We've had quite the summer here at Javelina Nation! Scroll down to read up on campus updates, activities and important information.

Per our Non-Faculty Compensation rule, pay may be adjusted for a staff employee attaining a qualified Bachelor's (+3%), Master's (+4%) or Doctoral (+5%) degree in December 2016, May 2017 or August 2017.

The employee's supervisor should submit a written request for the appropriate Educational Achievement Award salary adjustment through their respective Vice-President or Provost to Human Resources. A copy of the employee's transcript reflecting the degree must also be attached. A review and determination should be made that the employee is meeting or exceeding performance standards.

The pay adjustment will be made on August 30, 2017 and requests for adjustment should be received by Human Resources no later than August 25 for a September 1 salary increase.

Please contact Leon Bazar in Human Resources at extension 2258 with any concerns.

As discussed during the March 8 Financial Forum on September 1, non-exempt employees will be transitioning from a monthly payroll to a biweekly payroll.

In addition, the Texas A&M University System has also approved changing the current Thursday to Wednesday work week to Sunday to Saturday. This change will also become effective on September 1.

What is changing?

• Employees currently submitting weekly Timetraq timesheets will begins submitting biweekly timesheets.
• Employees not currently submitting Timetraq timesheets (but meet the Fair Labor Standards Act guidelines) may be reclassified as a non-exempt employee and will be required to submit Timetraq timesheets every two weeks.
• All employees affected by this change will be paid every two weeks.
• This change will not alter the annual or hourly salary rate that an employee is currently being paid.

Am I a non-exempt employee?

Exempt and non-exempt employees are defined by the federal FLSA. Factors depend on an employee's job responsibilities and how much an employee is currently being paid. FLSA also requires that non-exempt employees receieve 1.5x their regular rate of pay for any hours worked that exceed 40 hours a week. A&M-Kingsville currently uses compensatory time to allow employees to take time off with pay in lieu of overtime pay. More information on the System's overtime policy can be found below:

How will this change affect me as a manager?

Beginning September 1, managers will be approving Timetraq timesheets on a biweekly schedule, as opposed to a weekly one. Managers will also need to approve any leave requests as soon as they receive them to ensure that they are sent to the Payroll Office before the payroll calculation deadline. If leave requests are not in a completed status by the payroll deadline, timesheets will not process correctly and the employee will not be paid.

How can non-exempt employees prepare for this change?

This payroll change will not alter your annual salary or hourly rate. To calculate your biweekly pay, divide your current annual salary by 26; to calculate your hourly rate, divide your annual salary by 2080. Because you will be paid biweekly, you may sometimes notice that the amount you receive each month will be less than your current rate of pay, however, you may also notice that some months you will receive three paychecks.

One change you may strongly want to consider is how this will affect your monthly expenses. If you currently have automatic payment withdrawals, it is essential to make sure that they will tie in with your new schedule. We will provide affected employees with a memo regarding this change to share with their credit union/bank upon request.

How will health insurance be deducted and when will I receive longevity pay?

The amount of health insurance due each month will be split in half where the first deduction will happen on the 1st biweekly of the month and the 2nd deduction will be taken on the 2nd biweekly of the month. No insurance will be deducted on the 3rd biweekly pay of the month. Longevity pay is based on eligibility and the employee must be employed the 1st day of the month to receive it. Longevity will be paid out on the biweekly payroll where the pay period includes the 1st working day of the month.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this change, please contact Krystina Steele, Director of Payroll at ext. 3006 or Matt Garza, Interim Director of Human Resources at ext. 3004. You may also email payroll@tamuk.edu.

A list of frequently asked questions will be posted on JNET soon. We will keep you updated.

The System Benefits Administration Open Enrollment website is now available. Please remember, you do not need to do anything if you are not planning on changing your benefits. If you have a flexible spending account, you do need to go to iBenefits and make changes for the new fiscal year.

The Texas A&M University System is transitioning to a new software system called Workday for its Human Resources and Payroll functions. A team of professionals from across the System has been working on the transition, and it is expected to roll out in December 2017. Click the link below for more information.

Dr. Steven Bain and four adventurous students traveled to Scotland this June to study Rural Mental Health Counseling. They were able to experience the idyllic settings of the lush country, and even spent time at the New Craigs Psychiatric Hospital in Inverness as part of their Service Learning Project.