Hire Above Minimum

In exercising delegated authority for extraordinary qualifications, prior to approving a HAM request, the request should meet all of the following standards:

Contribution to the Agency
Applicants with extraordinary qualifications should contribute to the work of the DGS significantly beyond what other applicants offer.    

1. Extraordinary qualifications may provide expertise in a particular area of DGS’ programs. This expertise should be well beyond the minimum qualifications of the classification.
2. Unique talent, ability, or skill, as demonstrated by previous job experience, may also constitute extraordinary qualifications. The scope and depth of such experience is more significant than its length.
3. The degree to which an applicant exceeds minimum qualifications should be a guiding factor, rather than a determining one. When a number of applicants offer considerably more qualifications than the minimum, it may not be necessary to pay above the minimum to acquire unusually well-qualified people.    
4. The qualifications and hiring rates of state employees already in the same classification should be carefully considered, since questions of salary equity may arise if new, higher, entry rates differ from previous ones.

Recruitment Difficulty
Recruitment difficulty is a factor to the extent that a specific extraordinary skill should be difficult to recruit, even though some applicants are qualified in the general skills of the class.

If there is no difficulty in recruiting qualified employees, there is no need for a HAM.   

Department personnel applying these standards to applicants with extraordinary qualifications should balance the need to hire highly qualified individuals and the need to keep the cost to the state as low as possible.

In most cases, entry level classifications would not be considered appropriate for a HAM.

In order to justify all HAM requests and ensure DGS maintains compliance with the HAM policy, the civil service merit principle, and all applicable laws, rules, regulations, or other legal requirements, DGS Office of Human Resources (OHR) must document the basis for each HAM request and retain the documentation in a separate file as well as maintain a tracking log for audit purposes in accordance with the five (5) year retention schedule.

The following documentation is required to support a HAM Request for Extraordinary Qualifications:

• Comprehensive justification detailing compliance with the standards:
  • Extraordinary Education
  • Extraordinary Experience
  • How the candidate’s extraordinary qualifications contribute to the department
  • Recruitment Difficulty, including:
    • How is the candidate superior to other eligible candidates interviewed?
    • How does the candidate’s experience and qualifications compare to current employees in the same class/same location?
• A copy of the candidate’s written denial of the job offer and/or request for salary negotiation
• The selected candidate’s current employment application (STD. 678)
• Application screening criteria and scores, including the number of applications received
• Interview ranking sheet
• Applications of all candidates that applied

 CalHR HAM Request Form 684

The table below provides the steps and action required to process the recruitment for a HAM. Prior to completing the steps, the Hiring Manager must extend a job offer to the selected candidate with a proposed salary, if known, and the candidate must decline the offer or request to negotiate the offer based on salary, before accepting the offer.

The HAM process should take approximately 7 calendar days from the date the complete HAM request package is submitted to OHR.

PRIOR STATE EMPLOYMENT
Prospective employees with prior state service should be evaluated in the same manner as other applicants. However, to qualify for a higher rate of pay than they received in prior state employment, they should clearly have enhanced their qualifications above those they possessed in the prior state employment.

CURRENT STATE EMPLOYEES
Appointing authorities may request HAMs for state employees with extraordinary qualifications under certain circumstances as outlined below:

1. A promotional relationship shall not exist between the employee's current class and the prospective class.
2. Hires made under these standards should represent a career change for the individual.
3. It is typically necessary to offer an extraordinary HAM to recruit candidates for the class.

Departments must obtain approval from CalHR in all cases. Delegated HAM authority does not apply to current state employees.

FORMER LEGISLATIVE EMPLOYEES
DGS may approve HAMs for former legislative employees who are appointed to a civil service class and received eligibility for appointment pursuant to Government Code section 18990. The salary received upon appointment to civil service shall be in accordance with the salary rules specified in the California Code of Regulations.

A salary determination is completed by comparing the maximum salary rate of the former legislative class and the maximum salary rate of the civil service class to determine applicable salary and anniversary regulation. Typically, legislative employees are compensated at a higher rate of pay; therefore, they will be allowed to retain the rate they last received, not to exceed the maximum of the civil service class.

CalHR 691 Form – HAM: Former Legislative Employee

FORMER EXEMPT EMPLOYEES
DGS may approve HAMs for former exempt employees appointed to a civil service class. The salary received upon appointment to civil service shall be competitive with the employee’s salary in the exempt appointment.

For example: An employee appointed to a civil service class which is preceded by an exempt appointment may be appointed at a salary rate comparable to the exempt appointment up to the maximum of the salary range for the civil service class.

CalHR 685 Form – HAM: Former Exempt Employee

Responsible Control Agency

• California Department of Human Resources

Laws and Regulations

• Government Code section 18990, 19836

• Labor Code Section Assembly Bill 168, 432.3

Other Resource Materials

• CalHR Human Resources Manual 1707

• CalHR Personnel Management Liaisons 2010-005

• Bargaining / Contracts
• HAM Process Flow Chart

• Records and Information Management Program (CalRIM)