FY2015 Classified Merit Process
Rev January 2015
Session Topic
In this session we will cover:
Overview of Fusion Merit Tool and Classified Merit Timeline
Merit eligibility requirements and merit guidelines
How to enter merit recommendations in the Fusion Merit tool
How to approve merit worksheets in the Fusion Merit tool
Classified Merit Timeline
Schedule
Merit Tool Opens
Jan 12
Merit Tool Closes
Jan 23
Merits Effective
(regular payroll)
Mar 1
Bi-weekly
Mar 1
Print Employee Merit Award
Letters
Feb 2 – Feb 27
Classified Staff – Merit Eligibility Periods
December Merits
March Merits
Employees hired, rehired, promoted
Employees hired, rehired, promoted
or reclassified prior to March 31
or reclassified on or after April 1
who meet the eligibility criteria.
and prior to September 1 who
meet eligibility criteria.
Merit Eligibility Requirements
• Regular, benefits eligible employee (0.5) Full-Time Equivalent (FTE)
or more.
• An employee must have completed their initial probationary period
with UTHealth
• Employees must be actively employed at the time the merit is made.
 Note: Employees who are on unpaid leave are eligible upon
returning to work, provided all other eligibility requirements are
met.
 A Personnel Action Form (PA) will need to be submitted for
employees that are on leave when merits are entered.
Merit Eligibility Requirements (cont.)
• All documented, job-related required licenses and certifications must
be current. Please refer to the appropriate job descriptions for
further information.
• Employees must have a current annual performance appraisal
conducted in the last 12 months on file with a performance rating
that is fully meets expectations or better.
Merit Guidelines
• Eligible employees may not receive more than one merit
increase per fiscal year.
• Any proposed individual merit is capped at 4% for the fiscal year
whether it is a merit added to base, a lump sum merit or a
combination of the two.
• Merits are calculated using base rate only.
Merit Guidelines (cont.)
• Employees are eligible to receive base merit increases up
to the salary range maximum.
 Once the employee's salary is at the pay range
maximum, any additional merit dollars will be given as a
lump sum.
 For an employee at or above the range maximum,
departments may plan for a Lump Sum Merit (LSM) or
explore alternate (non-base building) methods of
rewarding meritorious performance.
Merit Budget
The ultimate distribution will be the responsibility of the respective,
individual budget entity.
The total self-funded merit and lump sum merit dollars should not
exceed, in the aggregate, 2% of an operating unit’s budgeted
classified salaries.
For additional information, please refer to the FY2015 Operating
Budget Instructions.
Fusion Merit Tool Activities
The Fusion Merit Tool will be used for the following activities:
• Entering and submitting Merit recommendations
• Approving Merit recommendations
• Printing employee Merit Award letters
Fusion Merit Tool
How to Enter Merit
Recommendations
Accessing the Fusion Merit Tool
To access the Fusion Merit Tool go to: https://go.uth.edu/fusion
Fusion Merit Tool Home Page
Open the Merit Plan Worksheet
Merit Plan Worksheet
The Merit Worksheet: Who is visible?
• Classified employees in a regular, benefits eligible employees
(0.5) Full-Time Equivalent (FTE), or more with 6 months
continuous service hired/rehired between April 1, 2014 – August
31, 2014 OR promoted/reclassified with pay change between April
1, 2014 – August 31, 2014..
• Employees terminated, promoted, or reclassified with pay after the
tool opens on 1/12 will remain visible on the merit worksheet.
Managers will be able to see
employees who were terminated after
1/8 because there will be no more data
changes in the system during the plan
period.
Select N/A for performance rating (if
there is not a rating listed), and enter 0
for the merit recommendation
The Merit Worksheet: Who is not visible?
• Classified employees hired, rehired,
promoted or reclassified with pay before
4/1/2014.
• Casual employees and employees with less
than .5 FTE.
• Employees in their initial probationary period.
• December eligible Classified employees
Validate Employee Ratings are in the System
Note: For missing employees verify that they meet the eligibility criteria and if
they do submit a ticket using the UTHealth IT Helpdesk ticketing system (HEAT).
Entering Performance Ratings
• Select a performance rating for any employee that is missing
a rating from the Enterable Performance Rating column.
Performance Rating
Eligible for Merit Increase?
Exceptional
Eligible
Exceeds Expectations
Eligible
Fully Meets Expectations
Eligible
Improvement Needed
Not Eligible
Unsatisfactory
Not Eligible
N/A
Not Eligible
Select Performance Rating
Enter Recommended Merit % Increase
If you try to enter more than 4% in the Manage Entered Merit % column, there
will be a hard stop alert which prevents you saving/submitting the merit
worksheet.
Pay Range Maximums and Lump Sums
If any of the employees have a value greater than 0.0 in the Calculated Lump
Sum Merit you will need to select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ in the Automate LSM Funding
column.
• Selecting “No” – indicates a funding source change for the lump sum. Click
the Lump Sum Button on the Fusion welcome page and complete the PA
form.
• Selecting “Yes” – indicates the lump sum will be processed with
• regular payroll. A PA is not required.
Review and Correct Alerts
Legend
Hard stop – You cannot save or submit the worksheet until resolved.
Alert - You can save or submit the worksheet , but with a warning.
Fusion Worksheet Alerts
Alert
Alert Occurs When
How to Resolve Alert
Eligibility Alert:
Performance Rating Below Fully
Meets Expectations
When a manager enters a merit
recommendation for an employee
whose performance rating is below
Fully Meets Expectations. These
employees are not eligible for
merit.
Enter 0 for the employee’s merit
whose performance rating is below
Fully Meets Expectations.
Performance Rating Alert:
Employee has two performance
ratings
When an employee has both a
performance rating loaded and an
enterable performance rating
selected from the drop down
menu.
Remove the performance rating
from the drop down menu.
Performance Rating Alert:
Employee is missing a
performance rating
No performance rating is selected
for an employee.
Select a performance rating from
the drop down menu in the
Enterable Performance Rating
column.
Merit Alert:
Merit % is above the maximum
limit
When a manager enters a merit
recommendation greater than 4.0.
Enter a merit recommendation
between 0%-4%.
Merit Alert:
Manager Entered Merit % is blank
The merit recommendation field is
blank.
Enter a merit recommendation
between 0%-4%.
Lump Sum Alert:
Automated LSM Funding is blank
The lump merit is greater than $0
and the Automated LSM Funding
field is blank.
Select “Yes” if the lump sum
funding should be processed with
regular earnings. No Personnel
Action Form is required.
Legend
Hard stop – You cannot save or submit the worksheet until resolved.
Alert - You can save or submit the worksheet , but with a warning.
Select “No” if funding is different
and enter Personnel Action form.
Save the Worksheet
Manage Approvals
Before Submitting the Worksheet
• Did you complete merit entries for all employees in your
organization?
• If yes, follow instructions for Step A.
• If you did not complete merit entries for all employees in your
organization, follow instructions for Step B on the next slide.
Step A:
• Click the dropdown arrow next to the Approve button and
select “All Managers.”
• This is granting you the ability to enter and submit merits for
approval for all the managers listed.
Approving Worksheets for All Managers
Before Submitting the Worksheet (cont.)
Step B:
• Highlight (by clicking on) each manager’s name that you
entered merits for. By holding down the Control key and clicking
on each name, you can select more than one at a time.
• Click the dropdown arrow next to the Approve button and click
on Selected Managers.
• Note: You will not be able to submit your worksheet to the next
level for approval until you have received and approved all
merit worksheets from the managers that are entering their own
merits.
Approving Worksheets for Selected Managers
Save and Submit Worksheet
Entering Comments
Entering Comments (cont.)
Withdraw Submission
If you need to make to changes to the merit worksheet after you submitted for
approval, click on the “Withdraw Submission” button.
*Note: You may only withdraw submission if the worksheet has not been
approved at the next level.
Fusion Merit Tool
How to Approve
Merit Increases
Select Worksheet for Approval
Overall Budget Amount
Approver Options
Approver Options
Review Worksheet, then
you may make
corrections (if
necessary), and Approve
Description of what you want to do
Review merit recommendations for each employee and then
make merit adjustments (if necessary) approve, return for
correction, or reject.
*As a higher level manager, you can adjust any of the merit
worksheets submitted to you.
Review Worksheet to Approve or Return for
Correction
Review Worksheet to Approve or Return for Correction
(cont.)
Review Worksheet to Approve or Return for Correction
(cont.)
Review Worksheet to Approve or Return for Correction
(cont.)
Approve after Reviewing Details
Approve the Worksheet or Return for Correction
Approve a Manager’s Merit Worksheet
Approving All or Selected Managers’ Worksheets
You may approve all manager worksheets by selecting “All Managers”
or you may select individual manager worksheets.
*To select more than one manager at a time, hold down the CTRL key
and click each manager’s name.
Comments