Human Resources

Human Resources

For any practice, it’s vital to have a job evaluation plan to measure the worth of jobs and to establish pay grades. Rates of pay are set for each position on the basis of internal and external salary surveys. The goal of the practice’s job evaluation plan is to develop a fair and equitable compensation system for employees based on job position values.

Let’s review some issues related to this.

Procedures
1. Written job descriptions are prepared for each job title based on information gained through job analysis.

2. Pay grades, based on job evaluation results, are established by the medical practice, and a salary range is assigned to each pay grade. The salary range provides a minimum, midpoint, and maximum range of rates and permits employees within one pay grade to be compensated at different rates of pay based on merit, length of service, experience, and individual productivity.

3. Management is responsible for assigning pay rates to employees within the established pay grade of the position occupied by the employee, based on the job evaluation results

4. The individual assigned compensation responsibilities administers the job evaluation plan. Responsibilities of the job evaluation planner include:

1. Periodically reviewing job descriptions to ensure they adequately describe the job;

2. Reevaluating positions regularly to ensure currency as well as reviewing new job positions; and

3. Making adjustments to pay grades when justified.

5. A compensation salary review committee reviews wages and salaries on an as needed basis and at least annually.

Pay Computation
The policy of the Practice is to provide equitable compensation for each employee based on the job position, individual performance, and the practice’s pay computation plan.

Procedures
1. The pay computation policy provides the basis for determining individual salary levels.

2. A pay computation plan ensures pay equity for employees.

3. Pay grades and salary ranges that are affordable, comparable to, or better than similar jobs within the local health care region and the industry are established for each position.

4. Within each pay grade, minimum-midpoint-maximum and intermediate steps are established.

5. An employee’s salary rate is always set within the pay grade assigned to a position.

6. The department manager determines the initial hiring rate and step, with approval of the division manager, the human resources department, and the finance director.

7. A performance- and/or longevity-related spread is established for an employee’s pay rate throughout the pay grade.

8. A promoted employee is assigned a rate of pay within the pay grade for the new job position commensurate with his or her performance level.

9. A demoted employee is assigned a rate of pay within the pay grade of the new job position commensurate with his or her performance level.

10. The Practice maintains open communication with employees regarding its compensation policy and emphasizes how its compensation plan compares to industry-wide norms.

11. The human resources department is responsible for developing and maintaining compensation guidelines and pay commutation in conjunction with the practice’s administration. It is responsible for communicating the compensation policy to employees through appropriate channels and explaining the pay computation plan.

12. Wage and salary surveys are used when considering salary adjustments. The compensation salary review committee reviews the medical practice’s salary structure at least annually.

13. Employees are paid on the 15th day and the last day of each month. If the regular payday occurs on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, employees are paid on the last working day immediately preceding the regular payday. Employees are offered the option of having their pay deposited directly into their designated bank accounts.

14. On each payday, employees receive a statement showing gross pay, deductions, and net pay after deductions. City, state, federal, and Social Security (FICA) taxes, and employee contributions to the group’s benefit plans, as well as any employee-incurred expenses, such as parking or cafeteria charges, or donations to a charitable organization, such as United Way, are automatically deducted and shown on the pay statement. Also shown is any additional compensation for expenses such as mileage. The statement also shows the amount of leave time taken and remaining.

15. Employees may request salary advances for vacations or emergencies. The department manager and human resources director must approve such requests. When a payday falls within an employee’s vacation period, the employee may receive, before beginning the vacation, the salary that normally would be paid on the next regularly scheduled payday. In the case of an emergency, an employee may be permitted to draw in advance of the scheduled payday the pay due to the day of the advance payment.

Work Premiums
The policy of the Practice is to pay work premiums for these types of work: overtime, shift, call-in and standby work.

Procedures
1. Overtime compensation is paid to nonexempt employees who work more than 40 hours per week, or 8 hours per day, during an 80-hour work period for certain positions (as allowed by FLSA), during the normal workweek at 1½ times their regular hourly rate.

2. To the extent feasible, overtime assignments are distributed equally among full-time employees, giving preference to employees with greater seniority who are willing to work overtime.

3. To compensate nonexempt employees for inconveniences experienced when regularly assigned to late shifts, a shift differential is paid.

4. Shifts starting after noon and ending at midnight or earlier are paid a specified per-hour differential; shifts starting after 11 p.m. are paid a specified per-hour differential.

5. Shift differentials are not paid during any period of paid leave, such as vacation, compensatory time off, or holidays unless the employee is required to work on a holiday.

6. Employees who are called from home to perform work during off-duty hours are paid 1½ times the employee’s regular hourly rate. A minimum of two hours of work is guaranteed in such cases. No employee is called in to perform work during off-duty hours without the prior authorization of the employee’s department manager.

7. Employees are paid for a minimum of four work hours if they report for work as scheduled and their supervisor sends them home due to an insufficient workload.