Reason Code Definitions and Restrictions for Institutions of Higher Education FY 2018–2019

Employee Acquisition Codes

(Effective date can be any date.)

010 – Newly hired or rehired after a break in state service

Use this reason code to report the employment of a new employee to state employment or to re-employ a former state employee following a break in state employment.

This code identifies employment of an individual who has never worked at the institution or agency before or who has a break in service of more than one day and is not a direct transfer from another state agency or institution of higher education.

An employee who last works for one institution or agency on a Friday and begins work for another institution on a Monday is not considered to have a break in service and should not be reported with a 010 acquisition code.

015 – Interagency transfer in – Classified employee moving to an unclassified position

Use this reason code to report the employment of an employee who transferred directly from a state agency to an institution of higher education.

The employee would have been from an agency included in Articles I, II, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII and X, or at the Texas Education Agency, School for the Deaf or School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, as specified in Article III of the GAA, and would be hired into an institution of higher education.

There can be no break in state employment between the termination and hire dates.

017 – Interagency transfer in – Unclassified employee remaining unclassified

Use this reason code to report the employment of an employee who transferred directly from one institution of higher education to another institution of higher education.

The employee would have been employed at an institution of higher education included in Article III of the GAA, and would be hired into another institution of higher education.

There can be no break in state employment between the termination and hire dates.

910 – Non-reportable employee moving to reportable status

Use this reason code to report a change to reportable status for an employee who previously had a non-reportable status.

Salary Action Codes Used by Institutions of Higher Education

(Effective date can be any date.)

018 – Institutional across-the-board lump sum payment

Use this reason code to report an institutionally awarded salary payment made to all institutional employees or to a specific class of institutional employees. The payment is given in a lump sum to the designated employees.

920 – Promotion

Use this reason code to report a salary increase and/or title change for an employee due to a change in assignment within an institution from a position with one title, academic rank or classification to a position with another title, academic rank or classification. The institution will report the monthly salary adjustment with this reason code. The new position may or may not include a higher minimum pay rate but will involve a higher level of responsibility. This reason code may change or add a job appointment number.

921 – Demotion

Use this reason code to report a salary reduction and/or title change for a voluntary or involuntary change in assignment to a position that requires decreased responsibility and a lower salary. If an employee receives a demotion, he or she may or may not have his/her salary reduced to an amount below the rate received before the demotion. This reason code may change or add a job appointment number.

923 – Increase after probationary hearing period

Use this reason code to report a salary increase given to an employee after the successful completion of a probationary performance period. This reason code may change or add a job appointment number.

924 – Increase after successful completion of certification or advanced degree

Use this reason code to report an increase that may be granted to an employee who has earned a certification, such as Certified Public Accountant, or an advanced degree. This reason code may change or add a job appointment number.

925 – Merit increase

Use this reason code to report a salary increase given to an employee whose job performance and productivity is consistently above that normally expected or required.

Before awarding a merit increase in salary, an institution of higher education must adopt criteria for the granting of such an increase. To be eligible for a merit increase in salary, an employee must have been employed by the institution of higher education for the six months immediately preceding the effective date of the increase, and at least six months must have elapsed since the employee’s last emergency one-time merit payment, onetime merit payment or merit salary increase. This reason code may change or add a job appointment number.

927 – Rate reduction for disciplinary reasons

Use this reason code to report a salary reduction for disciplinary reasons. If an employee’s performance so warrants, the chief executive officer may reduce an employee’s salary for disciplinary reasons to a lower rate. This reason code may change or add a job appointment number.

928–Rate restoration after disciplinary reduction

Use this reason code to report the restoration of an employee’s pay as the employee’s performance improves following a rate reduction for disciplinary reasons. An employee’s pay may be restored to any rate, up to and including his/her prior rate, as the employee’s performance improves. This reason code may change or add a job appointment number.

929 – Equity, market or scale adjustment

Use this reason code to report an increase given to an employee or an employee class in order to compete with comparable outside markets or international salary conditions. This reason code may change or add a job appointment number.

930 – Institutional across-the-board increase

Use this reason code to report an institutionally awarded salary increase for all institutional employees or for a specific class of institutional employees. This increase becomes a part of the employee’s base salary rate and is spread over the term of the appointment. This reason code may change or add a job appointment number.

931 – Legislatively mandated across-the-board increase (statutory)

Use this reason code to report an increase mandated by the Legislature for all employees or for a specific class of employees.

932 – Multiple salary actions, same effective date

Use this reason code to report a reappointment and salary action or a combination of salary action reason codes when they occur on the same day (except 925 and 931).

935 – One-time merit payment

Use this reason code to record a one-time merit payment given to an employee whose job performance and productivity is consistently above that normally expected or required. Before awarding a one-time merit payment, an institution of higher education must adopt criteria for the granting of one-time merit payments and merit salary increases. To be eligible for a one-time merit payment, an employee must have been employed by the institution of higher education for the six months immediately preceding the effective date of the increase and at least six months must have elapsed since the employee’s last emergency one-time merit payment, one-time merit payment or merit salary increase. This code is generated by the system from the reported payroll transaction and the effective date is the pay period start date.

936 – Performance reward for an employee at an eligible agency (Not used effective Sept. 1, 2015)

This reason code was used to record a performance reward for a classified employee of an institution of higher education. This type of reward was also called an “enhanced compensation payment” and was authorized when the institution of higher education achieved or exceeded targets for 80 percent of the established key performance measures for a fiscal year.

This code was generated by the system from the reported payroll transaction, and the effective date was the pay period effective date.

Effective Sept. 1, 2013, the authority for awarding performance rewards/enhanced compensation awards was removed from the General Appropriations Act and the reason code will no longer be used.

939 – Emergency One-Time Merit Payment

Use this reason code to record a one-time merit payment awarded due to the employee’s performance during a natural disaster or other extraordinary circumstance.

There is no limit on the amount of an emergency one-time merit (EXM) payment. However, the chief administrative officer of the institution must document the natural disaster or extraordinary circumstance during which the employee showed meritorious performance.

To qualify for an EXM, a classified employee must have been employed by the institution for at least six months prior to the effective date of the EXM. Prior merit salary increases or one-time merit payments do not impact the eligibility for an EXM. However, an EXM does impact eligibility for a regular one-time merit payment or a merit salary increase.

This code is generated by the system from the reported transaction and the effective date is the pay period start date.