Kansas State University

Compensation for University Support Staff

Chapter 4450

Revised September 6, 2002, July 15, 2004, March 8, 2008, September 24, 2012 and June 17, 2014

Table of Contents

.010 Introduction

.020 Related Policies

.030 Beginning Pay

.040 Guidelines for Hiring Above Minimum Rate

.050 Longevity Bonus Pay

.060 Pay Increases

.070 Overtime

.080 Other Pay

.090 Employee Awards

.100 Questions

Attachment

.200 University Support Staff Pay Scale 

.010 Introduction

The Kansas State University University Support Staff (USS) pay plan includes 27 pay grades plus longevity pay. Each pay grade has a minimum rate and a maximum rate. USS employees are only eligible to receive compensation specifically provided for in this chapter. For current minimum and maximum hourly and biweekly pay rates, refer to the University Support Staff Pay Scale provided as an attachment to this chapter. Employees in positions identified as nonexempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act are paid an hourly rate; employees in positions identified as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act are paid a biweekly rate.

.020 Related Policies

The following is related policy relevant to this chapter:

KSU Policy and Procedures Manual, Chapter 4220, Hours of Work, Overtime, Overtime Pay and Compensatory Time

.030 Beginning Pay

The following indicates the authorized beginning pay for the different types of recruitment or movement of USS employees. Special exceptions to the following policies are detailed in section .040 Guidelines for Hiring above Minimum Rate.

New Hires—Each new hire and rehire must be paid at the minimum rate of the pay grade for the job title.

Temporary Employees—The pay of each temporary employee is the minimum pay of the appropriate pay grade.

Employees Rehired by Reinstatement—A person rehired within one year of leaving Kansas State University employment may be paid at the same pay rate at which the employee was previously paid.

Employees Promoted or Reclassified to a Higher Pay Grade—When a USS employee is promoted into another position or the employee's position is reclassified to a higher pay grade, the employee may be paid up to 5% per pay grade advancement but no less than the minimum pay for the new pay grade and no less than a total 5% pay increase.

Employees Transferred within the Same Pay Grade—Pay for an employee who is transferred does not change. An employee may accept lower pay but no less than the minimum pay for the pay grade, if agreed upon by the employee and the Vice President for Human Capital.

Employees with Voluntary Job Change to a Lower Pay Grade—An employee who voluntarily takes a job change to a lower pay grade may be paid anywhere from their current rate down to 5% less for each lower pay grade but no greater than the maximum of the new pay grade.

Employees Involuntarily Demoted to a Lower Pay Grade—An employee who is demoted involuntarily for disciplinary reasons, must be receive a pay decrease of at least 5% to a maximum of 5% less for each lower pay grade but no greater than the maximum of the new pay grade. A promotional employee who is demoted because of unsatisfactory performance during the promotional probationary period, is paid no lower than the same rate the employee received immediately prior to the promotion.

Employees in Positions Reclassified to a Lower Pay Grade—An employee whose position is reclassified to a job title with a lower pay grade may continue to be paid anywhere from their current pay rate down to 5% less for each lower pay grade but no greater than the maximum of the new pay grade.

.040 Guidelines for Hiring Above Minimum Rate

Departments are pre-approved to offer up to 10% higher than the minimum pay rate of the range only for designated job titles based on the difficulty of recruitment, retention or other special needs of the unit. See the Job Codes listing for the designated job titles. The following guidelines may be used to determine the appropriate starting pay rate for new hires or current employee job changes due to competitive transfer or promotion for these designated job titles.

In the case of a transfer, the employee is eligible for the same rate of pay up to 10% higher only when transferring from a non-designated job title to a designated job title. In the case of promotion, the employee is eligible for up to a 10% higher pay rate than that described above for promotion.

Consider all of the following criteria in determining the starting rate of pay:

• Recruitment/retention difficulty
• Candidate has exceptional competencies specific to the position
• Internal equity within the unit
• Budget constraints
• Critical nature of the position to the operation of the department and university

University support staff job titles not designated as pre-approved must be filled at the minimum rate for the grade or receive prior approval from Human Resources before extending an offer of employment at a higher rate.  Submit a Request to Hire above Minimum for USS, Form PER-3 to HR to request this exception.  Contact KSU Talent Acquisition, Human Resources, for additional information.

.050 Longevity Bonus Pay

Upon completion of 10 years of service, each USS employee, excluding temporary employees, is eligible for longevity bonus pay. Length of service is defined below. Longevity bonus pay is not dependent on a current performance review. The longevity bonus payment is computed by multiplying $50 by the number of full years of state service, not to exceed 25 years ($1,250).

Longevity bonus pay increases the regular rate applying to overtime pay for hours worked during the 12 months preceding the date the longevity bonus is paid to the employee, and is considered in calculating the payment of compensatory time to an employee upon termination. See Section .070 Overtime for further information.

Length of Service—Length of service is used in determining eligibility for the longevity bonus. Length of service means total time worked in the classified, USS or unclassified service, excluding time worked as a temporary or student employee. The appointment Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) or the number of hours worked is irrelevant; a part-time employee receives the same service credit as an employee working full-time.

Time spent on military leave, or time off while receiving worker's compensation wage benefits is considered to be time worked. Time spent on involuntary leave without pay by "school employees" (i.e., summer leave without pay with benefits) is considered time worked for Regents institutions only, and is not transferable to other state agencies as time worked. Authorized voluntary leave without pay over 30 days does not count toward length of service; authorized voluntary leave without pay for 30 days or less is not considered a break in service and the length of service is unaffected.

Regular employees, who work seasonally or intermittently, should be placed on leave without pay during periods when their services are not required for over 30 days, to prevent them from receiving service credit when they are not actively working.

.060 Pay Increases

The University administration determines the method of pay increases and regular increases are not guaranteed. Funds for all pay increases are allocated by the University. When funds are available, the University allocates a salary increase pool to university departments based on a percentage of the salaries allotted to filled positions. The increase may be across-the-board and/or an average percent increase may be allocated for awarding salary increases based on job performance. An employee whose latest performance review was "meets expectations" or higher will be deemed to have performed at a level sufficient to receive a performance-based salary increase in any year when such are awarded.

.070 Overtime

Employees in positions identified as nonexempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act are eligible to receive overtime compensation. For further information concerning eligibility to receive overtime compensation, see PPM Chapter 4220, Hours of Work, Overtime, and Compensatory Time.

Overtime Pay —The overtime pay rate is automatically calculated each week in the Human Resource Information System, using the following calculation:

Premium Pay includes shift differential and stand-by paid during the week the overtime was worked. It does not include pay for holidays worked or any call-in and call-back compensation paid for hours not actually worked.

All employees eligible for overtime compensation, and who were paid for overtime during the 12 months preceding the receipt of a longevity bonus payment, will receive an additional overtime payment to be calculated as follows:

This additional overtime pay is automatically calculated in HRIS and paid at the same time as the longevity bonus is paid. No additional overtime pay is due for any overtime hours worked during the preceding 12 months for which compensatory time was given instead of overtime pay.

Compensatory Time —In lieu of paying an eligible employee at the time and a half rate for overtime worked, the employee may agree to accept compensatory time off at the rate of one and a half hours off for each hour of overtime worked, at some time after the workweek in which the overtime was worked.

An eligible employee shall not accrue more than 120 hours of compensatory time for overtime hours worked. Any eligible employee who has accrued 120 hours of compensatory time off must, for any additional overtime hours of work, be compensated with overtime pay.

If an eligible employee is paid for accrued compensatory time off, payment must be made at the regular rate earned by the employee at the time the employee receives the payment. Each eligible employee who has accrued compensatory time off, upon termination of employment, retirement, promotion, demotion, or transfer to another state agency, or to an exempt position, must be paid for the unused compensatory time at a rate of compensation not less than

1. the average regular rate received by the employee during the last three years of the employee's employment; or
2. the final regular rate received by such eligible employee, whichever is higher.

Any longevity bonus payment received during the last three years of employment is included in determining the average regular rate and the final regular rate in these two options.

For further information regarding overtime and compensatory time, refer to PPM Chapter 4220, Hours of Work, Overtime, and Compensatory Time .

.080 Other Pay

Call-In and Call-Back Pay—Employees may be called in to work on a regular day off or may be called back to work after a regular work schedule. In these instances, nonexempt employees will be paid at the appropriate rate of pay for the number of hours worked. Such employees will be paid for a minimum of two hours except in the following circumstances:

1. The employee was on stand-by status when called in or called back; or

2. employee was called in or called back during the two hour period immediately prior to the beginning of the employee's next regularly scheduled work shift. Only hours actually worked will be credited in determining eligibility for overtime compensation.

Stand-by Compensation—An employee who is required to remain on call on the employer's premises, or so close thereto that the employee cannot use the time effectively for personal pursuits, is considered to be working while "on-call." In this instance, an employee must be paid for this time at the regular rate of pay instead of receiving stand-by compensation. An employee who is not required to remain on the employer's premises but is merely required to leave word with the employer where he or she can be reached, is not working while on-call. "Stand-by Compensation" is used for this purpose.

If an employee is required to remain available to an employer within a specified response time, but is otherwise free to engage in personal pursuits, then the employee will receive stand-by compensation. When an employer is able to contact an employee during on-call time, then the unit's policy will determine whether such an employee is eligible for stand-by compensation. The unit's policy should clearly define the expectations for those employees. The stand-by rate of compensation is set at $2.00 per hour for each hour the employee serves on stand-by status. If an employee is called in to work, the employee will be compensated for the actual hours worked, but not also be paid stand-by compensation for those hours. Hours on stand-by pay are not considered when determining hours worked for overtime purposes.

Shift Differential—Kansas State University has established two day shifts: 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Each department must specify only one of these 12-hour periods from which normal day shifts may be designated. Normal day shifts must fall entirely within those specified hours. A shift differential will be paid to nonexempt employees whose regularly established work shifts begin before or end after the designated 12-hour period. For example, an employee who is regularly scheduled for and works from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. will be paid shift differential for their entire work shift. The default day shift established by the University is the 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. time period. A department wishing to change its specified day shift must first get approval from the Human Resources. The department must give its employees at least seven days notice prior to implementing the change.

The amount of shift differential $.40 per hour, except for employees covered by a bargaining unit with a current memorandum of agreement set at a different rate. Shift differential will not be paid to an employee for any time the employee is on any type of leave or holiday or when an employee works unscheduled hours before or after a normal day shift.

.090 Employee Awards

Award and Recognition Program—university support staff are eligible for various award programs.  USS employees are not eligible for any other monetary awards.

.100 Questions

Human Resources (HR) is responsible for this policy. The Vice President or designee must approve any exception to this policy or related procedures. Questions should be directed to Human Resources, Talent Acquisition at 785-532-6277 or hrcomp@ksu.edu.