1.
Designation Authority
The Mississippi State Personnel Board shall have exclusive authority to approve designated Special Compensation Plan classifications. The Mississippi State Personnel Board will appoint, from a list of nominees submitted by the Executive Director of Information Technology Services, an Information Technology Professional Development Committee (ITPDC) to review information technology related degrees in regard to meeting classification minimum requirements and agency requests for reallocations and class establishments. The ITPDC will provide a recommendation for action to the Mississippi State Personnel Board. This committee shall act in an advisory capacity to the Mississippi State Personnel Board. The ITPDC shall be established by precept and members are appointed in accordance with the procedures in Attachment 1.
Rules for operation of the ITPDC will be published with the Secretary of State's Office as Attachment 1 to this policy.
2.
Adding Classifications to the Special Compensation Plan
Classifications shall be added to the Special Compensation Plan only upon prior approval by the Mississippi State Personnel Board with recommendations by the ITPDC.
3.
Position Movement
Positions may be placed under the Special Compensation Plan through the normal reallocation process as outlined in the Mississippi State Personnel Board Policy and Procedures Manual and the Variable Compensation Plan for FY 2022.
Requests for budgeted and non-budgeted reallocations and new positions shall be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Mississippi State Personnel Board with recommendations by the ITPDC. Classifications that are part of the Special Compensation Plan are not eligible for reclassifications.
4.
Educational Benchmarks
The Mississippi State Personnel Board Executive Director is authorized to certify requests to award Educational Benchmark increases on a case-by-case basis. Employees may receive an educational benchmark for the possession or attainment of education, licensure, certification, or registration, which exceeds the level of minimum qualifications listed for the employee's assigned job class.
General Benchmark Policies
a. Requests for Educational Benchmark awards are made at the discretion of the agency head.
b. No Educational Benchmark shall be awarded for degrees, licensure, certification, or registration, which the incumbent possessed at the time of hire.
c. If the employee being awarded an Educational Benchmark is currently at end salary of his or her classification or should the benchmark cause an employee's salary to exceed end salary, that portion of the benchmark exceeding end salary shall be paid as a one-time lump-sum payment.
d. Any new hire flexibility, recruitment flexibility, or other discretionary compensation awarded for, or in anticipation of, future educational achievement, licensure, certification, or registration shall not result in a subsequent award of an Educational Benchmark for the same achievement.
e. Educational Benchmarks shall not be awarded for degrees, licensure, certifications, or registrations, which are required by law for performance of job duties.
5.
Designation Policies
Each appointing authority shall comply with Mississippi State Personnel Board policies and administrative procedures which govern the designation of positions and employees for inclusion in the Special Compensation Plan.
6.
Annual Policy Memorandum
The Mississippi State Personnel Board shall publish annually a Special Compensation Plan Policy Memorandum, which addresses all policies and procedures to govern the Special Compensation Plan for that fiscal year.
7.
Assignment of Salaries
The salaries assigned to positions in the Special Compensation Plan shall be fixed in accordance with the provisions of the Special Compensation Plan and Variable Compensation Plan, unless otherwise provided by law.
8.
Provisions for Awarding Special Compensation Plan Salary Increases
Salary increases for in-class movement under the Special Compensation Plan may, subject to Legislative restrictions, be awarded for achievement of educational objectives, the development of additional critical competencies, or evidence of increasing complexity of work goals. The Special Compensation Plan is intended to reward employees who have attained additional education and competencies, which directly add value to their ability to perform the duties and tasks of their position, which ultimately add value to the agency. It is intended to be awarded individually to employees, similar to an Educational Benchmark, and is not intended to reflect any increases in the value of the classification.
a. General Policies
1. Requests for special compensation awards are made at the discretion of the agency head and are based on a 24-month measurement period. The measurement period begins upon completion of the Competencies/Education Profile form by the employee's supervisor. The measurement period ends upon award of a special compensation salary increase. Another measurement period begins immediately after the award of a special compensation salary increase.
Employees are eligible for their initial special compensation award after a minimum of 12 months evaluation in a Special Compensation Plan position, provided that he/she has remained in the same position and has not been promoted during the evaluation period.
The measurement period will start over upon promotion of the employee or upon a lateral or downward transfer to a different agency than the one in which the employee began the measurement period. Any prior education or training accomplished at the prior agency may be transferred to the new measurement period at the new agency. Certification of prior hours must be received from the employee's former agency.
2. Employees who complete the requirements for a special compensation increase may be eligible for a salary increase of up to six percent of their current salary at the time they complete the requirements. A special compensation increase may be awarded up to 12 months after the employee completes the requirements for a special compensation increase.
3. All special compensation awards must be accomplished from within funds available.
4. To be eligible for a special compensation award, the employee must have maintained a "Successful" or higher rating for each competency of the individual's Performance Review Assessment (PRS) during the measurement period.
5. A Competencies/Education Profile (CEP) form (Attachment 2) signed by the employee's immediate supervisor and authorized by the agency head must be kept on file by the agency for each special compensation increase.
6. Further, to qualify for a special compensation increase, agencies must complete Form ITSCP-0716 (included at the end of this document), which certifies that the recipient has completed all requirements as outlined in this memorandum.
b. Requirements for Eligibility
1. To be eligible for a special compensation increase, an employee must complete at least 120 contact hours of education/training. At least 60 hours of the contact hours must be technical in nature and appropriate for his/her classification. The remaining 60 hours may be as approved by the agency head. However, employees who receive a special compensation award for the initial twelve-month period, as discussed in paragraphs (1) and (2) above must complete 60 contact hours of education/training. At least 30 hours of the contact hours must be technical in nature and appropriate for his/her classification. The remaining 30 hours may be as approved by the agency head.
2. In addition to the education/training hours, an employee must receive a rating of Yes (Y) indicating added value accomplished by the employee for at least three of the competencies identified for that classification, indicating the employee has fully met the supervisor's expectations relative to those competencies. Documentation supporting the added value must be maintained by the agency.
3. The employee must have maintained a "Successful" or higher rating for each competency of the individual's Performance Review Assessment (PRS) during the measurement period.
c. Approved Education/Training
1. A listing of qualified education/training categories will be maintained by the Information Technology Professional Development Committee (ITPDC). Approved categories will be listed for each of the four job families (Management, Infrastructure, Operations and Support, and Systems Delivery, Attachment 2). Training hours from conferences must be documented in detail, reviewed, and approved by the agency head for consideration of training hours for special compensation.
2. Copies of course certificates or other documents specifying completion for education/training hours shall be maintained by the agency and shall accompany the Competencies/Education Profile (CEP) form. In the case of education/training which specifies a range of hours required for completion, the minimum number of hours specified will be used. In the case of conferences or general session type meetings where individual documents of completion are not distributed to participants/attendees, the employee's immediate supervisor must certify in letter format the number of hours claimed by the employee. The certification will be approved by the employee's first level reviewer for the agency head. On the job training will not be counted as training for special compensation.
3. Education/training contact hours shall count only for the current measurement period. Hours achieved in excess of 120 will not be carried over to future periods, nor will they be given additional weight or computation in the current measurement period. Once a special compensation award is made, the employee then begins the next measurement period with zero contact hours.
d. Critical Competencies
1. A complete listing of critical competencies has been identified for each job classification. At the beginning of the measurement period, the employee's supervisor will identify on the Competencies/Education Profile (CEP) form those critical competencies that are to be achieved by the employee. At the end of the measurement period, the supervisor will annotate the form with a "Y" to indicate the employee has successfully achieved the expected improvement of the individual competency or will annotate with an "N" to indicate that the employee did not achieve the expected level of improvement of that individual competency. An indication of a "Y" or an "N" only indicates the employee did or did not achieve the planned increase in each individual competency. It does not indicate an acceptable or unacceptable level of competency, but merely if the employee achieved the change outlined by the supervisor at the beginning of the measurement period.
2. During the measurement period, generally at a six-month or one-year interval, the critical competencies indicated by the supervisor at the beginning of the measurement period should be reviewed and discussed with the employee. If the focus of the employee's position has changed since the beginning of the period, the supervisor may, at any time prior to the end of one full year of the measurement period, close out the previous competency/competencies and indicate a different set of critical competencies to be in effect for the remainder of the measurement period. The close out and resultant change of competency selection must be accompanied by a narrative describing the reason for the change.
3. No official feedback document is required for critical competencies. Each supervisor should, on a continuing basis, review and discuss with the employee his or her progress, or lack thereof, in relation to each critical competency to be attained during the measurement period. Courses, seminars, books, and other materials may be suggested by the supervisor to assist the employee in accomplishment of the competencies.
e. Competencies/Education Profile (CEP) Form (Attachment 2)
1. A CEP form will be filled out by the employee's PDS rating supervisor at the beginning of the measurement period for each employee eligible to receive a special compensation award as approved by the agency head. After the competencies and education/training goals have been discussed with and agreed to by the employee, the rating supervisor will submit the CEP form to the employee's PDS first level reviewer for approval. Approved CEP forms will be maintained by the employee's supervisor or in the employee's PDS supplement employee folder.
2. During the last 14 days prior to the end of the first year of measurement period (or during the PDS review and feedback sessions), the CEP form should be reviewed by the employee's rating supervisor, and the status of the employee's accomplishment of competencies and completion should be discussed with the employee. Any changes to the critical competencies to be accomplished must be made by the end of the first year of the measurement period and initiated by the employee and then approved by the employee's first level reviewer and by the agency head.
3. A copy of the CEP form must be maintained in the employee's file for all requests for a special compensation award. These forms are subject to post award review by the ITPDC or by the Mississippi State Personnel Board.
