Calculating Seniority and Length of Service

This chapter provides an overview of seniority and length of service, lists prerequisites, and discusses how to:

• Calculate seniority and length of service.

• View seniority information.

Understanding Seniority and Length of Service

Seniority is a measurement of time that is spent in a particular condition. For example, category seniority is the amount of time that an employee has spent in one category. The system measures from the date of entry into the category to the date of category change. If the employee has not changed categories, the date of the calculation is used as the end date. Corps seniority, grade seniority, and actual step seniority follow the same pattern. Since civil service positions carry different weights in seniority calculations, each civil service position has career advancement percentages that affect seniority and length of service calculations.

Length of service resembles seniority except that it uses career advancement percentages that are associated with lengths of service. The system uses steps, grades, corps and categories for lengths of service.

Seniority calculations for steps, grades, corps and categories relate to each other as follows:

• Grade seniority equals total actual step seniority for the steps of the grade.

• Corps seniority equals total grade seniority for the grades belonging to this corps.

• Category seniority equals total corps seniority for the corps belonging to the same category.

This explains how and length of service calculations for steps, grades, corps and categories relate to each other:

• Grade length of service equals total actual step lengths of service.

• Corps length of service equals total grade length of service.

• Category length of service equals total corps length of service.

The system uses seniority values to calculate step increments and seniority and length of service are criteria for grade promotion.

Career Advancement Percentages

While assigned a category, corps, grade and step, an employee is also assigned a civil service position. Each civil service position carries a different weight in seniority calculations, represented by its career advancement percentage. You define two such percentages for each civil service position:

• The seniority career advancement percentage is used to calculate the employee’s seniority between two dates.

• The length of service career advancement percentage is used to calculate the employee’s length of service between two dates.

See Also

Defining Civil Service Positions

Seniority Credits

Seniority credits are applied only within the step.

Reduction in Step Duration

Managers can grant reductions in step duration to hasten an employee’s step promotion. The seniority credits are durations expressed in years, months, and days. Reductions in step duration are assigned within a step and cannot be carried over.

Step Career Seniority is the actual step seniority, plus any reductions in step duration. The calculation accounts for the seniority career advancement percentage but not the work-time percentage.

Seniority Carryover at Step Increments in the Same Grade

An employee might be in a civil service position that does not authorize advancement on the previously scheduled advancement date. In this case, the advancement is postponed until the employee holds a civil service position that authorizes advancement.

The Credited Seniority is the seniority that is to be carried over from the previous career classification. When calculating advancement dates, the credited seniority is added to the career seniority.

When advancement occurs, the employee’s seniority can be greater than the average step seniority. The difference is the seniority carryover.

Seniority to be Carried Over is the career seniorities, plus the credited seniority, minus the reductions in step duration and the average step duration.

This seniority carryover functionality is applied only within the same grade.

Note. Credited seniority in the step is also generated in case of reclassification. If the reclassification simulation is validated, the employee is granted a step increment with grade change. A conversion formula is applied to the Actual Seniority in previous step. The result of this conversion enables you to enter the Seniority Credited in the new step.

See Also

Administering Reclassification

Prerequisites

Seniority and length of service calculations use information from the following tables:

• FPS Installation Parameters.

  Indicate how the system calculates seniority, either thirtieth or calendar. The tenure, seniority, and advancement processes use this setup.

• Civil Service Position.

  Define the Seniority and Service Length Career Advancement Percentages for each civil service position.

• Salary Grade Table - Steps.

  Define the advancement rules for each Salary Grade Table/Scale/Step and indicate the average Length in (Sub)Step, Minimum Length for (Sub)Step Increment, and Theoretical Career Seniority.

• Actions.

  Define the actions for which the system calculates seniority carryover by selecting the Previous Instance Seniority Carry Over check box on the Action page. The system records these actions in the Career table, but they do not terminate the current step. For example, tenure without step increment and forced index assignment are moves that are recorded in Career, but they neither modify nor terminate the employee’s current step. The system calculates seniority move by move.

See Also

Setting Up French Public Sector Tables

Calculating Seniority and Length of Service

Business rules for calculating seniority and length of service are principally about taking into account steps that are not terminated; that is, the management of many successive actions within the same step—some actions authorize the addition of the previous instance seniority to the current instance seniority. To determine whether an action terminates a step, view the Step Terminated check box on the Career - Classification page.

This section provides an overview of how seniority definitions account for steps not terminated and discusses how to:

• Start the seniority calculation.

• Calculate seniority and length of service.

Understanding How Seniority Definitions Account for Steps Not Terminated

When an action does not terminate a step, the system applies these rules:

• Actual step seniority accrues.

• Reductions in step duration granted for the grade and step are accrued in Step Career Seniority.

  All reductions in step duration are retrieved in the first step row. Step Career Seniority is calculated by row.

• No seniority is carried over.

• Credited Seniority is equal to the credited seniority in the step, plus the previous instance career seniority.

Pages Used to Calculate Seniority and Length of Service

Starting the Seniority Calculation

Access the Seniority Calculation page.

To calculate seniority:

1. Enter the run parameters.

   Processing can be launched for one employee or for all employees with career data. For all employees, leave the Employee ID and Record Number fields blank.

2. Enter the Thru Date (through date) to request seniority calculation on a date that falls before or after the current date. If you do not enter the Thru Date, the system uses the current date.

3. Run the Seniority Calculation process (FPA315).

Seniority and Length of Service Calculation

The results of the process enable you to determine, for each move recorded in an employee career:

• Actual seniority in step.

• Seniority in grade, corps, or category.

• Length of service in step, grade, corps, or category.

• Career seniority in step

• Seniority that is to be carried over in step and Credited Seniority in step.

• Seniority in the Salary Grade table.

This seniority corresponds to the theoretical career seniority that you define when you set up the step.

The automatic step increment process uses the results of some of these calculations.

Note. Entry seniorities are not taken into account in seniority calculations and processes. They are described in the Recording Entry Seniority Earned in Another Organization section of the “Updating Employee Records” chapter.

Calculating Seniority and Length of Service

Access the Calculator page.

Enter the employee ID, employee record number, and period of time for which to calculate seniority and length of service.

Viewing Seniority Information

This section discusses how to view seniority information.

Page Used to View Seniority Information