[NCASG] Starting pay question

[Reinemann, Adam J (CS)]

Hi Wendy,

In New York, agencies use statutory salary schedules for most classified competitive service positions. These schedules do not allow a great amount of flexibility. Generally, most hires start at the hiring rate of a statutory grade and advance with six or seven steps to the “job rate” of the grade after six or seven years, depending on negotiating unit (this also applies to non-union employees, relevant for West Virginia). We also have trainee mechanisms that slightly modify salary for the first six months to two years, depending on title.

There are also titles coded as “Other Statute - OS,” and “Non-Statutory - NS.” OS positions have salaries set by other statutes outside of Civil Service Law (for example, Deputy Superintendents and Superintendents at correctional facilities). NS positions do not have statutory pay requirements. Agencies negotiate salaries directly with New York’s Division of the Budget. We do not review NS salary proposals.

We (Division of Classification & Compensation – Department of Civil Service) do not directly review salaries of agency candidates/employees with one exception. Agencies submit Increased Minimum (IM) transactions to our office. These transactions allow candidates to receive steps in their respective salary schedule, based on private sector experience. This is essentially the only mechanism that allows hiring flexibility with statutorily graded titles (does not apply to OS or NS titles).

In practice, we typically only apply this mechanism to clinical titles, because of the wide gap between New York’s schedules and market pay rates. We do not typically approve an IM for an HR generalist who worked in the private sector, for example. Additional information and requirements for IMs can be found here:

https://www.cs.ny.gov/ssd/Manuals/SPMM/0800PositClassComp/0870f_appointments_above_min_salary.htm

I also answered your direct questions below. I hope this helps.

Thanks,

Adam

Adam Reinemann
Human Resources Specialist 2 (Classification & Compensation)

Department of Civil Service
Empire State Plaza, Agency Building 1, Albany, NY 12239

(518) 474-0789 l Adam.Reinemann at cs.ny.gov<mailto:Adam.Reinemann at cs.ny.gov>
www.cs.ny.gov<http://www.cs.ny.gov/>

From: Mays, Wendy A <Wendy.A.Mays at wv.gov>
Sent: Friday, April 2, 2021 8:22 AM
To: dhr_ncasg_survey_list at admws.idaho.gov
Subject: [NCASG] Starting pay question


ATTENTION: This email came from an external source. Do not open attachments or click on links from unknown senders or unexpected emails.

Good morning from West Virginia,

Does the agency make the decision regarding starting salary?

For State agencies, yes and no. For “NS” positions defined above, yes, but salaries require sign-off from the State’s budget division. No for the vast majority of statutorily graded titles. Candidates start at a statutory hiring rate.

Does your agency (the statewide HR Department) review?

No, with the IM exception noted above. We also review employee salaries for occupational studies and salary differential reviews, but that is outside the scope of the direct starting pay question.

If so, can your agency reject the offer?  On what basis?

We can disapprove IM requests if the starting salary is not justified. However, in most cases we typically approve the transaction with change to a justifiable amount, rather than outright disapproval.

In WV an agency decides the starting salary.  However, the agency is required to start at the minimum of the pay range and can give 5% for every 6 months of additional experience up to 35%.  That is reviewed and the employee’s application is reviewed a second time by the DOP’s transactions unit.  This is an active thorough review and not just a review that signs off.

I wish we had this flexibility! 😊

Let me know if you have any questions.  If you could have your response to me by Tuesday morning, I’d appreciate it.  Obviously, we do not have collective bargaining in my state.

Thank you guys for everything.
Wendy Mays
Assistant Director, Classification and Compensation
WV Division of Personnel
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://admws.idaho.gov/pipermail/dhr_ncasg_survey_list/attachments/20210402/6feaf67e/attachment-0001.html>