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Increments (also called Performance Advances or Steps) are
base salary increases in addition to the annual percentage adjustment, that
move an employee from Hiring Rate to Job Rate of their Salary Grade.
The amount of the increment for each grade is listed in the
salary schedule under "Advance Amount". The Increment is in
addition to any base salary increase.
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It takes a maximum of 7 years of service to move from the
Hiring Rate to the Job Rate. (For those who start a position or are
promoted with a salary higher than the hiring rate, it will take fewer
years).
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Increments are paid on the October 1 or April 1 following
completion of one year (26 pay periods) of service which is evaluated as satisfactory.
For 10 month teachers, increments are paid on the first day of the next
school year. In addition, the last performance evaluation had to be
"satisfactory". NOTE: Management's Failure to complete a timely
evaluation CANNOT be used to withhold payment of an increment if the
employee has the required year of service.
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A leave of absence without pay could affect your increment
payment cycle. For example, someone who was appointed to their
position in February would be on the April payment cycle. If
they took a 3 month leave of absence without pay during their third year of
employment, their title anniversary date would be adjusted, and they would
not have completed their 26 pay periods of service until after April 1.
As a result, their increment payment cycle would switch to October,
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A person's salary
cannot exceed the job rate
by addition of
an Increment. As a result, for many employees the last advance to job rate
is frequently less than the full advance amount listed in the contract.
This occurs in those situations where an employee has promoted into their
current position.
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When an employee promotes, their new salary is established
as the greater of (1) the hiring rate of the new salary grade or (2) the
promotion increase based on the number of grades between their old and new
titles. In most cases, the promotion increase offers a higher salary.
That calculation, however, results in a salary that is somewhere between the
precise dollar amounts that would exist if you added each of the increments
to the hiring rate. Because they are paid between steps, the increment
that raises the base salary to the job rate will often be less than the full
amount specified in the contract.
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Increments continue to be paid even if the contract has
expired and the new agreement is still being negotiated.
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In 2010, the increment system will be changed to include
what is called the "Job Rate Advance". The Job Rate Advance is the
amount added to base for the last increment that will raise your salary to
the job rate. (Again, you cannot exceed the job rate by adding the job
rate advance). This Job Rate Advance was necessary to assure that no
employees would be disadvantaged by the implementation of salary grade
parity in 2010 when the PEF Job Rates will be the same as those for CSEA.
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If adding the Job Rate Advance Amount is sufficient to reach
the Job Rate of your Salary Grade, you will receive the Job Rate Advance as
your Increment;
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If the Job Rate Advance is not sufficient to reach the job
rate, you will receive the Advance Amount as your increment.
