PAY SYSTEMS AND DESCRIPTIONS

The purpose of the District’s pay classification system is to determine the assigned pay range for a job. Job classification is based on an assessment of the job requirements and assigned duties. Jobs are compared and classified on the basis of the following factors:

(1)  knowledge and skill requirements,
(2)  complexity of assigned duties,
(3)  level of decision making,
(4)  job accountability, and
(5)  working conditions.

The Human Resources Department will collect information, evaluate jobs for classification purposes and work with Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) HR Services to determine pay grade assignments.

ANNUALIZED COMPENSATION

For all contract employees who are assigned to a 10- or 11-month work schedule in connection with their employment position, the District will pay all salary earned over that work schedule in an annualized form consisting of 12 equal monthly installments.

For all paraprofessional employees hired into the District who are assigned to a 10- or 11-month work schedule, the District will pay all salary earned over the school year in an annualized form consisting of 26 equal payments.
  

JOB CLASSIFICATION

Job classification determines the assigned pay ranges for a job. A “classification” consists of one or more jobs within an occupational field that have duties sufficiently similar in nature and level to permit rational use of comparable entrance requirements, use of the same selection process and equitable inclusion within the same pay range. The District will maintain position classification and pay range structure for all jobs. Jobs will be grouped into position classification and pay range structure in the following categories:

(1)   administrative and exempt professional,
(2)   teachers and librarians,
(3)   clerical and paraprofessional personnel
(4)   operations,
(5)   instructional support; and
(6)   technology support.

RECLASSIFICATION OF CURRENT POSITIONS

A job reclassification occurs when significant and permanent changes have occurred in the scope and level of duties being performed. Factors that are NOT considered applicable in applying the “significant changes” standard include:
·        volume of work being performed;
·        technical changes which alter the way the work is done rather than the work itself;
·        individual job performance;
·        individual qualifications of the incumbent;
·        seniority or “years of long and faithful service”

Reclassification review shall be appropriate when the job experiences expanded service levels, reorganization, increasing complexity, new technological applications or position elimination.

The job reclassification process occurs every other year (biennium). There is a two-year window before a position can be reviewed again for reclassification, unless approved by the Superintendent. A supervisor must submit all requests for reclassification. Requests will not be accepted from individual employees.

If the job is reclassified to improve internal equity with other related jobs and there is no significant and sustained increase in duties, there will be no immediate pay increase. Future earnings will be higher as a result of placement in a higher pay range. Employees will not be paid less than the minimum of the new pay range.

SALARY APPEALS

All concerns regarding salary placement shall be reported in writing to the appropriate supervisor. If the supervisor agrees that a salary review is warranted, a Request for Salary Review Form must be completed and sent through the appropriate Associate Superintendent, to the Chief Financial Officer and then to the Executive Director of Human Resources. The Executive Director of Human Resources will provide research regarding the request and forward the information through the Chief Financial Officer to the Superintendent for consideration.

WORKSITE POSTING REQUIREMENTS

The District will display the Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division Minimum Wage Poster in a conspicuous place where employees may readily see it in every facility where employees work.

TIME SHEETS/TIME CLOCKS

It is imperative that employees complete their on-line timecards, timestamp, or punch the clock for the correct amount of hours that they have worked. Employees shall not be permitted to timestamp or punch a time clock for anyone but themselves. Falsification of such time records is grounds for termination. The supervisor shall be responsible for informing employees at the time of employment and at the beginning of each new year.

COMPENSABLE HOURS

Nonexempt employees will be compensated for all hours that they are permitted to work for the benefit of the school district in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). There is no FLSA requirement to provide meal or rest breaks, however, if a meal break is provided it is not compensable if the following apply.

·        The meal break is at least 30 minutes long.
·        The employee is completely relieved of all duties.
·        The employee is free to leave their duty station.

Rest breaks can be granted at the discretion of the individual supervisor, but must be limited to no longer than 20 minutes in order to be compensable.

Special consideration should be given in determining compensable hours related to nonexempt employees required to be on-call, who travel in the course of their jobs, or are required to attend training per the following.

Generally, if an employee is on-call, is limited in their ability to pursue other tasks or activities, and is expected to respond to calls within a short period of time, the time will be compensable.

For one-day travel, all travel time is considered compensable with the exception of time spent traveling from home to a point of departure and mealtime if no work is performed.

For overnight travel, travel time that occurs during normal working hours is compensable, even if it occurs during non-work days (i.e. Saturday, Sunday, or holidays). If an employee is driving a vehicle, time is compensable regardless of when the travel occurs. Time spent traveling, as a passenger is not compensable if it occurs outside of normal working hours.

Time spent in training programs offered by the District is considered compensable unless all of the following criteria are met.
·        Attendance occurs outside the employee's regular work hours.
·        Attendance is voluntary.
·        No productive work is done while in attendance.
·        The training is not directly related to the employee's job.

If training is required by the State, not by the District, for continuing education as a condition of continued employment and if the training is not tailored to the District's specific needs, the time can be considered non-compensable.

OVERTIME PAY

Unless specifically exempted, employees covered by the FLSA must receive overtime pay for hours physically worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek. The District's workweek begins on Saturday at 12:00 a.m. and ends Friday at 11:59 p.m. Each workweek stands alone.

FLSA requires that overtime hours be compensated at a rate not less than one and one-half the employee's regular rate of pay. The District’s Human Resources Department utilizing the hourly rate chart for Instructional and Administrative Assistants, and Auxiliary Part-time/Full-time employees assigns the employee’s regular rate of pay.  Employees who work two or more different jobs during the workweek, who incur overtime during that same week, will have their overtime computed using a weighted average regular rate of pay. That is, the earnings from all such rates are added together and this total is divided by the total number of hours worked at all jobs to determine the weighted average regular rate of pay. The regular rate of pay cannot be less than the minimum wage.

A Principal, Administrator, or Supervisor who requires or permits an employee to work overtime is required to pay the employee one and one-half the employee's regular rate of pay for the overtime worked. Employees are required to obtain approval from their supervisor prior to working overtime hours. Employees may not volunteer to work overtime without being compensated for the overtime worked. An announcement by the employer that overtime work is prohibited, or that overtime work will not be paid unless authorized in advance, will not impair the employee's right to compensation for overtime hours worked. Supervisors may adjust work schedules within the workweek to limit or eliminate overtime liability. Employees who work overtime without prior approval from their supervisor must be paid, but they can be disciplined for failure to comply with the District's policies and procedures. Supervisors can also be disciplined for failure to comply with the District's overtime policies and procedures.

AUXILIARY HOLIDAY PAY

Paid holiday schedules are approved on an annual basis. The Associate Superintendent for Operations approves the schedules for the Food Service, Maintenance, Transportation, and Construction Management and Engineering departments.  Holiday pay is equal to the employee's regular rate of pay multiplied by the number of hours in that employee's normal workday, not to exceed eight hours per day.

New auxiliary employees must be in a pay status two weeks prior to a holiday to be eligible for holiday pay. All other auxiliary employees will receive pay for holidays only if they are in a pay status at least one regular workday immediately prior to and following a paid holiday. (The employee must be either at work or in a paid leave status to receive holiday pay.)

Auxiliary personnel who terminate their employment prior to a holiday shall not receive pay for the holiday.  Auxiliary personnel who terminate their employment after a holiday must be in a pay status at least one regular workday immediately following the holiday in order to be paid for the holiday.

AUXILIARY PREMIUM PAY

Only 260-day Auxiliary employees are eligible to earn premium pay. Premium pay is earned when an employee has authorization from appropriate supervisory staff and is required to work due to an emergency on a paid holiday. It is pay earned in addition to any holiday pay to which the employee is entitled. Premium pay is equal to one and one-half times the employee’s regular rate of pay multiplied by the amount of time actually worked during the paid holiday.

FACILITY USAGE EVENTS PREMIUM PAY

District hourly employees who work facility usage events scheduled during District approved holiday periods will be paid one and one-half times their normal hourly salary for hours worked during the event even though hours worked may not exceed forty for the pay period. If an employee has an absence during regularly scheduled workdays during a holiday period, then that employee will be paid straight time.  Premium pay applies only to events scheduled during District approved holidays.

EMERGENCY CALL OUT MINIMUM PAY

Facility Maintenance personnel authorized and required to physically report to a worksite in order to respond to emergencies outside of their normally assigned shift hours will be guaranteed a minimum of two hours compensation. If the employee must work longer than two hours, per occurrence, then the employee will be compensated based on actual time worked. Employees whose normal work schedule is extended due to an emergency would not be eligible for the Emergency Call Out Minimum Pay.

EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEERING

Nonexempt employees may volunteer to work at events sponsored by outside organizations that are not a part of the District (i.e. parent-teacher organizations, booster clubs, etc.) without receiving compensation as long as the following criteria are met.
•    The organization is responsible for planning the event.
•    The organization is responsible for contacting potential volunteers and scheduling their time.
•    The employee does not feel pressured in any way by District staff to volunteer.

SUPPLEMENTAL PAY

With Supervisor approval, district employees may perform supplemental services that are outside of the scope of their job description and shall be paid through the payroll system based on a supplemental duty pay schedule established by the Superintendent or designee.  Services provided by nonexempt employees will be tracked through the District’s automated time and attendance system and will be compensated based on an hourly rate of pay. If nonexempt employees incur overtime as a result of the supplemental work performed, the weighted average method of calculating overtime compensation will be used as referred to in the section addressing overtime in DEA(R). Services provided by exempt employees may be compensated on either a fee basis or an hourly basis according to the established rate for the service provided. Supplemental pay for exempt employees will be captured using the appropriate method established by the district for the type of service provided. Payments made to employees in cash or through Student Activity Funds are illegal and unauthorized.  Payment for supplementary services shall be included in the employee’s regular paycheck and will be subject to all required withholdings.

CELLULAR TELEPHONE STIPENDS

District employees may apply for a monthly cellular telephone stipend to cover the costs of moderate to high volume district business calls.  The employee must have an active contract with a cellular telephone provider, and shall be willing to complete the District’s “Cellular Service Stipend Application Form”.   Application forms shall be obtained from, and processed through the Telecommunications Service Department.  The employee shall provide proper justification of expenses incurred due to District business calls.  The application form shall be completed in full and must have the approval signature of the Campus/Department Budget Manager before it is sent to the Telecommunications Service Department.  Telecommunications Services shall review the returned applications to assure that all necessary information required by the Payroll Department has been supplied. Telecommunications Services shall forward all applications to the Director of Electronic and Print Services for review and assignment of the appropriate stipend amount.  The Director of Electronic and Print Services shall forward all applications to the Associate Superintendent or the Chief Financial Officer of the employee’s chain of command for final recommendation to the Executive Staff. Disapproval of a request by the Budget manager, Associate Superintendent, or the Chief Financial Officer is final, and does not require action by Executive Staff.

Employees will have to reapply each year in order to continue to receive the monthly stipend.  The Telecommunications Service Department shall be responsible for distributing and processing the “Annual Cellular Stipend Renewal Forms” during the month of June. 

BUDGET RESPONSIBILITY

Funds are budgeted annually to cover Stipend costs.  Allocations shall be set at fixed amounts based on employee positions and moderate to high volume cellular telephone use.  Any costs incurred in excess of the approved stipend amount will not be reimbursed.

The Telecommunications Service Department shall work with the Payroll Department to assure that employees are paid the proper amounts, and that their contracts with the cellular service provider are active.

It shall be the responsibility of the district employee to notify the Telecommunications Service Department if there are changes in their employment status, cellular telephone numbers, cancellation of cellular service, and any other information that could impact the receipt of a stipend.

DISTRIBUTION

The stipend amount shall be listed as a supplement on the employee’s paycheck stub, and shall be distributed the last pay period of each month.

AUDIT RESPONSIBILITY

Employees receiving a cellular telephone stipend shall be required to provide proof-of-service documents, if requested by the District Internal Audit Department.   Such audits shall assure that employees are meeting all requirements for eligibility.

HIRING RATES FOR RETIRED EMPLOYEES FROM TRS OF TEXAS

Retirees, who are rehired by NEISD on a full-time, part-time, one-half time or temporary basis, will be compensated at the minimum of the pay grade of the position offered to employee.   Teachers and other professionals hired on the Teacher Pay scale will be hired based on the State Minimum Teacher Pay Scale. Substitutes will be compensated at the established pay rate for the substitute position filled. Exceptions may be made with the approval of the Superintendent when there are no qualified applicants for a position or when there is no suitable match for the position available.

NON-EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEERS

An individual, such as a parent, who volunteers to provide their services on a year-round basis, may be paid expenses, reasonable benefits, a nominal fee, or combination of these without losing their volunteer status. Volunteer work is not subject to the FLSA.