Classification & Compensation Resources

Classification & Compensation Resources

The documents and information located here will help employees and supervisors learn how to classify positions, find job titles and look up pay grades for positions. They are important individual and managerial tools for planning career growth at UCF.

UCF Salary Administration

This document outlines a set of pay guidelines for managing compensation for Administrative and Professional (“A&P”) and University Support Personnel System (“USPS”) positions at UCF, addressing common employment scenarios.

UCF Salary Administration Guidelines

These pay guidelines provide a framework for paying employees fairly and competitively; increasing transparency and understanding; promoting consistency in pay practices; aligning university rewards philosophy with institutional purpose, values, and strategy; and providing trust and confidence in our compensation process and decisions.

The guidelines can help answer many of your compensation questions, including but not limited to:

1. UCF salary structure
2. Compensation decisions and salary adjustments
3. Job and position descriptions
4. Pay delivery mechanisms
5. Job families and sub-families
6. Setting starting salaries for new-hires
7. One-time performance payments
8. Special pay increases
9. Shift differentials

UCF Bonus Plan

Retroactive Payment Pay Practice

Retroactive pay (retro pay) occurs when the deadline for submitting paperwork on a new hire or rehire has been missed, or money is owed to an employee for work already performed at a lower wage rate. This document outlines the types of retro pay adjustments allowed and important timing considerations.

UCF Retroactive Payment Pay Practice

Working/Functional Title Review & Approval Procedure

New working/functional titles must be submitted to UCF Compensation for review and approval to ensure the working title reasonably reflects the responsibilities and levels of the position in question. Follow these guidelines to submit a proposed employee title.

Functional Title Review & Approval Procedure

Job Families, Classifications, and Pay

Job Families and Job Classifications

Job Families are positions grouped together by common vocations/professions that have similar knowledge, skills, and abilities at different levels of the job. Thus, a job family has jobs at progressing levels defining a career path for an individual with incremental requirements of the similar knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Job Sub-Families are sub-sets within a job family and are used to further group jobs. The job family framework helps to group jobs by the nature of the work rather than by the organizational or reporting structure. Peers within a department are likely part of the same job family and may be part of the same job function.

We are currently working on updating the Job Families & Job Classifications page. Please check back soon. For immediate assistance regarding job families and classifications, please contact comp@ucf.edu. Thank you.

A&P and USPS Employee Pay Plan

Pay for positions at UCF is based on the university’s pay plan. According to the pay plan, each position is assigned a title and job code and is placed in a pay grade based on the duties outlined in the position description.

A&P and USPS Employee Pay Plan

UCF Career Levels

Careers leveling and progression at UCF follows a three or four-level model. Each level is defined by job characteristics such as organizational impact, complexity, and leadership responsibility, as well as knowledge and experience requirements.

UCF Career Levels

Pay Grades

The UCF salary structure framework assigns a pay grade to every staff job. The salary structure reflects these levels and their associated competitive market ranges.

UCF A&P and USPS Salary Structure

Pay Grade Placement Guide

Fair Labor Standards Act

Overview

• This is about compliance with federal law and fairness in our employment practices and does not reflect on an employee’s value or performance.
• Part of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) objective of this change is to allow for more people to receive overtime for working more than 40 hours or have an improved work/life balance.
• Decisions made at the job code/title level (NOT individual position level), which means some employees may have a salary that is above the minimum salary threshold ($43,888) but are changing to overtime eligible status.
• Employees will continue to be classified in their current employee group of A&P or USPS and therefore continue to receive the same level of leave accumulation and benefits.
• Employees moved to overtime eligible, effective June 21, must INPUT and SUBMIT their time each pay period, or risk not getting paid.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

FAQs may be added over time, so please check back regularly to stay updated with the latest information and answers to common questions.

FLSA Basics

What is the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)?  

The FLSA establishes federal minimum wage, overtime pay, and recordkeeping requirements for all employees in the private sector and in Federal, State, and local governments, including Higher Education. Employees are either “exempt” from overtime or “non-exempt” from overtime pay based on FLSA regulations. The United States Department of Labor (DOL) administers the FLSA regulations.  

Who is entitled to overtime pay under federal law?  

Non-exempt employees covered by the FLSA must typically be paid at least one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for any hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek.  

What is the definition of Non-Exempt and Exempt status?  

Non-Exempt Employees: Non-exempt positions are subject to the overtime rule, and employees must typically be paid at least one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for any hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. Non-exempt employees at UCF must complete submit their time for each pay period, to accurately document their time worked.  

Exempt Employees: The FLSA provides an exemption from its overtime pay requirements for certain positions and duties. Employees whose duties meet the tests for exemption are commonly referred to as “exempt” employees. This means that the overtime provisions of the FLSA do not apply to those positions, and employees within these positions are not eligible for overtime. It is important to note that exempt status must be determined based on the duties for a job. Titles alone are not sufficient to determine the status of a position under the FLSA. 

What is the 2024 update?  

On April 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published changes to update the minimum salary levels needed for jobs to be exempt from overtime pay under the FLSA. The DOL changes, which become effective July 1, 2024, will increase the minimum salary level for exempt employees from $684 on a weekly basis ($35,568 annually) to $844 weekly ($43,888 annually) and then to $58,656 on January 1, 2025. The rule also implements automatic updates to the threshold that will occur every three years.  

When did the DOL last revise the exemption regulations for Executive, Administrative, and Professional (“white collar”) employees?  

Prior to this final rule, the DOL last updated the “white collar” exemption regulations in 2019. That update set the standard salary level test at $684 per week (equivalent to a $35,568 annual salary).  

Why is the DOL revising the exemption regulations for “white collar” workers?  

According to the DOL, the changes are intended to keep the earnings thresholds up to date for the benefit of both workers and employers and to address wage growth since the last update in 2019. The changes are also intended to more effectively identify who is employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity and ensure that the FLSA’s overtime protections are fully implemented.   

What is the current Exempt Level criteria under the FLSA Regulations?   

To qualify for exempt status, positions must meet all three of the following tests: 

1. Salary Level Test: The minimum weekly pay rate for exempt employees must be at least $844, or $43,888 annually. 
2. Salary Basis Test: Generally, exempt employees must be paid full salary for any week in which any work is performed. Variations in the work product or the actual hours worked typically does not impact compensation. The regulations are complex, and cases should be referred to the Classification & Compensation team for review in consultation with the Office of the General Counsel, as needed.
3. Duties Test: The specific job’s duties must qualify under the duties test provided by the Act for the particular exemption. The Classification & Compensation team utilizes these duties tests to make determinations when reviewing job descriptions. For more information on the duties tests, refer to the fact sheets available on the DOL’s website.

When do the changes in salary levels for exemption become applicable? 

The final rule will increase the standard salary level threshold effective on July 1, 2024, and on January 1, 2025, as follows.  However, employees will need to begin tracking their time starting June 21, 2024 (the start of a new pay period).

Employee Information for Those Affected by the FLSA Update

If an employee is affected, Human Resources will notify the supervisor and employee.

What is changing?

• Tracking Time – Employees will now be required to track and submit their time for each pay period. 
• Overtime Eligible – Employees will be paid for any time worked more than 40 hours in a work week (Friday to Thursday). 

What is NOT changing?

• Employee Classification – This does NOT change an employee’s current employee type.  If you are currently USPS you will remain USPS.  If you are currently A&P, you will remain A&P.  
• Annual Leave Accrual – There will be NO change to the leave accrual rate which the employee is currently earning.  
• Base Pay – There will be NO change in base pay. 
• Benefits – There will be NO change in employee health and wellness benefits. 
• Retirement – There will be NO change in the retirement plans which the employee is currently enrolled or available to enroll.  

General Questions

What should I do if I need to work overtime in a given work week?  

If you believe that there may be a need for overtime in a particular work week, you should discuss with your supervisor first what the best options may be.  It may be possible to flex your time throughout the course of the week in order to not incur overtime, or your supervisor may give you approval to work beyond 40 hours.  

Will I still get paid overtime if I did not receive my supervisors pre approval?  

Yes, as it is required by law that any hours worked in excess of 40 must be paid overtime, regardless if pre-approved or not.  However, employees should always receive pre-approval from their supervisor before working overtime, and failure to do so may lead to disciplinary action.  

Can I receive compensatory time in lieu of overtime?  

No. While Compensatory time off (comp time) is an option under the FLSA to a public agency that is a state, a political subdivision of a state, or an interstate governmental agency, UCF discontinued the practice of using compensatory time back in 2018.   

Can I flex my time within a work week in order to not exceed 40 hours?  

Yes. However, it is important to always discuss flex time options with your supervisor so that there is always proper and adequate coverage available.   

Are holidays or leave considered in overtime calculations?  

No.  Per the FLSA, non-exempt (“overtime eligible”) employees are to be paid overtime for any TIME WORKED in excess of 40 hours in a work week.  For example, if an employee has 48 hours of total time in a particular work week, with 40 hours being TIME WORKED and the other 8 hours being either holiday or leave time, there is NO overtime.   

How will the law affect employees who work part-time? 

The 40-hour equivalent compensation is NOT used to make this determination. The actual WEEKLY pay is used to determine whether an employee is over the salary threshold. A part-time or less than full-time employee will typically be non-exempt (“overtime eligible”) if the pay falls below the new minimum salary requirement of $43,888 per year ($844 per week). 

FAQs added on or after June 10:

My salary is above the new threshold; however, I am changing to overtime eligible. Why is that?

Decisions were made at the job code/title level, and NOT at the individual position level, which means some employees may have a salary that is above the new minimum salary threshold of $43,888 but are changing to overtime eligible status.

Can I “opt out” of this change?

No. This is a federal law that all employers, including higher educational institutions, must abide by. While the FLSA does provide a few provisions to some very specific jobs in higher education (i.e. teachers), the vast majority of all other jobs must meet the three-part test requirement.

Resources

U.S. Department of Labor

• U.S. Department of Labor Notice of Final Rule

Florida Minimum Wage Increase

On November 3, 2020, Florida voters approved Amendment 2, which amends Florida’s constitution to gradually increase the state’s minimum wage from the current $8.65 an hour to $15.00 an hour by the year 2026.

On September 30, 2021, the minimum wage rose to $10.00 per hour and every September 30 following, the minimum wage will increase $1.00 per hour through 2026 for non-tipped employees, according to the following schedule:

• $8.65 on January 1, 2021
• $10.00 on September 30, 2021
• $11.00 on September 30, 2022
• $12.00 on September 30, 2023
• $13.00 on September 30, 2024
• $14.00 on September 30, 2025
• $15.00 on September 30, 2026

Beginning September 30, 2027, future minimum wage increases will revert to being adjusted annually for inflation.

Accordingly, all employers are required to pay employees at least the new minimum rate of $10 an hour or $6.98 plus tips for tipped employees effective September 30, 2021.

UCF Impact

2021

• All employees earning less than $10 an hour as of September 30, 2021, were automatically adjusted to $10 an hour by HR Payroll Services.
• All employee actions with an effective date of September 30, 2021, or after must be paid at least the new hourly rates outlined above.

2022

• Salaries for current non-exempt employees whose hourly rate of pay as of September 30, 2022 is less than $11.00 have been programmatically updated in Workday.
• HRBCs who hire employees with a hire date of September 30, 2022 or later must have an hourly rate of $11.00 or greater listed in the Workday action.

2023

• Salaries for current non-exempt employees whose hourly rate of pay as of September 30, 2023 is less than $12.00 have been programmatically updated in Workday.
• HRBCs who hire employees with a hire date of September 30, 2023 or later must have an hourly rate of $12.00 or greater listed in the Workday action.

2024

• Salaries for current overtime eligible employees whose hourly rate of pay as of September 30, 2024 is less than $13.00 have been programmatically updated in Workday.
• HRBCs who hire employees with a hire date of September 23, 2024 or later must have an hourly rate of $13.00 or greater listed in the Workday action.