State of California M E M O R A N D U M REFERENCE CODE: 2000-053 DATE: August 11, 2000 TO: Personnel Officers FROM: Department of Personnel Administration Policy and Operations Division SUBJECT: Pay Differential for Represented Employees CONTACT: Camille Hollis, Personnel Management Analyst (916) 324-3860, CALNET 454-3860 FAX: (916) 327-1886 INTERNET: CAMILLEHOLLIS@DPA.CA.GOV Information Technology (IT) retention continues as a major concern for many State agencies. As the current competition for skilled IT professionals intensifies, the necessity to retain business critical IT skills becomes of paramount concern in meeting the business objectives of State agencies. In response to this growing concern, management and labor agreed to establish an IT Skills Retention Pay Differential for represented IT employees. The intent of this new provision is to help departments retain staff who possess skills critical to the business success of the department. This is a retention differential and is not intended to recruit employees from one State agency to another. The pay differential allows for three levels of premium pay as illustrated below: LEVEL ONE 10% OF MONTHLY SALARY - Intermediate Professional IT Training Courses Verification of completion of an approved standardized training program (minimum of 40 hours) of required department specified intermediate IT training coursework and demonstrated successful application of learned competency. Training coursework must be relevant to the business critical activity of the department and related to the employee's current job description. LEVEL TWO 15% OF MONTHLY SALARY Advanced Professional IT Training Courses Verification of completion of an approved standardized training program (minimum of 40 hours) of required department specified advanced IT training coursework and demonstrated successful application of learned competency. Training coursework must be relevant to the business critical activity of the department and related to the employee's current job description. LEVEL THREE 20% OF MONTHLY SALARY Professional IT Certification Verification of a professional certification or department defined certification equivalence and demonstrated successful application of learned competency. Certification must be relevant to the business critical IT activity of the department and related to the employee's current job description. Department and employee participation in this Skills Retention pay differential is based on meeting the following eligibility criteria: DEPARTMENT To qualify for participation in the Skills Retention pay differential, the department must have the following: 1. Formalized and documented Department Business Objectives; 2. Departmental IT Strategic Plan or IT Environmental Business Strategy (i.e., Agency Information Management Strategy [AIMS], etc.); and 3. Identified Business Critical IT Skills in selected IT Functional Areas as specified in the following list. Business Critical IT Skills are those skills critical to the overall success of the department's IT activity in meeting its increasing and changing support demands. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CATEGORIES & FUNCTIONAL AREAS TECHNICAL ADMINISTRATION Data Access/Security Administration Data Administration Database Administration Network Administration Server Administration Configuration Management Information Management Data Storage and Management ANALYSIS AND DEVELOPMENT Application Programming Multimedia Programming Systems Programming Systems Analysis IT SUPPORT Business Consulting Client/Support Services MANAGEMENT Project Management All departments requesting participation in this Skills Retention pay differential should submit their completed package with the following information to the Policy and Operations Division, Department of Personnel Administration (DPA). All requests for participation will be reviewed by the Classification Review Committee (CRC), a group of IT managers representing many State agencies. Completed packages should include: 1. A Pay Differential Transmittal form (Classification and Pay Manual, Section 230, Attachment 2, Page 1); 2. A Department and IT Strategic Plan or IT Environmental Business Strategy; 3. A document describing the department's IT network and communication infrastructure/architecture. (i.e., servers, routers, and desktop computers, etc.); 4. A listing of department specified IT coursework (path/track) and professional certification or department defined certification equivalence in the functional IT areas referenced above (arranged by classification and differential pay levels); 5. An "individually packaged" eligible employee participation request that includes noted business critical IT skill(s), documented verification of completed department specified IT training coursework and professional certification or department defined certification equivalence plus a document supporting employee's successful demonstration of learned competency, and 6. A costing document that includes the employee's full name, current classification and salary rate and level, and skills retention pay differential level (10% - 20%). This document should show both current year and annualized costs for each employee. The completed Pay Differential Transmittal form should describe the purpose of the differential and specific conditions or circumstances that warrant additional pay. It should also describe the source of learned and demonstrated proficiency. All employees must have an annual development plan or comprehensive training plan. It is imperative for participation in this differential that these documents be available for review for each IT employee participating in this skills differential. Annually, it will be the department's responsibility to review continued business critical IT skills retention status of all employees participating in this skills pay differential program. Changes in business critical IT skills may require the department to reassess employees' continued participation in this skills pay differential. In addition, the currency of the employee's skills must also be assessed (see following section). EMPLOYEE Eligible IT employees participating in this Skills Retention pay differential must have permanent civil service status and at least six months continuous service in the current department immediately prior to receipt of this differential. Eligible IT employees must possess business critical IT skills, and documented verification of completion of an approved standardized training program and/or product specific professional credential or department defined certification equivalence. All employees must have demonstrated successful application of learned competency. For continued eligibility, employees must maintain IT professional recertification that is no more than one generation (version) old as supported by the issuing company and utilized by the department. GENERAL When an employee meets criteria for two or more of the pay levels (i.e., 10%, 15%, and 20%), he/she shall be eligible for only one level. Employees may receive this differential in addition to other pay differentials for which they qualify. If an employee who is receiving this pay differential voluntarily terminates employment, transfers to a location in the department where the differential is not authorized, transfers to another State agency, or is discharged from State service, the differential shall be discontinued. Department and employee participation in this pay differential must be approved by DPA and CRC. Departments should establish an employee's participation request form that captures the name of the individual participating employee, reason(s) for retention, describes business critical IT skills, and list staff who will be responsible for certifying current and future demonstrated competency performance (see attached sample request form). Future adjustments to the initial course listing may be delegated to the department. Application of this pay differential provision is subject to a bargaining cycle audit by DPA. The review process is outlined as follows: 1. Departments may submit a completed Skills Retention pay differential package to DPA and the CRC no later than NOVEMBER 15, 2000. 2. Department of Finance will provide departments with instructions on budgeting for the represented employees' Skills Retention pay differential in forthcoming Budget Letter. The Budget Letter will address those Skills Retention pay differentials as approved by the CRC and DPA by February 15, 2001. Questions regarding application of this pay differential should be directed to Camille Hollis at (916) 324-3860 or via email at camillehollis@dpa.ca.gov. Peter J. Strom Chief