Employee Merit/ Attendance Bonus Pay for All DPS Employees from February 4th, 2015 until June 11th, 2015.
The Dearborn School Board will be providing an attendance incentive and merit pay bonus for all employees who have been employed between February 4th through June 12th, 2015. Eligibility for the bonus will be based on the following criteria:
- The Bonus will be available to all employees rated as effective or highly effective in the 2014-15 evaluation process. This applies to DFT, ADSA, and Other Administrators who are rated on the four point rating scale. Those employees are required to have a merit pay system per state law. Other employees that are not rated on the 4 point scale (DFSE, DSOEA, exempt non-classified, etc.) are still eligible to receive the bonus but this criteria does not apply to them since we do not have an established final rating system. We are working towards developing a system.
- All Full time employees that use no paid days off for the period of February 4th through June 11th, 2015 receive a $400 bonus. Employees that work part time will receive a prorated amount based on an 8 hour profile day
- Employees must have been employed for the entire time period between February 4th to June 11th in order to be eligible.
- For any paid days off used, the bonus will be reduced by $100 per day.
- A half day of absenteeism will result in a $50 reduction in the bonus for full time employees.
- Hourly employees(including DFSE, DSOEA, Child Care Workers, etc) will also be deducted on a pro-rated amount for any hours that they take off. For example, a full time employee that takes 2 hours of personal business time would be reduced by dividing 8 hours into $100 which would mean an overall deduction of $25 for 2 hours of time off. Please be advised that an 8 hour day is considered as full time.
- Paid days off shall be defined as days charged to the employees sick (family care, funeral, etc) and personal business leave banks. This will not include vacation days.
- Paid days off for district related business, administrative leave, inservice/conference, jury duty and union release time are not charged to the sick bank, so they will have no effect on this attendance incentive bonus.
- Employees off for four paid days off or more will not be eligible for the bonus.
- The bonus will be paid in July 2015
- Eligible employees who are retiring or resigning at the end of the 2014-15 school year may receive their bonus.
- Employees that work part time will be given a pro-rated amount. For example, an employee with a .5 Full time equivalent status (FTE) will be eligible for a total of $200. The .5 FTE employee would be reduced by $50 per day for paid time off. An employee with a .8 FTE status will be eligible for a total of $320 and will be reduced by $80 per day for any paid time off.
Please be aware that this extra incentive money is a positive program that the district has created in order to reward employees who save the district money through reduction in paid substitutes and who demonstrate a commitment to the students by maintaining excellent attendance. This money is above and beyond any contract compensation rates. All union heads were consulted and were provided with an opportunity to give input regarding this incentive program.
This is a one time pilot program from February 4th until June 11th, 2015 and it will be evaluated to determine the impact on improved staff attendance. Please be aware that we did see a positive reduction in absentee rates when a similar program was implemented for DFT members during the 2013-14 school year.
Please do not respond to this email, as we will not be responding to questions via email. However, if you have a question you can post it on the blog site. We will respond to questions on the blog site so that everyone can see the answers.
Thank you and all the best with this new merit/incentive program.
Does this include DFSE employees?
All employees are included as stated in the title of the post. Employees that are not on 4 point rating system do not need to meet that criteria at this time since a fair system in not in place. However, we are working on the development of a system in the future which will include using our evaluation tool for non-instructional employees if we decided to implement a similar merit/incentive model in the future. Right now state law dictates that teachers and administrators must have a merit pay system tied to their ratings so it is mandatory for them.
So Yes, DFSE, DSOEA, Child Care, Exempt , non classified., and all other employees in the district.
Is the DFSE union employees involved in this program? We are not listed. Our evaluations are based on a 5 point rating scale.
Yes, all means all. DFSE are included.
I am an Early Childhood employee. It is my understanding that I am eligible. I work 37.5 hours per week and am non-union. I am rated on the 4 point scale. I am allowed 3 personal paid days off during the school year. I have not taken any of my paid days off yet. Is it my understanding that other employees who work for my department, and HAVE used all or some of the 3 personal days, can still get this incentive? If so that means they had their paid days prior to February 4 and get a bonus, while I would only get the bonus if I don’t take time off.
Please remember that this is a bonus above and beyond normal benefits. You are still eligible for the paid days off. However, if you choose to use that days in that timeframe you would not be eligible for the bonus. You may also choose to bank your days for the future. Please remember that this is not contractual but rather something the district is doing above and beyond normal compensation to reward employees with good attendance habits.
If I am paid for 6.75 hours per day, am I entitled to the $400.00 bonus or some other amount? Thank you for your time and consideration.
You take 6.75 hours and divide it into 8. This gives you .84375 which you then multiple by $100.
Thus it is $84.38 per day.
Question from responder
I do understand that the district is going above and beyond, and this is a bonus for all employees. Early Childhood does not bank hours. In our department, we use our paid time off or lose it. Some employees in my department have used paid days, and will still be able to get the incentive. I am now regretting not using my 3 paid personal days prior to February 4, since I can’t bank hours. Had I know, I would have received my paid days and the incentive.
Thank you for your time,
Answer
Thank you for contacting me with this respectful and appreciative inquiry. We did not know in advance exactly how the incentive would be implemented. I thought that the banked PB time converted back to the sick bank. This is how it works for other groups. If I am mistaken I apologize but I will get further clarification on that. If not then you can still take the paid time off but you would not receive the bonus. Please be aware that the bonus is above and beyond paid time off and it is really a positive incentive. You could also choose just not to take time off and then you will get the full bonus. That will be your decision. All the best.
Question: As a first year teacher I do not have the option to get paid during the summer months. If I am eligible for the bonus how will I get paid?
Answer: You will still get paid. We can issue payment in the summer.
Federal FMLA time guarantees employees time off but it does not guarantee compensation. Contracts guarantee compensation rates. Any time off with a sick back available would be paid time off but employees would not receive the daily bonus rate.
Here is a response to a question where an employee stated that they were getting penalized for taking time off and were concerned if they lost a family member and needed to take a funeral day off.
Greetings,
No one is being penalized. If you have paid sick time in your bank you can still use that benefit and use funeral time with pay if it is necessary to do so. This is a bonus which is above and beyond any contract amounts. It is really a positive thing that the Board and District are doing to reward employees with good attendance habits. We are not willing to become flexible with the requirements because it will be precedent setting. If you were absent for one day you will only miss one day of the eligible bonus, however, you are not missing out on any paid time off if you have days available.
Thank you for writing to me regarding your concern.
Hi,
What if I do not need a sub for the day I am taking off?
Thanks.
Yes, you still need to report in the AESOP system. It also means that you will not receive a bonus for that absence
I am profiled as 2.50 hrs., do I qualify for this? If so, do I take 2.50 divide by 8 which is .31 then multiple by $100 which is $31.00 per day. Then how many days? 4? Which would make it $124 if I do not use any personnel or sick days? Am I correct on my figures? Thanks
Yes, a full day is 8 hours so that would be accurate.
Question:
My kitchen has questions concerning the regulations and the bonus pay, of recent issue. It has come up that the high school has testing March 3 and March 4 and we are not serving lunch those days, therefore most of my staff does not report to work. It is a concern that this will effect the bonus pay, since all they are allowed to take is vacation or no pay. Can you give us some clarification on this matter.
Thank you,
Answer: No there will not be any impact since they are not scheduled work days.
Is there any way you can consider taking a percentage of the entire year’s absences? I have only missed a 1/2 day since September…I do not abuse the system. However, today (once the incentive is now in place) I have to stay home with a sick child. I am a loyal employee and take my absences seriously. So, instead of worrying about my child, I am now saying …”Oh great, there goes one day from my incentive.” It just doesn’t seem fair. I wish you would take the whole year into consideration – offer the same amount of $ but look at the total number of absences. Thanks.
Hi Jennifer,
We will consider other dates if we run this program in the future. However, for now we must stick with the predetermined rules in order to ensure that it is fair for all participants. Please remember that you are still eligible for paid time off if you have days in the bank. The bonus is above and beyond that benefit.
Thanks
Am I still eligible for the 400 or now that I have taken 1 “care of family ” day…it is down to 300? If that is true it just saddens me because I have made such an effort all year to keep perfect attendance.
Yes, that would be correct. If you are full time then it is a reduction of $100. Please remember that this bonus is above and beyond your contract amount. However, I understand if you or your children are sick you need to stay home. I would do the same for my children. I wish you all the best.
I understand that if my profile is 6.75 hours per day and I take a day off, my attendance incentive will be deducted by $84.38 per day of absence. Per explanation above,
“…6.75 hours and divide it into 8. This gives you .84375 which you then multiple by $100.
Thus it is $84.38 per day.”
My question is, What will my Merit Attendance Pay be if I do NOT take any days off?
Hi You would take that $84.38 and multiple by 4 with the information that you provided to me on your profile. Thus 4 times $84.38 gives you $337.52
Hello!
I am a full time teacher. I took FMLA in the fall which used all my suck days, however I have my business days still. I never used them. Will I be compensated under the incentive program for the two days I never used?
Sorry I meant sick days.
Hello,
I was under the impression that we’d receive our incentive payments on the 7/24 payroll. I didn’t get mine, though I met all the requirements (employed from 2/4 – 6/12, received an “effective” rating, and had perfect attendance all year). The only reason for this may have been because I signed and submitted my ’14-’15 contract late. I’m not getting paid over the summer and could definitely use the extra money! Thank you.
Your message has been forwarded to Joanne Harris. She will research your issue and let you know.
July paychecks are now past us and still no merit pay. Did I somehow get left out or is there another delay?
I will Have Joanne Harris look into this.
Thank you! I just received an email from her.