Merit Advance Program
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What is the Merit Advance Program?
A. The Merit Advance Program was negotiated with the 2003-2007 Agreement. While the program is new, the motivation for its creation from PEF’s perspective is not. The Merit Advance Program was the negotiated means by which we finally addressed the historic disparity between the top of grade salaries of PEF represented employees in Salary Grades 1-18 as compared to CSEA represented employees working in the same salary grades. In those salary grades where this disparity exists, the program provides a base salary increase to employees who satisfy the eligibility criteria for the merit advance.
Q. How much is the Merit Advance increase?
A. The amount of the merit advance increase varies. For affected salary grades between SG-1 and SG-18 the amount is equal to the amount necessary to raise the PEF job rates to the same dollar amount at the CSEA job rates for the same salary grade. The specific amounts of the merit advance increase for each salary grade can be found on pages 148-149 of the 2003-2007 PS&T Unit Agreement.
Q. Is the Merit Advance a lump sum payment?
A. No, it is an adjustment to base salary which will increase the annual salary of eligible employees by the amount of the Merit Advance.
Q. Will the Merit Advance increase affect the $800 base salary adjustment due on April 1, 2007?
A. No. These salary increases are independent of each other and will occur simultaneously for those individuals who are eligible for both.
Q. When will eligible employees receive the Merit Advance increase?
A. Employees who currently meet the eligibility criteria will receive the merit advance increase effective on the first day of the pay period beginning closest to April 1, 2007. These dates are the same as those dates for payment of performance advances/increments.
Q. I am currently eligible to receive the Merit Advance increase, when will this increase first appear in my paycheck?
A. The Merit Advance increase will first appear in paychecks dated April 26, 2007 for employees on the Institution payroll and May 2, 2007 for employee on the Administration payroll.
Q. Is April 1, 2007 the only date for payment of the Merit Advance increase?
A. No. Employees who subsequently satisfy the eligibility criteria for the merit advance increase will begin receiving the merit advance increase in the first April or October after they satisfy the eligibility criteria for the merit advance. For example, employees who become eligible for the merit advance between April 1, 2007 and October 1, 2007 will receive the merit advance increase in October 2007.
Q. Once I have established eligibility for the Merit Advance do I have to requalify each year?
A. No. As long as you remain in the same salary grade you will continue to receive a base salary which includes the Merit Advance rate. This is similar to establishing eligibility for a performance advance/increment. Once you are receiving it you continue to get it.
Q. I am a ten month employee, when will I receive my Merit Advance increase.
A. Currently eligible 10 month employees will receive the merit advance increase in April. 10 month employees who become eligible in the future will receive the merit advance increase in the September immediately following satisfaction of the eligibility criteria. For 10 month employees, completion of the 10 month school year satisfies the one year of service requirement.
Q. What are the eligibility criteria for the Merit Advance Increase?
A. Employees must satisfy the following five criteria to be eligible to receive the merits advance increase:
a) one complete year at the job rate for the employee’s current salary grade;
b) five years of cumulative State service;
c) no unsatisfactory performance evaluations for the three years preceding the effective date of the merit advance increase;
d) no finding of guilt, settled NOD, or pending NOD during the three years preceding the effective date of the merit advance increase (excluding NOD’s which are dismissed by an arbitrator or withdrawn by the agency during the period);
e) participation in agency-sponsored training during prior three years.
Q. I have not received performance evaluations in the last three years, am I still eligible?
A. Yes. If you have not been evaluated during a particular rating period you will be deemed to have received a satisfactory evaluation for that evaluation period. The absence of an evaluation will not disqualify you.
Q. What if I received an unsatisfactory evaluation which was subsequently reversed on appeal?
A. An unsatisfactory evaluation that is pending appeal will disqualify you. However, if the unsatisfactory evaluation is subsequently reversed on appeal you will be retroactively eligible for the merit advance increase.
Q. I received a notice of discipline that was issued before April 1, 2004 but was still pending or settled after April 1, 2004. Will that NOD disqualify me from eligibility?
A. No. GOER has directed agency labor relations departments to not consider NODs issued prior to April 1, 2004 when determining individual eligibility for the merit advance. This is so even if these NODs were not settled or adjudicated until after April 1, 2004.
Q. I received a notice of discipline that was issued after April 1, 2004 and was settled on March 1, 2006. How long will that NOD block my eligibility for the merit advance?
A. Your eligibility for the merit advance will be blocked until March 1, 2009, three years after the date of settlement of the NOD. Assuming we do not negotiate any changes to the program in this round of negotiations, and you have no other bar to eligibility, you will receive the merit advance increase in April, 2009.
Q. What does “agency sponsored training” mean?
A. As provided in the GOER implementation memorandum issued to agency labor relations departments, agency sponsored training is limited to training which is offered or approved by the agency and at which attendance is considered a work assignment without charge to accruals. Further, such training must also directly support or improve skills required for an employee’s current job assignments, duties or responsibilities. Employees who were given the opportunity to attend such training but chose not to do so can be disqualified on that basis. Where such training was not provided by the agency, failure to attend agency-sponsored training may not be used as a basis for disqualifying an employee.
Q. I have been disqualified for the merit advance and do not agree with the basis for the disqualification. What can I do?
A. You may appeal that disqualification though the existing performance evaluation appeals process. That appeal process is discussed in Subsection II (D) of the MOU Concerning Performance Evaluation and Performance Advances printed on pages 169-172 of the 2003-2007 PEF/State Agreement. To appeal your disqualification, you must submit an appeal of that disqualification to your agency performance evaluation appeals committee within 15 calendar days of receipt of notice of that disqualification. As the time period for appealing your disqualification is short, you should contact your PEF Seward or Field Representative immediately if you disagree with the State’s determination that you are not qualified.
Q. I am currently paid above the job rate for my salary grade. Will I receive the full merit advance increase for my salary grade?
A. No. Just as bases salaries cannot exceed the job rate as a result of a performance advance/increment, base salaries cannot exceed the merit advance amount as a result of receiving the merit advance increase.
Q. I was promoted in Feb. 2007 and I would have qualified for a merit advance increase in the lower level title prior to my promotion, do I get a merit advance increase in the higher grade?
A. No. You must be in an eligible title at the time of payment and you must have satisfied the eligibility criteria in that title at the time of payment. If the higher level title is in a salary grade which has a merit advance amount, assuming satisfaction of the other eligibility criteria, you will receive the merit advance increase in the new title after completing one year at job rate in the new salary grade.
Q. I am currently working in a higher level title in which I was not eligible for a merit advance. However, if at a later date I demote to a lower level title in which I am otherwise eligible for the merit advance, will I become eligible for the merit advance at that point.
A. If the demotion is not due to disciplinary action (e.g. you are demoting voluntarily, in lieu of layoff, or from a temporary or probationary item), you will become eligible for the merit advance rate six pay periods after your return to the lower level title.