STATE OF CONNECTICUT | ||
NANCY WYMAN COMPTROLLER |
OFFICE OF
THE STATE COMPTROLLER 55 ELM STREET HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT 06106-1775 |
MARK OJAKIAN DEPUTY COMPTROLLER |
MEMORANDUM NO. 95 - 34
June 2, 1995
TO THE HEADS OF ALL STATE AGENCIES
Attention: | Chief Administrative and Fiscal Officers, Business Managers, and Payroll and Personnel Officers |
Subject: | State Coalition On Pay Equity Agreement (SCOPE) as it Effects NP-6/P-1 Health Care Bargaining Units Employees |
Negotiations between the State and a coalition of state employee unions in accordance with Section 5-200(c) of the Connecticut General Statutes and Public Act 93-12 are complete. The purpose of the agreement is to eliminate all pay inequities, including gender based inequities, identified by the Objective Job Evaluation (OJE) process. Equity is established based upon the new maximum salaries for each classification.
A. Overall
Comptroller's Memorandum 95-33, issued previously, outlines the provisions and procedures to be followed in implementing the SCOPE agreement. This supplemental Memorandum is being issued separately because of the additional complexity found in the agreement for the NP-6/P-1 bargaining units.
For employees in classes targeted to be upgraded, changes in salary group assignments will be made for those employees in the affected bargaining units and new pay plan schedules will be implemented effective June 23, 1995. Some employees will receive an adjustment to the new salary group immediately, others (those on step 1 of their pay scale) will receive an upgrade on their anniversary date in the subsequent year and may be entitled to a temporary half step stipend.
For employees in classes to be upgraded, the effective date of any adjustment will depend on the employee's anniversary date as well as their step placement. For complete details on this agreement refer to Comptroller's Memorandum 95-33 and DAS/PERSONNEL MEMORANDUM NO. 95-51/OLR-13.
B. NP-6 and P-1 Bargaining Units
For the NP-6 Non Professional Health Care and P-1 Professional Health Care units, when determining which step in the salary schedule employees are to be placed on, employees receiving recruitment and retention stipends, will have those stipends included in their salary . The employee's salary plus their stipend should be added together before making any adjustment to a new step.
The additional two steps added to the health care pay plans are to be used if needed. Employees who are upgraded into a new group should be rounded up using their salary plus stipend amount in accordance with the established guidelines.
Employees who do not receive an upgrading into a new salary group should be rounded up into the next step of their current pay plan on their first anniversary date. The anniversary date must occur on or after June 23, 1995 but no later than December 20, 1996. Any annual increment would be applied after this round up occurs. If there is no step into which the employee can be rounded up, the employee is to be placed at the highest available step and paid a stipend for the difference between the amount of their step and the amount of their current salary plus their recruitment and retention stipend.
Np-6 and P-1 health care employees who are eligible to be reassigned to the higher salary group under SCOPE, and who are receiving a recruitment and retention stipend, must have their stipend factored into the calculation to determine their proper step placement in the SCOPE salary group. Specifically, the annual equivalent of the stipend must be added to their current base annual salary before applying the round-up method to identify their correct step assignment in the higher salary group. Employees reassigned to the higher salary group will no longer be eligible to receive a separate recruitment and retention stipend. However, if the highest step available in the new salary group (i.e. step 9) is less than the sum of the new employee's current annual salary plus his/her stipend, the employee must receive the difference between that amount and the annual salary in his/her new step assignment as a new recruitment and retention stipend.
NP-6 and P-1 employees assigned to step one of their current salary group, who are eligible for the half step benefit under SCOPE and who currently are receiving a recruitment and retention stipend, will not have this stipend factored into the half step calculation. However, these step one employees must be advance to a higher step in order to incorporate their current recruitment and retention stipend into their regular base salary. This will be accomplished by adding the annual equivalent of their stipend to their current salary and placing them on a step in the current salary group which is closest to without being less than this combined amount. If the highest step available is less than their combined amount, than the employee must receive the difference between this amount and their base annual salary as a new recruitment and retention stipend. If the employee's new step assignment now includes his full stipend, then the employee is no longer eligible to receive a separate recruitment and retention stipend.
NP-6 and P-1 employees with a good or better service rating will also receive an anniversary increase. The new AI step placement will be based on the employee's step placement after both the SCOPE and recruitment and retention phase-out adjustment have been applied.
These upgrades take the place of the recruitment and retention stipend currently being paid and therefore, bi- weekly recruitment and retention stipends should no longer be made once the step placement is made on the new SCOPE scale or an upgrade is made into a new salary step. For employees on Step 1 this will occur on their anniversary in fiscal year 1996, with recruitment and retention stipends eliminated on 12/20/96 for all employees.
- Pay the bi-weekly half step and above step stipends for eligible employees.
- Any employee receiving additional compensation bi-weekly due to a SCOPE stipend must have the hourly equivalent of their stipend pay included in any overtime calculations.
- Continue to pay the recruitment and retention bi-weekly stipend until the employee is placed on the SCOPE pay plan or upgraded on their anniversary date. Effective 12/20/96, this stipend would no longer be paid to any employee.
- Payment for June 23 through June 30, 1995 should be made at the rate of the pay plan in effect on July 1, 1994 PLUS any SCOPE and annual increment adjustments.
- Payment for July 1 through July 6, 1995 should include the above steps PLUS a 3% general wage increase.
Central adjustment of the new bi-weekly salary amount and rate of pay will be made for agencies on the automated interface; all other agencies must change their masterfile records to reflect the new pay plans.
The second SCOPE implementation will be effective with the pay period December 22, 1995 through January 4, 1996, check date January 19, 1996.
Agencies will follow Steps (a) and (b) of the preceding procedures for the employees in the NP-6/P-1 bargaining units with January 1, 1996 as their anniversary date. The 3% general wage increase received July 1, 1995 will already be incorporated into the pay plans.
Any classification currently eligible for overtime, shift differential and/or weekend differential payments will continue to be eligible upon the implementation of SCOPE effective July 1, 1995. The purpose of this provision is to ensure that no employees' entitlement to overtime, shift and/or weekend differential payments are diminished as a result of the SCOPE Agreement.
The new SCOPE Pay Plans, Salary Group and Step, and the new Hourly Rate/Bi-weekly salary amounts will be implemented centrally at the proper time.
For those NP-6 & P-1 employees with a July, 1, 1995 anniversary date eligible for an Annual Increment, the new Salary Step, New Hourly Rate and Bi-weekly Salary Amounts will be implemented centrally at the proper time.
All employees in the NP-6/P-1 Bargaining Unit will receive a General Wage Increase of 3% effective July 1, 1995. Since July 1, 1995 is not the first day of a pay period, salary payments for the period (6/23/95 through 7/6/95) must be split. They should be processed as follows:
Agency Payroll Staff must ensure that the employee's Master File data (Pay Plan, Salary Group & Step, Hourly Rate and Biweekly Salary) are correctly coded.
Agency Payroll Staff must change the Pay Plan, Salary Group and Step, Hourly Rate and Biweekly Salary as applicable on each employee's Master File Record.
Change the employee's Pay Plan, Salary Group and Step, Hourly Rate and Bi-weekly salary amount.
For those NP-6 & P-1 employees with a July, 1, 1995 anniversary date eligible for an Annual Increment, change the employee's Salary Step, Hourly Rate and Bi-weekly Salary Amount.
All employees in the NP-6/P-1 Bargaining Unit will receive a General Wage Increase of 3% effective July 1, 1995. Since July 1, 1995 is not the first day of a pay period, salary payments for the period (6/23/95 through 7/6/95) must be split. They should be processed as follows:
Remote Job Entry: | NA/RA transaction: |
Hourly Rate, Normal Salary | |
and Salary Step; NG/RG | |
transaction: Pay Plan and | |
Salary Group |
SCOPE Half-Step or Above-Step Stipends are to be paid bi-weekly beginning in the check date July 21, 1995 and coded as follows:
Bargaining Unit | Stipend D/OE Code |
D/OE Description |
NP-6 | 2S | SCOPE STIPEND NP-6 |
P-1 | 2T | SCOPE STIPEND P-1 |
For those employees who are moving to a new Salary Group and Step as a result of SCOPE, and whose Recruitment/Retention Stipend is included in their salary when determining what step in the salary schedule they are to be placed on, the payment of the Recruitment/Retention Stipend must be discontinued.
Earnings Maintenance); D/OE Code 1A; PC '0' (zero).
Questions may be directed as follows:
AGREEMENT INTERPRETATION: Agency Payroll & Personnel Officers
PAYROLL PROCEDURES: Central Payroll Division, 566-5428
MEMORANDUM INTERPRETATION: Accounting Systems, 566-4265
NANCY WYMAN
STATE COMPTROLLER
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