OPM Wage Grade Survey Data Collection Guide

1. WAGE CHANGE SURVEYS
DATA COLLECTION GUIDE

3. INTRODUCTION
Wage surveys are conducted on a two-year cycle. The first year, a full-scale survey is conducted. Firms
are contacted by a personal visit, job matches are established, and populations and rates of pay for
matching jobs are obtained. The second year of the cycle, a wage change survey is conducted. In a wage
change survey, wage adjustment data are collected by telephone from those companies that provided
useable job matches on the full-scale survey (no other companies are contacted). Only dollar figures are
updated; job matches and job populations are not changed on wage change surveys.
Your job on this wage change survey is to telephone the companies assigned to your team and obtain and
record wage adjustment information for jobs matched on the full-scale survey. You will update hourly
wage rates, Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) adjustments, and lump sum payments made in lieu of
general increases. All data will be collected by telephone unless a company will only provide wage
adjustment information during a personal visit.
No data may be collected until the DCPMS Wage and Salary Division officially orders the survey to
begin. The LWSC chairperson will give the data collection teams the order date.
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4. MATERIALS NEEDED
Before you begin, you must have several items. These include:
⇒ full scale survey forms for assigned companies,
⇒ Wage Change Worksheets for assigned companies,
⇒ labor contracts (or copied portions of contracts) or rate sheets for
assigned companies which were obtained during the full scale survey,
⇒ your Data Collector Handbook,
⇒ pen and paper,
⇒ telephones and authorization for any necessary long distance calls.
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5. CHANGES TO REPORT
General Adjustment: A general adjustment is an adjustment to a job’s basic rate of pay. General
adjustments come in many forms and vary with the policies and practices of establishments. A general
adjustment may be a set amount (cents or percent) that everyone receives, or amounts may vary between
groups of workers or individuals. The adjustment may be an increase or a decrease. Adjustment of
company pay may take place at a set time each year, at different times during the year, or irregularly.
Merit Adjustment: A merit adjustment is a type of general adjustment which is based on employee
performance and separate from normal progression through a rate range with established steps.
NOTE: We do not report step increases or decreases on a wage change survey.
Cost of Living Allowance (COLA): For wage change survey purposes, a COLA is a pay adjustment tied
directly to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) with a specific formula. Some company officials will refer to
any increases to basic pay as “Cost of Living” adjustments; however, if the amount is not determined by
use of a set formula linking the amount to the CPI, we will record the change as a general adjustment.
COLA amounts may be either increases or decreases.
Lump Sum: Sometimes companies will grant lump sum payments to employees rather than increasing
their hourly rate of pay. A payment clearly identified by the company as a lump sum payment made in
lieu of a general increase would be converted to a cents per hour figure and used in the calculation of
trend lines on which the new pay schedule will be based. To qualify as a lump sum, however, a payment
must be granted in lieu of a general increase.
Granted Adjustment: Any adjustment which has taken effect on or before the day you call the company.
A granted adjustment could be a general increase or decrease, a COLA adjustment, or a lump sum as
described above. You are to report all granted adjustments not reported on the full-scale survey.
Pending Adjustment: Any adjustment which has not yet taken effect but will be made before the effective
date of our survey. A pending adjustment could be a general increase or decrease, a COLA adjustment,
or a lump sum as described above. If an adjustment has not been paid as of the date you call the
company, you must report it as pending. Do this even if the company official assures you that it will be
paid.
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6. CHANGES NOT TO REPORT
You should note that there are some types of pay that you must avoid on this survey. Specifically you
must not report:
⇒ step increases (movements within an established rate range),
⇒ various types of add-on pay such as shift differential; overtime; environmental pay such as for
dangerous work, hot work, cold work, high work, etc. (you can avoid inadvertently including such
elements by stressing to company officials that we wish to update straight time base rates of pay).
⇒ bonuses which are not considered lump sums in lieu of general wage adjustments.
Note on Bonuses:
Bonuses not considered lump sums (i.e. not paid in lieu of general increases) are sometimes used on full-
scale surveys. One of the criteria for use of these bonuses is that they be paid consistently from year to
year. Because bonuses used on full-scale surveys are assumed to be consistent pay elements, they are
used again in the calculation of pay schedules resulting from wage change surveys. Since any bonuses
used on the last full-scale survey are already in the DCPMS Wage and Salary Division computer system,
you need not record them on the Wage Change Worksheets. Bonuses are updated only on full-scale
surveys.
Note on Job Matching and Number of Employees Matched:
The rules under which wage change surveys are conducted require that job matching and
populations of matched jobs remain as they were on the full-scale survey. Therefore:
⇒ We cannot add or delete jobs.
⇒ We cannot change the number of employees matched.
⇒ We do not normally discuss job descriptions with company officials on wage change surveys.
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7. WORKING WITH FULL SCALE DATA
The purpose of the wage change survey is to update wage data obtained on the full-scale survey.
To do this, you need to know what to update.
Full-scale data is found:
1. pre-printed on the wage change worksheet, the form you will use to record data this survey
2. on the full-scale survey establishment reports.
full scale
Pages 6 - 10 will explain how to determine what data was obtained last survey and what you need
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to update.
Examples of wage change and full-scale forms are provided.
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8. FULL SCALE DATA PRE-PRINTED ON THE WAGE CHANGE WORKSHEET
The form below is the Wage Change Worksheet. You will use this form to record and explain the data
you collect on this survey. Wage Change Worksheets are produced for every company that provided job
matches and useable wage data on the full-scale survey.
Establishment codes and name. Establishment code is the same one that was
assigned to the establishment on the full-scale survey.
FEDERAL WAGE SYSTEM - WAGE CHANGE WORKSHEET
1. AREA CODE AND WAGE AREA 2. ESTABLISHMENT CODE AND NAME 3. WEIGHT
107 DAYTON, OHIO 001 WIDGET MANUFACTURING CO. 01
PART A - FULL SCALE SURVEY DATA PART B - WAGE CHANGE SURVEY DATA
4. SURVEY ORDERED 5. EFFECTIVE DATE 6. ACTION CODE 7. COLLECT DATA EFFECTIVE THRU 8. DATE THIS CONTACT
23 October 2003
17 August 2002 24 October 2002
9. AMOUNT 1 R 10. AMOUNT 2 R 11 AMOUNT 3 R 12. AMOUNT 4 R 13. AMOUNT 5 R
JOB SEQ JOB TITLE DATE E DATE E DATE E DATE E DATE E
NR. NR. NR WAGE COLA A A A A A
EMPL RATE S S S S S
O O O O O
N N N N N
002 01 JANITOR 8 11.742                    
007 01 WAREHOUSEMAN 16 12.912                    
010 01 TRUCKDRIVER (MEDIUM) 7 12.912                    
014 01 CARPENTER 1 14.667                    
015 01 ELECTRICIAN 46 15.252                    
018 01 PIPEFITTER 2 14.667                    
019 01 WELDER 62 14.862                    
                   
                   
l  l l l  l l l  l l l  l l l  l l
l  l l l  l l l  l l l  l l l  l l
l  l l l  l l l  l l l  l l l  l l
14. REMARKS (IF ADDITIONAL SPACE IS REQUIRED< USE REVERSE SIDE) M = GUARANTEED MINIMUM RATE
15. SIGNATURE 16. SIGNATURE 17. PAGE 1 18. GENERATED
OF 27 02/08/02
PAGES 27 11:28
Survey job numbers Populations and pay rates of
and titles of jobs jobs matched on the full-
matched on the full- scale survey. These will not
scale survey. be changed this survey.
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9. FEDERAL WAGE SYSTEM - ESTABLISHMENT INFORMATION
1. ESTABLISHMENT NAME AND ADDRESS (Include Apartment 2. WAGE AREA
or Suite Number and 9-digit ZIP Code)
ACE Manufacturing Co. Dayton, Ohio
Furniture Division 3. DATE OF CONTACT 4. TELEPHONE NUMBER (Include Area Code
1234 Elm St. and Extension)
Kettering, OH 45409-4306 12 Jan 2002 (513) 296-6291
5. NAME AND TITLE OF PERSON(S) INTERVIEWED 6. PRODUCT OR SERVICE OF ESTABLISHMENT
a. MAJOR INDUSTRY
Ms. Judith Anderson Manufacturing
Personnel Director b. SPECIFIC PRODUCTS OR SERVICES
Upholstered wood household furniture
7. AREA CODE 8. ESTABLISHMENT CODE 9. STANDARD INDUSTRIAL 10. ESTABLISHMENT WEIGHT
CLASSIFICATION (SIC) CODE
107 021 2512 03
11. TOTAL NUMBER 12. TOTAL NUMBER BLUE- 13. OVERTIME PAY PROVISIONS
EMPLOYEES IN COLLAR EMPLOYEES DAILY WEEKLY SUNDAY HOLIDAY
ESTABLISHMENT RATE HOURS RATE HOURS RATE RATE
250 198 1.5 8.0 1.5 40.0 2.0 None
14. NUMBER OF HOURS IN 15. MONTH GENERAL WAGE ADJUSTMENTS 16. CONTRACT OBTAINED (X one) 17. NON-PAR CODE
NORMAL WORKWEEK ARE NORMALLY EFFECTIVE YES
99 = NO SET MONTH NO
40.0 99 1 = JANUARY RATE SHEET
ETC.
18. GENERAL WAGE ADJUSTMENTS 19. ADDITIONAL PAY ELEMENTS (Explain in Remarks)
c. INCREASE/ d. INCLUDED IN None None
a. DATE b. AMOUNT DECREASE RATES (X one) BONUS LUMP SUM INCENTIVE
(Enter I or D) YES NO 20. COST OF LIVING ALLOWANCE (COLA)
a. COLA FORMULA
1 Mar 02 .350 I X .3 = 1 ⊄
1 Mar 03 .350 I X b. BASE PERIOD d. PAY ON e. USING CONSUMER
( ) 1 967 = 100 PRICE INDEX (CPI)
FOR
( x ) 1982-84 = 100 1 Feb Dec & Sep
c. INDEX 1 May Mar &Mar & Dec
Dec
( ) CPI-U 1 Aug Jun & Mar
( x ) CPI-W 1 Nov Sep & Jun
21. COLA TIED DIRECTLY TO CPI b. DATE AND AMOUNT OF ADJUSTMENTS c. FOLD-IN d. CARRY-
YES a. TOTAL AMOUNT DATE OVER
X BEING PAID 1 May 02 1 Aug 02 1 Nov 02 1 Feb 03
NO AMOUNT
.520 .100 .110 .060 ?
22. REMARKS
Item 19.a. All employees receive a $200 bonus each year; $200 / 2087 hours = .0958 = .096 per hour.
23. PRINTED NAME AND SIGNATURE 24. PRINTED NAME AND SIGNATURE
PAGE 1 OF 3 PAGES
Tom Bailey To m Sue Taylor SueTaylor
Bailey
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10. ESTABLISHMENT INFORMATION FORM
Every company for any Wage Change Worksheets generated had a full-scale report written on it. This
report included an Establishment Information Form (EIF) and one or Wage Data Collection Forms
(WDCF). The EIF contained general information on the company and its pay practices. The WDCF
contained wage information on matched jobs, including rate ranges and employees’ rates of pay within
those ranges. For every company you contact on this survey, you should carefully review the full-scale
data before you phone the establishment. The preceding page and the next few pages provide an
opportunity to practice review of full-scale data.
The form on the preceding page is an EIF. This form provides information important to the wage change
survey.
You obtain from the EIF the name, title and phone number of the company official who provided the full-
scale data. This is the person you should call on this survey. If this individual is no longer in the position,
ask to speak with the person who took his/her place and record the name, title, and phone number of the
new contact in the Remarks section of the Wage Change Worksheet.
You should make a note of the month the company normally grants wage increases by looking at item 15.
This will give you an idea of when the firm may have had an adjustment. In our example, the code “99”
is used. This means that there is no one established month during the year that the company adjusts base
rates of pay.
By looking at item 16 of the EIF, you will learn whether a contract or rate sheet was obtained on the full-
scale survey. If a contract was obtained and is still current, the information regarding pay adjustments
should be noted for discussion with the company official. If the contract calls for a specific adjustment on
a certain date and the company official tells you something different, you should discuss the situation with
him/her and explain the reason for the change in the Remarks section of the Wage Change Worksheet.
If you are looking at a full scale report and see that item 17 is filled in, you may be looking at the wrong
report. This field should be filled in only if for some reason the establishment did not participate or did
not provide useable data.
Item 18 of the EIF provides specific information on general wage adjustments. In the example, you can
see that ACE Manufacturing granted a 35 cents per hour increase to employees on March 1, 2002. You
can also see that it was included in the rates on the full-scale survey, so you would not report it again this
survey.
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11. Item 18 also tells you whether we knew of any future adjustments planned by the company as of the full
scale. With the information you have on ACE Manufacturing, you would expect the company to report a
35 cent increase effective 1 Mar 2003 (and you can also see it was not included in the full scale rates). If
the company reported anything different, you would investigate and explain.
Item 19 provides information on bonuses lump sums, and incentive rates. In the example, item 19
indicates a bonus was paid. Specific information on the bonus was recorded in Remarks. The bonus was
a $200 holiday bonus.
Items 20-21 tell you that the company does pay a cost of living adjustment tied to the Consumer Price
Index, so you will need to obtain COLA payments paid since the full scale. As of the full scale, the total
amount being paid was 52 cents (item 21.a.), and the adjustments reported were: 1 May 02, 10 cents; 1
Aug 02, 11 cents; 1 Nov 02, 6 cents; and the next adjustment was due in February, but the amount was
unknown (item 21 a.). You would:
1. If a contract was obtained on the full-scale survey, review any COLA provisions it has.
2. Update the total amount being paid (item 21.a). Full-scale amount was 52 cents. You
need to find out what it is now.
3. Obtain the adjustments paid since the full scale, starting with February, 2002 and
ending with November, 2002.
A more detailed discussion of COLA is provided below:
Item 22 is the Remarks section. In this example, it contains only information on the bonus, but this
section can be very important. You should carefully read the Remarks section of the EIF before calling
the company. Here you will often discover facts which have a direct bearing on the wage change survey.
You may learn, for instance, that a janitor is non-union and does not receive the same increases as other
jobs, or that the COLA only pertains to certain matched jobs, or that different matched jobs receive
different COLA adjustments. You may learn that different groups of employees receive adjustments at
different times during the year. Many pertinent facts are recorded in Remarks, and you must be aware of
them.
The next step is to review the Full Scale Wage Data Collection Form for ACE Manufacturing Company.
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12. FEDERAL WAGE SYSTEM - WAGE DATA COLLECTION
1. ESTABLISHMENT NAME 2. WAGE AREA 3. DATE OF CONTACT
ACE Manufacturing Co. Dayton, OH 22 Jan 2002
4.a. ESTABLISHMENT JOB TITLE b. UNION AFFILIATION c. ESTABLISHMENT GRADE
Lift Truck Driver UCA Local 12 None
5. SURVEY JOB TITLE
Forklift Operator
6. AREA CODE 7. ESTABLISHMENT 8. JOB NUMBER 9. FORMAL 10. JOB RATE RANGE 11. NUMBER OF
CODE RATE MINIMUM MAXIMUM ESTABLISHED
RANGE STEP RATES
YES NO
104 021 08 x 6.250 8.000 04
12. ESTABLISHED 13. JOB MATCH 14. NUMBER OF 15. STRAIGHT TIME 16. GUARANTEED 17. INCENTIVE
STEP RATES EMPLOYEES HOURLY RATE MINIMUM RATE
6.250
Y 1 6.250
7.000
Y 1 7.500
7.500
Y 1 8.000
8.000 Y = YES 18. COST OF LIVING 19. BONUS 20. LUMP SUM 21. JOB SUB-
N = NO ALLOWANCE NUMBER
(COLA) .096
Step increases TOTAL 0
.520 .096
every 6 mos.
22. DESCRIPTION OF ESTABLISHMENT JOB
Operate standard two prong forklifts with rated lifting capacity of less than 10,000 lbs. to unload
maintenance supplies and raw materials from trucks, transport items to storage, move materials between
production processes, and load finished products onto trucks.
23. DO ABOVE RATES INCLUDE 24. REMARKS
NO YES AMOUNT
COLA X 2.b. UCA = United Craftsmen Association
BONUS X
LUMP SUM X 19. 200/2087 = .0958 = .096 (holiday bonus).
SHIFT PAY X
X
OTHER ADD-ONS
(Explain) X
23. PRINTED NAME AND SIGNATURE 24. PRINTED NAME AND SIGNATURE
PAGE 3 OF 3
Tom Bailey To m Sue Taylor SueTaylor PAGES
Bailey 10

13. THE WAGE DATA COLLECTION FORM
The first important item on the WDCF is the establishment job title. If it becomes necessary to discuss
individual jobs with a company official, be sure to use the establishment job title rather than the survey
job title. This will ensure that the company official knows which job you are asking about. For example,
a company might have six different titles matching our Machine Tool Operator I. These six jobs may be
at several different rates and may have received different adjustments at different times. Using the
company job title would make it easier for you to obtain the correct information.
Item 4.b., Union Affiliation, is also helpful. Some companies will have more than one union or a mixture
of union and nonunion jobs with different provisions for wage adjustments. Being able to tell the
company official the union affiliation of the job you are trying to update will help you get the right
information.
Item 4.c., Establishment Grade, will allow you to work more easily with companies that have a grading
system and different adjustments for different grades. Personnel official might ask you if you know the
company grade of the job matched on the full scale.
Item 10, Job Rate Range, can be helpful. If a company official is providing new individual rates and
reports rates outside the rate range for the job, and the difference seems too large for wage adjustments
to explain, you know to investigate.
Item 20, Lump Sum, is for entry of the hourly equivalent of any lump sum paid to the job this survey. If
a lump sum was paid as of the full scale, you will enter the difference between the item 20 figure and the
hourly equivalent of any lump sum paid after the full scale and on or before the effective date of this
survey.
Item 24, Remarks, is important to review this survey because it may contain helpful information. For
example, Remarks might state that a job is subject to different wage adjustments than the other matched
jobs. Calculations for conversion of lump sums to cents per hour figures are also commonly done in
Remarks.
Note on the Wage Data Collection Continuation Form (WDCCF): You will note that WDCF item 15
can only accommodate three different rates for matched employees. When matched employees have
more than three different rates, a WDCCF is used to show the additional employees and their straight
time hourly rates (any bonus or lump sum information applicable to employees included on a WDCCF
would be included in item 19 or 20 of the WDCF it follows). Because WDCCF rate information is
recorded in the same manner as on the sample WDCF on the previous page, a sample WDCCF is not
provided in this handbook.
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14. COLLECTING WAGE CHANGE DATA
THE INTERVIEW
When you call the company official, you:
⇒ Introduce yourself and explain which agency you represent.
⇒ Explain the purpose of your call.
⇒ Ask if the company has granted any general or Cost of Living wage adjustments in the past
year (since the date of our last contact with the firm). Be careful to separate general and
COLA adjustments; be sure to count as COLA only those adjustments which are linked
directly to movement of the Consumer Price Index by a formula.
⇒ If the adjustment was not the same for all matched jobs, ask for the amount of change that
occurred in each matched job.
⇒ If the company pays a COLA, ask about any fold-ins that occurred during the past year.
Obtain the date and amount of any fold-ins and the amount carried over.
⇒ Ask if any general or COLA adjustments are pending between the date of your call and the
“Collect Data Effective Through” date shown in Part B of the Wage Change Worksheet. If
no adjustments are pending, state this in the Remarks section of the Wage Change
Worksheet.
During the interview, data provided by the company official should be checked against notes you have
made from information provided in the full-scale survey forms and the contract. Any differences should
be thoroughly discussed with the company official and the reasons documented on the Wage Change
Worksheet. Noticing and resolving discrepancies during the call will minimize the number of callbacks to
the official.
You should look for patterns in adjustments and question any that appear out of line For example, if one
company job received a much larger increase than any other company job, you would investigate. As
part of your investigation, you might inquire if the duties of the job have changed and the nature of any
such changes. You may find that duties were added to the job, such as addition of leader, supervisory, or
other higher level duties. Document the explanation in Remarks so that the situation can be reviewed and
properly handled.
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15. PERCENTAGE ADJUSTMENTS
If a company official states that the firm paid a percentage adjustment, you should inquire if all matched
jobs received that exact amount or if the figure he/she gave you is an average. If all employees received
the same percentage, you will state this in Remarks. If different jobs received different percentages, you
must obtain and record the amount each job received.
ADJUSTMENT VARIATION OF UNKNOWN AMOUNTS
When different jobs receive different adjustments, you show the dates and amounts separately.
Sometimes a company official might know the overall average but cannot provide the amount each job
received. In such cases, write down the average amount he/she gives you and ask for the minimum and
maximum amounts granted to blue-collar positions. Ask for the current rate range for each matched job
(if updated in the last year) and record all information in the Remarks section of the Wage Change
Worksheet. If the company does not have fixed rate ranges, obtain current rates for all matched jobs and
put this information in Remarks.
WEIGHTED AVERAGES
Sometimes a company will not be able to tell you, even in general terms, how much a job received. In
these instances you should try to obtain a weighted average of rates that exist today.
If a weighted average of all employees on the job was obtained at the time of the full-scale survey, this
fact will be stated on the Wage Data Collection Form. If you again obtain a weighted average on the
wage change survey, all you need to do is subtract the lower amount from the higher amount to get the
amount of change you will enter on the Wage Change Worksheet. The change may be either an increase
or a decrease.
If a weighted average was reported on one survey but exact rates were obtained on the other, we construct a weighted
average for the survey in which exact rates were obtained, subtract the lower average from the higher, and enter the result.
The reported amount may be an increase or a decrease.
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16. FEDERAL WAGE SYSTEM - WAGE CHANGE WORKSHEET
1. AREA CODE AND WAGE AREA 2. ESTABLISHMENT CODE AND NAME 3. WEIGHT
107 DAYTON, OHIO 001 WIDGET MANUFACTURING CO. 01
PART A - FULL SCALE SURVEY DATA PART B - WAGE CHANGE SURVEY DATA
4. SURVEY ORDERED 5. EFFECTIVE DATE 6. ACTION CODE 7. COLLECT DATA EFFECTIVE THRU 8. DATE THIS CONTACT
23 October 2003
17 August 2002 24 October 2002
9. AMOUNT 1 R 10. AMOUNT 2 R 11 AMOUNT 3 R 12. AMOUNT 4 R 13. AMOUNT 5 R
JOB SEQ JOB TITLE DATE E DATE E DATE E DATE E DATE E
NR. NR. NR WAGE COLA A A A A A
EMPL RATE S S S S S
O O O O O
N N N N N
002 01 JANITOR 8 11.742                    
007 01 WAREHOUSEMAN 16 12.912                    
010 01 TRUCKDRIVER (MEDIUM) 7 12.912                    
014 01 CARPENTER 1 14.667                    
015 01 ELECTRICIAN 46 15.252                    
018 01 PIPEFITTER 2 14.667                    
019 01 WELDER 62 14.862                    
                   
                   
l  l l l  l l l  l l l  l l l  l l
l  l l l  l l l  l l l  l l l  l l
l  l l l  l l l  l l l  l l l  l l
14. REMARKS (IF ADDITIONAL SPACE IS REQUIRED< USE REVERSE SIDE) M = GUARANTEED MINIMUM RATE
15. SIGNATURE 16. SIGNATURE 17. PAGE 1 18. GENERATED
OF 27 02/08/02
PAGES 27 11:28
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17. COMPLETING THE WAGE CHANGE SURVEY FORM
Wage change data collection forms have been prepared for each establishment that participated and
provided useable job matches in the full-scale survey. An example of the Wage Change Worksheet is
located on the preceding page. The form is divided into two parts:
PART A - This portion of the form contains data obtained on the full-scale survey.
a. Job Number and Sequence Number: This will appear as a five-digit number on the Wage Change
Worksheet.
(1) The first three digits represent the job number corresponding to the survey job matched on the full-
scale survey. For example, job 001 is the Janitor (Light) survey job.
(2) The last two digits represent the sequence number assigned by the computer to each individual rate
for each matched survey job. If, for example, two rates were reported for job 001, the first rate would
have a sequence number of 01, the second 02, etc. The sequence number starts at 01 for each different
survey job.
For wage change survey purposes, the survey job number and sequence number will always appear
together.
b. Job Title: The title of our survey job appears in this item. The space above the survey job title may be
used for manually entering the establishment job titles. Data collectors are to use establishment job titles
to discuss jobs with company officials.
c. Number of Employees: This figure is the number of employees reported at each rate for each survey
job in the full-scale survey. This number will not be changed on the wage change survey.
d. Wage Rate: Unless otherwise specified, the wage rate is the straight time hourly rate reported in the
full-scale survey. This wage rate does not normally include any Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) tied
directly to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or any bonus, since these amounts are normally reporter
separately in the full scale survey.
When an area qualifies for the use of incentive data and incentive rates are being used, the wage rate for
jobs paid on an incentive basis will be the guaranteed minimum rate and will be followed by the letter
“M” to indicate that the rate is a minimum. This is done so that we and the company official have
common ground on which to discuss changes to incentive rates. Even though the minimum rate is shown
on the Wage Change Data Collection Form, the annual incentive rate was used and will be used again to
compute the trend lines.
15

18. e. COLA: This item shows the amount of the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) tied directly to the
Consumer Price Index (CPI) reported in the full scale survey.
NOTE: Since any bonus data used in the full scale survey will automatically be used again computing the
wage change trend line, the bonus amount does not appear on the Wage Change Worksheet. The only
exception to this procedure is in the calculation on lump sum payments in lieu of general increases. Such
payments are currently coded as bonuses and can be changed during wage change surveys. See Table 4
for further discussion on processing lump sum payments.
PART B - This portion of the form is where you will record the wage change data you collect on this
survey.
a. Action Code (Item 6): Refer to Table 1 and enter the proper code.
b. Collect Data Effective Thru (Item 7): Collect wage change data effective on or before the normal
effective date of the new schedule. The normal effective date will be pre-printed on the form.
c. Date This Contact (Item 8): Enter the date you contact the establishment to obtain wage change data.
This item must be completed for each establishment.
d. Amount 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 (Items 9-13): Enter the dates amounts and reasons for all changes since the
last survey. Dates should include the day, month and year, in that order. See tables 2, 3, and 4 for
instructions for completing these items.
Information on the following pages will explain more about the data we seek and how to record it on the
Wage Change Data Collection Form.
REMARKS (ITEM 14): The space below parts A and B is provided for remarks such as changes of
company officials, explanation of data entries, and information regarding current rates of pay or total
COLA being paid. Remarks may be continued on the reverse of the form.
SIGNATURE BLOCKS (ITEMS 15 and 16): Both data collectors or their respective LWSC counterparts should sign each
page of all Wage Change Worksheets for assigned establishments.
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19. TABLE 1
ACTION CODE
ACTION CODE STANDS FOR: USE WHEN:
A ACROSS THE BOARD All matched employees received the SAME
amount of change (increase or decrease,
general or COLA).
Go to table 2 and enter the data for
ONLY the FIRST JOB listed on the form.
N NOT ACROSS THE BOARD MATCHED employees received
DIFFERENT amounts of change (increase or
decrease, general or COLA).
Go to Table 2 and enter the data for
EACH JOB listed on the form. If a job did
not receive a change leave line(s) blank.
R REFUSAL The establishment refuses to participate or
refuses to provide useable information. Give
the reason for the refusal in Remarks.
S STRIKE The establishment is on strike or in a lock out
situation. Explain the situation in Remarks
and give dates of anticipated settlement and
contract ratification.
T TERMINATED OPERATIONS The establishment is out of business or has
IN THE AREA moved out of the area. Explain the
circumstances in Remarks.
Z ZERO CHANGES There have been no changes (increases or
decreases) to rates or COLA reported on the
full-scale survey.
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20. INSTRUCTIONS FOR RECORDING DATA
1. Enter changes in chronological order.
2. Enter cents per hour changes to three decimal places. The amount blocks have four vertical lines to
separate each digit:
 0  3  5
The longer vertical line in the amount block is the
dividing line for dollars and cents. It represents a
decimal point. Entries are done to three decimal
places. The amount entered here is 3.5 cents.
 3  0  0 Amount entered is 30 cents.
3. Enter percentage changes to two decimal places. Single digit percentages are recorded by spaces to
the right of the decimal point. and the number in the spaces to the right. Double-digit percentages are
recorded by putting the “P” in the space farthest to the left, the first digit in the space just left of the
decimal point.
P  03  5  0
Amount entered is 3.5 %.
P  1 0  0  0
Amount entered is 10%.
4. Decreases are reported by inserting a hyphen over the number in the third decimal place.
 3  5  0
A 35-cent decrease.
P 03  5  0
A 3.5% decrease.
NOTE: Percentage lump sums reported by company officials must be converted to cents per hour
figures. The data processing system does not accept input of percentage lump sums.
Example: A company has one janitor at the rate of $7.00 per hour. The company official
reports that the employee was given a 3% lump sum in lieu of a general wage adjustment.
You would record .210 in the amount block (7.00 X 3%).
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21. TABLE 2
COMPLETING DATE, AMOUNT, AND REASON
SITUATION ENTER INFORMATION
DATE AMOUNT REASON
A general adjustment has been granted. Enter the date of Enter the amount of G
OR the adjustment. the adjustment.
A “Cost of Living Allowance” not tied to
the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has been
granted.
OR
A general increase based on merit was paid
(not a step increase).
A “Cost of Living Allowance” tied directly Enter the date of Enter the amount of C
to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has the adjustment. the adjustment.
been granted.
A general adjustment is pending.* Enter the Enter the anticipated P
OR anticipated date of amount of the
A COLA adjustment is pending.* the adjustment. adjustment, if
known, otherwise,
*For wage change purposes, a pending IF the date is leave blank.
adjustment is one that will be paid after unknown, enter an
the date you call the company but before asterisk and IF the adjustment
the pay schedule effective date.. explain in will be a decrease,
Remarks. put a hyphen (-)
NOTE: If an adjustment is pending for over the number in
one or more matched jobs and no other the third decimal
adjustments have been paid, use the Z place.
action code.
No general or COLA adjustments or lump Leave blank Leave blank Leave blank
sums in lieu of a general increase were State in Remarks that no adjustments were granted and that none
granted, and none are pending prior to the are pending prior to the pay schedule effective date.
pay schedule effective date.
An establishment job is vacant. Leave blank Leave blank D
OR Explain the situation and state in remarks the amount the job
An establishment job has been abolished. would have received.
19

22. COST OF LIVING ALLOWANCE (COLA)
For survey purposes, the term Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) refers to various methods of basing
periodic wage adjustments on the Consumer Price Index (CPI). When the CPI increases by a specific
amount, additional COLA may be paid. When the CPI decreases, the COLA being paid may be reduced.
When collecting wage data, you must be careful to distinguish between general adjustments and COLA
adjustments. Companies may call any general increases “cost of living adjustments”, but if the adjustment
is not linked to the CPI with a specific formula, it is not a COLA for wage change purposes and will be
recorded as a general increase.
Understanding the nature of COLA adjustments will help you correctly record such adjustments. COLA
is usually paid separately from other adjustments. Private firms normally treat it as an “add-on” rather
than part of the basic hourly rate paid to wage employees. Even if the COLA is treated as part of an
employee’s basic pay for purposes of overtime or vacation benefits, it probably is adjusted separately
from the basic hourly rate.
In discussion of COLA two terms occur: “fold-in” and “carry-over”. A company may periodically put
the COLA being paid into the base rate. When this is done, the cola is said to be folded in to the rates.
Depending on its policies, a company may fold in all or part of the COLA at a given time. When only
part of a COLA is folded into the base rates and the remainder continues to be treated as COLA, it is said
to be carried over as COLA.
Example: A company is paying 50 cents COLA and decides to fold in 40 cents of it. When
the fold-in occurs, the COLA being paid would be reduced 40 cents (the amount folded in)
and the basic hourly rate would be increased by that amount. The 10 cents not folded in
would be carried over as COLA and would be subject to any increase or decreases triggered
by the CPI per the company’s COLA formula.
See Table 3 for instructions on how to record COLA adjustments on the Wage Change
Worksheet.
The following page lists questions you will need to ask company officials about COLA payments.
20

23. COLA QUESTIONS
20. COST OF LIVING ALLOWANCE (COLA)
a. COLA FORMULA .3 = 1 cent
b. BASE d. PAY ON e. USING CONSUMER
PERIOD PRICE INDEX (CPI)
( ) 1 967 = FOR
100 1 Feb Dec & Sep
c. INDEX 1 May Mar &Mar & Dec
Dec
( ) CPI-U 1 Aug Jun & Mar
( x ) CPI-W 1 Nov Sep & Jun
1. Does your company pay cost of living adjustments that are tied to the Consumer Price Index by a
formula?
2. What is the total COLA being paid?
3. What were the dates and amounts of COLA adjustments since [date of last COLA adjustment
reported on the full-scale survey]?
4. Was any COLA diverted to benefits? If so, how much and when?
5. Was any COLA folded in during the past year? If so, how much and when?
6. Which matched jobs received the COLA adjustments? (Do some jobs receive a different COLA or no
COLA?)
7. Obtain the COLA formula if it is not shown either on the full scale EIF or in a labor agreement we
have on file for the company.
8. Which base period is used, 1967 = 100 or 1982-84 = 100?
9. Which index is used, CPI -U or CPI - W? (CPI-U = All Urban Consumers;
CPI - W = Revised Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers)
10. How much of a movement in the CPI must occur to trigger a one-cent COLA adjustment? For
example, the amount of COLA being paid might change one cent for each .3 of a point change in the
CPI.
11. On which month’s CPI are the changes for each adjustment based? For example, COLA could be
adjusted in July based on the CPI for the months of February and May.
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24. TABLE 3
RECORDING COST OF LIVING ALLOWANCE (COLA) CHANGES
NOTE: To be used as COLA, an adjustment must be tied by a formula to the Consumer Price Index (CPI)
SITUATION IN PART B: IN REMARKS
One or more COLA adjustments 1. Report the date and amount of Report the total amount of COLA
were made since the full-scale each COLA adjustment made currently being paid.
survey. since the full-scale survey.
2. Record adjustments only, not
total being paid. Record totals
being paid in the Remarks
block, not in the amount blocks.
TREATMENT OF FOLD-IN AND CARRY-OVER
SITUATION IN PART B: IN REMARKS
No COLA was folded into the base See below State that no fold-in occurred since
rates. the last full-scale survey.
All COLA was folded into the base Regular COLA adjustments are 1. Give the date of the fold-in.
rates at some time during the past reported as indicated above. No
year. additional entries are required when 2. Give the amount of the fold-in.
a fold-in occurs.
3. DO NOT enter the amount of
The presence or absence of a fold in the fold-in in the amount blocks.
WILL NOT affect what you put in
the amount blocks.
Part of the COLA was folded into See above. 1. Give the date of the fold-in.
the base rates at some time during
the past year, and the remainder of 2. Give the amount of the fold-in.
the COLA was carried over.
3. Give the amount of the carry-
over.
4. DO NOT enter the amount
folded in or carried over in the
amount blocks.
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25. LUMP SUM PAYMENT IN LIEU OF A GENERAL INCREASE
When companies increase wages, they usually increase the base rates by a set amount, such as 30 cents or
4%. However, companies will sometimes choose to grant employees a lump sum payment instead of
increasing the base hourly rates. For example, a company may decide to give all employees $1000 in
March and leave the base rates the same as they were the previous year. In such a case, the $1000 would
be reported as a useable lump sum payment.
Care must be exercised in collecting or using data for lump sum payments, since companies make such
payments for a variety of reasons. Lump sum payments are not used unless they are paid in place of the
regular increase the firm would pay otherwise.
When a useable lump sum payment is found, the dollar amount is written in the Remarks section of the
Wage Data Collection Form. The figure is then converted to an hourly equivalent amount and coded with
a “B” reason code on the wage data collection form. “B” stands for bonus; however, a lump sum is not
a bonus. The “B” code is an old one that was designed when bonuses were reported on wage changes
and before lump sums became popular. It simply has not been changed and is still required for correct
computer processing of useable lump sums.
See Table 4 for instructions on recording lump sum payments on the Data Collection Worksheet.
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26. TABLE 4
LUMP SUM PAYMENT IN LIEU OF A GENERAL INCREASE
Note: Only those payments made in lieu of a general increase may be used.
Lump sum payments made for other purposes are not useable.
ENTER INFORMATION
SITUATION
DATE AMOUNT REASON
No lump sum was reported on Enter the date of Convert the lump sum
the full-scale survey, but a lump the lump sum amount to a straight
sum was paid during the past payment. time hourly equivalent, B
year. and enter that amount.
A lump sum was reported on the Enter an asterisk Enter the hourly equivalent
full-scale survey, but no lump (*), and explain reported on the full-scale
sum was paid during the past the situation in survey, and put a hyphen (-)
year. Remarks. over the number in the third B
decimal place.
A lump sum payment was made Enter the date of 1. Convert both lump
during BOTH of the last two the lump sum sum amounts to straight
years , and the lump sum payment. time hourly equivalents.
payment reported on the full-
scale survey was lower than the 2. Subtract the full-
B
payment during the last year. scale amount from the
wage change amount.
3. Enter the amount of
difference.
A lump sum payment was made Enter the date of 1. Convert both lump
during BOTH of the last two the lump sum sum amounts to straight
years , and the lump sum payment time hourly equivalents.
payment reported on the full- 2. Subtract the wage
scale survey was higher than the change amount from
payment during the last year. the full-scale amount.
3. Enter the amount of B
difference, and put a
hyphen (-) over the
number in the third
decimal place.
A lump sum payment was Leave blank Leave blank Leave
reported on the full scale blank
survey, and the same amount was
Explain the situation in Remarks.
paid again during the past year.
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27. THINGS TO REMEMBER
Please keep these things in mind when recording wage change data:
⇒ Be sure that you enter the date you contacted the firm in the space provided.
⇒ List all adjustments chronologically.
⇒ If more than five adjustments took place, two or more amounts will have to be combined on the
Wage Change Worksheet since the form has room for only five entries. In this case, you should
combine “like” adjustments, such as two COLAs or two general adjustments, and then state in
Remarks the date and amount of each adjustment you combined and state in which amount column
the combined figure is located.
⇒ Regardless of what types of adjustments were paid we must verify the information wherever possible
by using contracts, rate sheets and information on the full-scale survey forms such as item 19b.
Differences between this information and new information the company gives us this year must be
explained in Remarks.
⇒ If a rate or COLA amount was incorrectly reported in the full-scale survey, you must correct the error
this survey by adding to or subtracting from the full-scale rate.
Example: A rate was reported as $7.250 on the full-scale survey. You learn this survey that
the rate should have been reported as $7.100. Part B of the Wage Change Worksheet would
show the $.150 error as a decrease with the explanation in Remarks. Any other changes
would then be shown separately on the Wage Change Worksheet.
Sometimes a company will tell you they paid a percentage increase and we will have in our
possession a contract or rate sheet showing the specific hourly rates that will be effective
when the adjustment is paid. In this situation, we will use the cents per hour difference
between the full-scale rate and the current contract rate rather than the percentage of the
adjustment (since the cents per hour figure includes company rounding). To arrive at the
adjustment(s) you will post on the Wage Change Worksheet, subtract the full-scale rate from
the more recent contract rate and less recent contract rates from any subsequent rates. If
several adjustments have occurred, each should be recorded separately. You should of
course verify that all rates in the contract are being paid.
Now you are ready to complete the Practice Exercises for Wage Change Surveys.
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