Kansas State University

Requests for reclassification to be accepted beginning Feb. 1

Submitted by Jay Stephens

Dear K-Staters, 

Human Capital Services will begin accepting requests for reclassification of positions on Feb. 1. As mentioned in the Sept. 19, 2017 letter, reclassification will be accepted twice a year for better internal comparisons.

The compensation structure process was launched fall 2017 to give supervisors and managers easier access to evaluate job content, title and grade. Supervisors and managers are encouraged to review position descriptions for their employees and determine if a reclassification is appropriate for positions in their work area.

Please keep the following in mind when considering reclassification for positions:

• Reclassification is reserved for positions that have undergone significant and permanent changes in duties and responsibilities. It is not a mechanism to grant an employee a salary increase. Salary increase requests should be submitted using the base salary increase form.
  
  
• There is not a particular set of buzzwords or phrases that influence a particular outcome. As a general tip, please make sure that you explain what has changed with the position. Does it have greater responsibility or autonomy, and why? Help our team understand the significance of the material you present in the form.
  
  
• Reclassification should not be used if you are looking to create a promotional opportunity. For example, you have a coordinator position that you now would like to make an assistant or associate director. A change like this would be a promotion and should be filled using a competitive recruitment process in keeping with the principles of equity and equal employment opportunity.
  
  
• A request for reclassification does not guarantee any particular outcome and may result in a pay grade increase, decrease or no change. Once finalized, the PER-2 that accompanies the reclassification report must be submitted to finalize the process.
  
  
• The job duties and responsibilities included in the request for reclassification form will serve as the official position description on file for the position when the process is complete.

If you have questions before proceeding with a reclassification request, or want to discuss whether a position would be eligible for reclassification prior to submitting, please contact Compensation and Organizational Effectiveness at 785-532-1866 or hrcomp@k-state.edu. 

Supervisors and managers should contact their departmental Human Capital Services liaison or budget/fiscal officer to initiate a request for reclassification. Updated links to the request for reclassification form will be provided to budget/fiscal officers ahead of Feb. 1.

Requests for reclassification are being accepted during two windows, one in the spring semester and another in the fall. Reclassifications will be effective on the dates listed below. Retroactive reclassifications will not be processed.

Requests will be accepted from Feb. 1 to March 15 — effective at the start of the fiscal year on June 17 — and Sept. 1 to Oct. 15 — effective mid-year in December.

Human Capital Services encourages supervisors and managers to learn more about the request for reclassification process, and know when to request a reclassification of an employee's position. Additional resources for supervisors and managers are also available. For questions, contact Compensation and Organizational Effectiveness at hrcomp@k-state.edu or 785-532-1866.

Jay Stephens
Vice president for human capital services