Job Evaluation and Re-Evaluation

Job Evaluation Policies and Procedures

Tulane’s job evaluation policies and procedures facilitate:

Job evaluations that capture and analyze the value of job duties and responsibilities.
Consistent evaluations and market data applications university-wide.
Alignment with career bands, levels, and pay structures to provide competitive and equitable pay and future salary growth.

Job descriptions exist for all regular staff positions and summarize typical duties and responsibilities as well as minimum hiring qualifications including required education, experience level(s) and licensure(s)/certifications(s).

Job Description Template

Job Evaluation of New Positions

All jobs at Tulane are grouped into common categories based on the type of work involved, the level of difficulty, the level of responsibility, and the minimum qualifications required for the job. The Compensation Department maintains Tulane’s job evaluation system which is used in the classification of all staff positions:

Job Evaluation Purpose: These purposes include the evaluation of jobs internally and externally, for job posting and advertising, planning of annual and longer term employee performance goals, and in the development and guidance of training and development.
Job Evaluation Process: To ensure the assignment of jobs to pay grades is equitable and competitive, the university utilizes job evaluation which focuses on job content. Job descriptions play a critical role regarding evaluations. Job evaluation is a process by which trained compensation analysts assess the degree of knowledge, impact, problem solving, communication, and other generic factors in a given job. These assessments are quantified and provide an objective basis for job evaluation, or determining the value of the job to the university.

Information required to conduct a detailed evaluation for a new position includes:

Justification for evaluation to include business reasons for the change, approved budgeted amount, senior leadership approval, and other factors that would be helpful to understand how the new position relates to other positions within the department.
Proposed new job description.
Current and proposed organization chart, if applicable.

Re-Evaluation of Existing Jobs

A re-evaluation may be appropriate if the content of a job has changed significantly (e.g., the responsibilities have changed by more than 15%) resulting in a job description/title change, such as:

Department reorganization resulting in position restructuring.
Addition of new areas of responsibility.
Expanded level of authority leading to increased impact of decisions.
Addition of leadership role or supervisory duties.

Information required to conduct a detailed re-evaluation:

Justification for re-evaluation to include business reasons for the change, approved budgeted amount, senior leadership approval, and other factors that would be helpful to understand how the revised position relates to other positions within the department.
Current and proposed job description.
Current and proposed organization charts.

On occasion, a re-evaluation can also result in a move from a higher grade to a lower grade due to departmental needs and not be the results of corrective action.

Procedures for Submitting New Jobs or Re-Evaluations(former Reclassifications)

The New Position Request app can be found within iReKREWT and on Compensation’s website. This app is used for submission of new jobs or re-evaluations which require job evaluation and posting. It is available using this link: https://newposition.tulane.edu/.

What qualifies as a new position? It is considered a new position if the position did not previously exist within the department’s org number. The new job description should be submitted through this app.

What qualifies as a revised job description or re-evaluation? Any job description where the duties or minimum qualifications and/or duties change by more than 15%. This job needs to be re-evaluated to determine if the revised changes warrant a change in paygrade, career band/level, and/or FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) status (non-exempt or exempt).

Once the information is submitted into the New Position Request app, a job description template will be populated, submitted to the Compensation unit for evaluation and a posting template will be created. Compensation will reach out to the Hiring Manager with any questions. Once the job evaluation is completed and Compensation has assigned career band/level, paygrade, and FLSA status to the job description, the job description electronically moves forward to HRIS to create the position number in HCM (Human Capital Management System). From this information a vacancy and posting is created.

Please follow this link to learn more about the vacancy process.

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Designations

A component of the job evaluation process is determining the appropriate FLSA designation. The FLSA establishes provisions and standards to determine overtime pay, hours worked, record-keeping plans, and child-labor provisions. Staff at Tulane are either classified as performing "exempt" or "non-exempt" work based upon regulations of the FLSA. The determination of "exempt" or "non-exempt" work is made by the Compensation department in accordance with FLSA criteria.

Effective January 1, 2020 the Department of Labor amended Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulations by increasing the minimum salary requirement for exempt full and part-time employees from an annual salary of $23,660 to $35,568.

The following summarizes the primary differences in the two categories:

Exempt Status

Exempt employees hold positions that are not protected or covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Individuals in this category must surpass the salary test, which is greater than or equal to $35,568 annually or $684 per week.
Job titles do not determine exempt status.
An individual’s job functions must also pass the Fair Labor Standards Act duties test.

Nonexempt Status

Nonexempt employees are employed in positions covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act
Individuals in this status have clearly defined non-exempt duties.
Nonexempt employees have a defined work schedule and core hours as determined by their supervisors.

Questions regarding a position’s exempt or nonexempt status should be directed to the Compensation team.

Further information about Fair Labor Standards Act may be found at U.S. Department of Labor website.