Wage (Hourly) Employment and Compensation

Purpose:

To provide direction for initiating requests to establish and fill wage (hourly) positions and for initiating position classification and compensation actions for wage (hourly) positions at the college. The procedures for implementation of this policy are provided below.

Procedure and/or Process Definitions:

Career groups: a sub-group of an occupational family which identifies a specific occupational field common to the labor market (for example, the Administrative and Office Support Career Group), and which is comprised of roles.

Certification:professional certification, trade certification, or professional designation, often called simply certification or qualification, is a designation earned by a person to assure qualification to perform a job or task. This type of certification often requires a post-test and is awarded by a thirdparty professional organization.

Classification: the occupational category, role title, and corresponding pay band to which a position is assigned.

Competitive salary offer: a salary adjustment provided to a wage (hourly) employee as a result of an outside offer (including other state agencies).

Establishment: a classification determination made to place a new position in the organizational structure.

Hiring manager:the cost center manager or other manager authorized to hire in an organizational unit.

In-band adjustment: a salary adjustment applied to a wage (hourly) employee for the acquisition of additional duties and responsibilities; new skills applied on the job; retention; or internal alignment; and where the employee remains in their current role title and pay band.

Occupational families: a broad grouping of jobs that share similar vocational characteristics (for example, the Administrative Services Occupational Family) and which are comprised of career groups.

Rehires: prior employees separated from college employment for twelve (12) months or longer.

Role: a broad group of occupationally-related positions that perform a range of work at levels that require progressively more skill and/or knowledge (for example, the Administrative and Office Specialist II).

Role change: the reassignment of a wage (hourly) position from one role title to a different role title in a higher, lower, or the same pay band due to a change in duties and responsibilities.

Temporary pay: a salary adjustment provided to a wage (hourly) employee for assuming new duties and responsibilities on a temporary basis.

Voluntary demotion:the movement of a wage (hourly) employee to a different role title in a lower pay band at the employee’s own initiation.

Voluntary transfer: the movement of a wage (hourly) employee within the same role title or to a different role title in the same pay band and which can be initiated by the employee or hiring manager.

Wage (hourly) employees: employees who receive pay for hours worked rather than a fixed salary; who are sometimes referred to as hourly, P-14, or WE-14 employees; who are non-exempt for the purpose of overtime compensation; who are not covered by the Virginia Personnel Act; who are used to supplement the workforce during seasonal or temporary workloads; who may serve as interim replacements, or perform short-term projects, or other jobs that do not require full-time classified employees; and, who are limited to working an average of 29 hours per week and may not exceed 1,500 hours over the twelve month period of May 1 through April 30.

Procedures:

1. Request to establish and fill a wage (hourly) position

   1. To establish and fill a wage (hourly) position, the hiring manager will complete JSRCC Form 35-0904, Position Request, attach the completed JSRCC Form 35-0095, Wage (Hourly) Position Description, and forward to the Office of Human Resources, at least ten (10) business days prior to the requested effective date of hire.

   2. The Office of Human Resources will forward the request to the college’s Budget Office for review and funding certification. If the Budget Office is unable to determine appropriate funding, the Budget Office will return request forms not approved by the Vice President of Finance and Administration to the Office of Human Resources with the appropriate explanation. The Office of Human Resources will inform the hiring manager of the unapproved action.

   3. Certified forms are returned to the Office of Human Resources. Upon receipt, the Office of Human Resources will contact the hiring manager via email to discuss the options available to fill the position.

   4. The hiring manager may choose to fill the wage (hourly) vacancy from competitive or non-competitive recruitment sources. If needed, the Office of Human Resources will prepare the draft of the job advertisement based on wage/hourly position description provided by the hiring manager with the request to fill.

   5. Employment references are strongly encouraged and must be documented via JSRCC Form 35-0090, Telephone Reference Check Form – Classified/Wage (Hourly), or JSRCC Form 35-0091, Employment Referral Form – Wage (Hourly). It is preferred that at least two (2) former supervisory checks be made for each candidate. If two (2) supervisory references are unattainable, at least one (1) former supervisory reference and one (1) character reference should be obtained.

   6. Once the hiring manager selects the candidate to be hired, the hiring manager will notify the Office of Human Resources via email of the new employee’s agreed upon hourly rate (to be discussed with the Office of Human Resources prior to offer) and the start date. Upon receipt, the Office of Human Resources will launch the onboarding process through the VCCS Avature onboarding system.

   7. All full-time and part-time job offers are contingent upon the results of the employee background screening process (Reynolds Policy 3-39). The hiring manager will be contacted by the Office of Human Resources if the candidate receives a questionable background report, to determine hiring decision.

2. To initiate classification and/or compensation actions for wage (hourly) employees

   1. The following classification and compensation actions are available for use for wage (hourly) employees:

      1. voluntary transfer
      2. voluntary demotion
      3. temporary pay
      4. role change
      5. in-band adjustment
      6. competitive salary offer
      7. non-base pay options

   2. To initiate a position classification action for a wage (hourly) employee, the hiring manager will complete Sections 1-6 of JSRCC Form 35-0400, Pay Action Form (PAF) – Classified/Wage (Hourly) Employees, and forward to their respective President’s Executive Cabinet member for approval.

      Voluntary transfer: an employee-initiated or management-initiated movement to another position in the same or different role in the same pay band. Generally, employees moved to another position as a result of this pay practice will not receive a salary increase.

      Voluntary demotion: when an employee voluntarily accepts a position in a different role title in a lower pay band. Voluntary demotion salary is negotiable from the minimum of the pay band up to the employee’s current salary and will not exceed the pay band maximum.

      Temporary pay (different role in higher or same pay band): may be applied when an employee experiences a temporary change in job duties and responsibilities for a specified period of time (e.g., assignment to a special project, reassignment due to organizational changes, vacancy of a higher-level position, etc.). Salary increases for temporary pay for a higher pay band are generally 0-15% above current salary and will not exceed the pay band maximum. A beginning and an ending date must be established for receipt of temporary pay.

      Role change (downward, upward, or lateral):when an employee remains in their current position but the role changes.

      1. Downward role change: There is no change in salary as a result of the downward role change, unless the salary is above the maximum of the lower pay band, in which case the salary is reduced after six (6) months to the maximum of the pay band.

      2. Upward role change: The salary must be increased at least to the minimum of the higher pay band, however, the salary cannot exceed the pay band maximum.

      3. Lateral role change: The salary cannot exceed the pay band maximum.

      Salary adjustments will be made effective the first pay period immediately after the pay action is approved.

      In-band adjustment:

      1. Changes in job duties and responsibilities: Changes in duties must represent 15% or more of the total work time percentage amount. The employee must perform the new duties and responsibilities with the same supervisor/work unit. Salary adjustments will be made effective the first pay period immediately after the pay action is approved by the President’s Extended Cabinet member.

      2. Application of new KSA’s from education, certification, licensure, etc.: Refer to the In-Band Adjustment Schedule for Application of New KSA’s. Retroactive payments will not be permitted.

      3. Retention: This action can be initiated by college management or the Office of Human Resources due to salary market changes, labor market fluctuations, extreme turnover problems, etc.

      4. Internal alignment: An increase may be granted to one or more employees to align the employee’s salary more closely with those of other employee’s within a work unit who have comparable levels of training and experience, similar duties and responsibilities, similar performance and expertise, competencies, and/or knowledge and skills.

      Competitive salary offer: The hiring manager may request a salary increase up to the amount of the outside offer, but cannot exceed the outside offer, or exceed the maximum of the pay band. Additionally, the employee will be required to provide written documentation of the outside salary offer; this must be attached to the PAF prior to submission to the respective President’s Executive Cabinet member. Presidential approval may be needed.

      Non-base pay options: Lump sum payment of up to $5,000 per fiscal year may be awarded for substantial achievements or accomplishments outside the standard responsibilities of the position and which contribute to the strategic objectives of the college.

   3. Upon approval, the signed Pay Action Form (PAF) is submitted to the Office of Human Resources for review. The Office of Human Resources will forward the request to the college’s Budget Office for review and funding certification. If the budget manager is unable to determine appropriate funding, the budget manager will return request forms not certified for funding to the Office of Human Resources. The Office of Human Resources will inform the hiring manager of the unapproved action.

3. Documentation and reporting requirements

   1. The Office of Human Resources will maintain complete documentation of all personnel actions in accordance with DHRM policy and procedure.

   2. Personnel action requests that require the approval of the VCCS Chancellor’s Office will be coordinated and submitted by the college’s Office of Human Resources. Requests not requiring advance VCCS approval will be subject to postaudit review by DHRM and/or the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) office.

Other Information:

The college’s Office of Human Resources is responsible for the official interpretation of these procedures. Questions regarding the application of these procedures should be directed to the Office of Human Resources.

Department of Human Resource Management (DHRM) Policy 2.20, Types of Employment

Department of Human Resource Management (DHRM) Policy 3.05, Compensation

In-Band Adjustment Schedule for Application of New KSA’s

Reynolds Policy 3-31, Wage (Hourly) Employment and Compensation

JSRCC Form 35-0090, Telephone Reference Check Form – Classified/Wage (Hourly)

JSRCC Form 35-0091, Employment Referral Form – Wage (Hourly)

JSRCC Form 35-0904, Position Request