Resource

Directors

Subject: Criteria For Rule 6.16(c) And For Premium Pay

Issue Date: January 31, 1997

At its business meeting 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) and for

certain uses of premium pay. While these criteria will guide

our staff in such recommendations, the Commission will consider

the circumstances of each request and use their best judgment

for each.

The criteria are attached. Some general points are as follows:

1. Such applications of Rule 6.16(c) and premium pay are

optional with appointing authorities. No agency is required to

make these requests. If an agency does, it must make a

separate request for each individual awarded. There is no

blanket or group authorization. No request will be effective

until it is approved by the Commission.

2. Monetary awards cited are the maximum (not to exceed)

amounts currently recommended by the Civil Service staff to the

Commission. Individually awarded amounts may be less than these

maximums. Maximum amounts are subject to review periodically

and may change in the future.

3. Premium pay requests may be made for past, as well as future

attainment of education/training credentials.

4. In the past, agencies have requested pay under Rule 6.16(c)

to be included in the base salary as awards for

education/training credentials and for work performance.

However, our staff has recommended such awards be handled as

premium pay and thus not be included in the base salary.

Such premium pay may be given as a one-time, lump sum payment

or paid as installments over several months.

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.

Note: The Commission will continue to handle requests for

exceptions to pay reductions upon demotions in the same manner

as previously, i.e., through the conditional, individual

application of Rule 6.16(c).

Any questions you may have in this matter should be directed to

the Personnel Management Division at 504-342-8274.

Sincerely,

Allen H. Reynolds

Acting Director

PURPOSES AND CRITERIA FOR USE OF RULE 6.16(c)

1. PURPOSE: TO CORRECT MECHANICS OF THE PAY PLAN AND/OR

RESULTS OF CLASSIFICATION PROCEDURES

Criteria to consider - Rule 6.16(c) can be used to correct the

following:

a) To allow a promotion with no reduction in pay when the

employee leaves a lower job that has premium pay.

b) Other rare, obvious pay inequities.

Rationale: Rule 6.16(c) can be used to "fix" obvious, rare pay

inequities. It should not be requested for normal cases where

subordinates earn more than their supervisors due to their

seniority, etc.

2. PURPOSE: TO ADDRESS HIRING/RECRUITMENT PROBLEMS THAT CANNOT

BE ADDRESSED BY OTHER RULES

Criteria to consider: This can be used when there are

recruiting problems provided:

a) Other rules cannot solve the problem, e.g., premium pay,

special entrance rates, and/or Rule 6.5(g).

b) All stipulations given in Rule 6.5(g) are met. In other

words, in order for an agency to make such a request, it must

have posted its policy concerning when it will make such

requests, it must verify the employee's outstanding

qualifications, etc.

c) The agency has exhausted the process to obtain a special

entrance rate.

d) There is a serious shortage of candidates.

e) The agency's letter of request to the Commission is posted

in a conspicuous place in the requesting agency at least two

weeks in advance of the Commission meeting so that it can be

seen easily by the employees.

f) This reason (to recruit an employee) cannot be used after

the person is hired.

Rationale: Rule 6.5(g), premium pay, and special entrance

rates should be the normal means of addressing hiring problems.

If an agency wants to pay more than the mid-point of the range,

it should at least have to comply with the Rule 6.5(g)

provisions necessary to hire someone up to the mid-point. Such

Rule 6.16(c) requests for hiring/recruitment should be rare.

They need to be posted to hold the agency accountable to

employees and to discourage inappropriate requests.

3. PURPOSE: RETENTION OF EMPLOYEE

Criteria to consider: Can be used to retain an employee,

provided:

a) These requests should be extremely rare. They should not be

made

merely because pay is perceived to be too low.

b) 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 can

be easily seen by the employees.

c) An agency cannot use as the sole justification the fact that

the employee could have been hired up to the mid-point of the

range under Rule 6.5(g), but was not.

d) The employee possesses special credentials and a "seller's

market" exists for those credentials.

e) There is a market aberration ("boom and bust cycle") and

extra pay is necessary to retain highly qualified personnel.

An example is the Tuscaloosa Trend boom and the exceptionally

high demand for petroleum engineers during that period.

f) When an agency states a pay increase should be given because

the employee has another job offer, our staff will inquire into

the offer and report to the Commission as to its validity.

Additionally, 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. This reason cannot be

used if the offer is from another state agency.

Rationale: A pay increase for retention should be given only

if it can be verified that it is necessary to keep from losing

a person with special expertise who would otherwise be lost to

state service and be very difficult to replace. Such requests

must be posted in the agency to assure accountability and

fairness and to discourage inappropriate requests.

CRITERIA FOR USE OF PREMIUM PAY, INSTEAD OF RULE 6.16(c)

1. PURPOSE: ATTAINMENT OF EDUCATION/TRAINING CREDENTIALS

Criteria to consider are as follows:

a) Attainment of Certified Public Manager (CPM) designation or

for Certificate of Supervisory Training (CST) under the

Comprehensive Public Training Program (CPTP). Not to exceed

$500 for the CST and not to exceed another $500 for the CPM.

b) Award an amount not to exceed $250 for training that meets

the following conditions:

--- The training is recognized nationally and testing is

required.

--- There must be a minimum of 40 hours of class work and/or

course work.

--- It must be directly related to the employee's job.

--- It is not required agency training.

--- The training cannot be part of the minimum qualification

requirements for the job.

--- Post-secondary higher education does not count, e.g.,

college hours and/or degrees and courses at secretarial or

technical colleges (formerly called vo- tech schools).

--- No employee may, in a lifetime, get more than the following

cash awards for training: a) one for the CST, b) one for the

CPM, and c) no more frequently than once every five years for

other training.

c) Award an amount not to exceed $1,000 for attainment of a

certification that meets all criteria listed in (b) above, if

it is nationally recognized and is earned after the attainment

of a baccalaureate degree. This award requires a substantial

amount of study and a comprehensive exam. Examples include a

CPA or something with the status of a CPA. This type of award

may be given only once to an employee.

d) If the employee has already been compensated with other

special pay for this purpose, an agency cannot also use this

provision.

Rationale: The Commission wishes to encourage the state-sponsored supervisory and

management training, as well as other

job-related training. We are trying to eliminate minor training

and we do not recommend that taxpayers subsidize the cost of

regular post-secondary education, such as college.

2. PURPOSE: WORK PERFORMANCE

The criteria listed below are the minimum requirements for a

request to be considered. Even if these are all complied with,

the Commission must still decide whether the request merits

extra pay.

a) The agency must have an established policy requiring

supervisors to meet at least four times per year, once a

quarter, to discuss performance with each subordinate. The

only paperwork required is a checklist that the supervisor can

initial, verifying that the meeting took place. This is a very

minimal performance system, and is the very least that should

be required before any pay for performance should be requested

of the Commission. This does not necessarily mean that the

request will be approved.

b) The agency's letter of request to the Commission must be

posted in a conspicuous place in the requesting agency at least

two weeks before the Commission meeting so that it can be

easily seen by the employees.

c) The maximum increase will generally be limited to 4% for one

year and will not be put in the base salary.

d) The employee must have been employed for at least five years

and have no "Unsatisfactory" or "Needs Improvement" performance

rating or disciplinary actions for that time. Such ratings

must be submitted to the Commission.

e) This pay cannot be requested if other rules apply, such as

the employee was paid extra for a detail to special duty for

the work.

f) This may be given for special projects. These must

contribute significantly to the mission of the agency and/or

state government. The project must be completed and this

provision cannot apply to projects done to attain a CST or CPM.

Rationale: Agency posting of such a request will help assure

legitimate use of this provision. Communication concerning

performance between supervisors and subordinates will be

encouraged by the conditions for use.

NOTE: In some cases agencies have requested pay under Rule

6.16(c) stating, as the sole justification, that the employee

could have been hired up to the mid-point of the range, under

Rule 6.5(g), but was not. We recommend that these cases not be

granted extra pay. Rule 6.5(g) is designed to recruit

employees. If they have already been hired, its purpose is

moot.