In the 'Surprise! Pay being mishandled' thread, I came up with he idea of developing a basic training package for my troops by which I could teach them the fundamentals of how reserve pay works, particularly on class A. My intentions on this are a couple things:
-As soldiers, they'll 'get' reserve pay, and will be better able to tell when things are working and when they're not
-They'll be better able to self diagnose pay issues, as well as knowing what information I need to fix it.
-I'll be able to help my troops faster, and to help them to help themselves when pay issues come up. They'll know what I need to help figure out and fix a problem.
-The troops will have clear communication on what I and the administration expect of them, but also what they can expect of me and the unit.
-The troops will have a realistic appreciation of when they can expect to get paid for a given day's work, as well as what sort of time is reasonable to fix a problem
-The troops will know when things are wrong enough that it's necessary to involve their chain of command, and will be able to tell when they're being fed a line, or something otherwise stinks.
-Our clerks will be less burdened by troops concerned about their pay, as the soldiers will recognize that some things are problems and others are normal. Also, when a problem is presented to the clerks for resolution, all necessary information will be there for them to fix it.
-The troops will be better equipped to follow their own admin, through knowing about and understanding the master pay record and EMAA (a joint part of my plan is to get all my troops EMAA acocunts and set them up with email pay delivery).
I've got a rough framework done for what I'm going to put together, as follows:
1. Class A/Class B
a) What's the difference?
b) Who pays for it (Fin codes)
2. What goes in, what comes out
a) RPSR and your pay balance
b) Deductions
-CPP
-EI
-Pension
-Money owed
3. From pay sheet to pay check- how Class A pay works
a) What happens to a pay sheet within the unit?
b) What happens to a pay sheet from an outside task (e.g., battle school)?
c) Who needs to authorize it?
d) How long should it take a pay sheet to reach the unit from outside, and whose job is that?
e) What do the clerks do with the pay sheet?
f) When the pay sheet gets entered into RPSR (describe RPSR), then what?
g) Why does Class A pay lag by two weeks?
h) Describe how pay runs and deposits work, and when they need to be authorized
Specifically, timelines
i) How pay advances work.
4. Common pay problems and troubleshooting
a) I didn't get paid at all
-Did your buddies get paid for the same tasking/work?
-Did you sign the pay sheet / all the pay sheets?
-Did the pay sheet get submitted?
-Did the pay sheet get submitted in time for the current pay run?
-Was the pay sheet authorized? Was a fin code provided?
-Did you owe the military money?
b) I didn't get as much money as I thought I should
-Did you sign all pay sheets?
-Did you compare your pay received with all of the deductions?
c) I got paid at the wrong rank or IPC
-Were you promoted recently?
5. Class B (<180 days)
a) Contracts
b) Claims
c) Allowances
6. Responsibilities- The soldier, the chain of command, and the orderly room
a) The Soldier
-EMAA/pay stubs
-Master Pay Record Report
-Track your attendance
-Involve your chain of command at earliest opportunity, but have documentation and
information for them. Specific dates and dollar figures.
-Make sure you weren't paid too much. Identify it and don't spend it if you were.
b) The chain of command
-Accept pay problems as, generally, an immediate administrative priority. Pay will be one of the biggest concerns of the soldier and can have one of the greatest detrimental effects on their welfare and morale, as well as that of their peers.
-Be aware of the timelines upon which pay work, particularly when a soldier reports a problem shortly before a pay run. You might have to move fast to fix it.
-Continue to push the issue up the chain as quickly as possible. Seek feedback on it.
-Keep the soldier informed about the state of their pay problem resolution.
c) The orderly room / administrative pers
-Receiving pay sheets and inputting them into the system in a timely manner
-Activating contracts
-Preparing and verifying claims
-Identifying errors or other issues, and communicating them down the chain of command to the soldier promptly
-Fixing the soldier's pay with as little delay as possible.
-Informing the soldier/chain of command as to what actually is wrong and what's being done to fix it.
-Advising as to how long fixing a problem should take.
-Keeping the soldier informed of other administrative alternatives (e.g., pay advances)
I figure I'm about 80% there with regards to the content of this package. As much as it looks, most of this will require no more than a sentence or a short para to explain. I intend this to be something that can be handed to a new troops the day they start BMQ, so that they understand the 'what, when, who, how, and why' of pay and its myriad problems.
I also want an undercurrent of this to be that pay problems should not be normal and should not be accepted, but that an individual is responsible for keeping abreast of their own admin, and that a pay problem shouldn't generate a hatefest for the BOR, but just an honest effort to meet the chain of command halfway and provide everything we need to help them.
I'm not yet at the point of really plugging in content. What I'd like for the time being is some feedback on whether any of this either doesn't merit inclusion, or whether I've missed anything glaring (I must have) that needs to go in there. Once I have a revised framework for it, then I'll be soliciting a bit of help (some of which has already been kindly offered) to fill in the gaps. When all is said and done I'll be submitting it through my chain for approval and revision, so I can use it to train my troops. I might potentially develop it into a powerpoint, too. As a collaborative effort, of course, once I'm most of the way there I'll happily make the file accessible for anyone else to make use of.
So, for those of you with the time and inclination, fire away- and thank you for the help.
-As soldiers, they'll 'get' reserve pay, and will be better able to tell when things are working and when they're not
-They'll be better able to self diagnose pay issues, as well as knowing what information I need to fix it.
-I'll be able to help my troops faster, and to help them to help themselves when pay issues come up. They'll know what I need to help figure out and fix a problem.
-The troops will have clear communication on what I and the administration expect of them, but also what they can expect of me and the unit.
-The troops will have a realistic appreciation of when they can expect to get paid for a given day's work, as well as what sort of time is reasonable to fix a problem
-The troops will know when things are wrong enough that it's necessary to involve their chain of command, and will be able to tell when they're being fed a line, or something otherwise stinks.
-Our clerks will be less burdened by troops concerned about their pay, as the soldiers will recognize that some things are problems and others are normal. Also, when a problem is presented to the clerks for resolution, all necessary information will be there for them to fix it.
-The troops will be better equipped to follow their own admin, through knowing about and understanding the master pay record and EMAA (a joint part of my plan is to get all my troops EMAA acocunts and set them up with email pay delivery).
I've got a rough framework done for what I'm going to put together, as follows:
1. Class A/Class B
a) What's the difference?
b) Who pays for it (Fin codes)
2. What goes in, what comes out
a) RPSR and your pay balance
b) Deductions
-CPP
-EI
-Pension
-Money owed
3. From pay sheet to pay check- how Class A pay works
a) What happens to a pay sheet within the unit?
b) What happens to a pay sheet from an outside task (e.g., battle school)?
c) Who needs to authorize it?
d) How long should it take a pay sheet to reach the unit from outside, and whose job is that?
e) What do the clerks do with the pay sheet?
f) When the pay sheet gets entered into RPSR (describe RPSR), then what?
g) Why does Class A pay lag by two weeks?
h) Describe how pay runs and deposits work, and when they need to be authorized
Specifically, timelines
i) How pay advances work.
4. Common pay problems and troubleshooting
a) I didn't get paid at all
-Did your buddies get paid for the same tasking/work?
-Did you sign the pay sheet / all the pay sheets?
-Did the pay sheet get submitted?
-Did the pay sheet get submitted in time for the current pay run?
-Was the pay sheet authorized? Was a fin code provided?
-Did you owe the military money?
b) I didn't get as much money as I thought I should
-Did you sign all pay sheets?
-Did you compare your pay received with all of the deductions?
c) I got paid at the wrong rank or IPC
-Were you promoted recently?
5. Class B (<180 days)
a) Contracts
b) Claims
c) Allowances
6. Responsibilities- The soldier, the chain of command, and the orderly room
a) The Soldier
-EMAA/pay stubs
-Master Pay Record Report
-Track your attendance
-Involve your chain of command at earliest opportunity, but have documentation and
information for them. Specific dates and dollar figures.
-Make sure you weren't paid too much. Identify it and don't spend it if you were.
b) The chain of command
-Accept pay problems as, generally, an immediate administrative priority. Pay will be one of the biggest concerns of the soldier and can have one of the greatest detrimental effects on their welfare and morale, as well as that of their peers.
-Be aware of the timelines upon which pay work, particularly when a soldier reports a problem shortly before a pay run. You might have to move fast to fix it.
-Continue to push the issue up the chain as quickly as possible. Seek feedback on it.
-Keep the soldier informed about the state of their pay problem resolution.
c) The orderly room / administrative pers
-Receiving pay sheets and inputting them into the system in a timely manner
-Activating contracts
-Preparing and verifying claims
-Identifying errors or other issues, and communicating them down the chain of command to the soldier promptly
-Fixing the soldier's pay with as little delay as possible.
-Informing the soldier/chain of command as to what actually is wrong and what's being done to fix it.
-Advising as to how long fixing a problem should take.
-Keeping the soldier informed of other administrative alternatives (e.g., pay advances)
I figure I'm about 80% there with regards to the content of this package. As much as it looks, most of this will require no more than a sentence or a short para to explain. I intend this to be something that can be handed to a new troops the day they start BMQ, so that they understand the 'what, when, who, how, and why' of pay and its myriad problems.
I also want an undercurrent of this to be that pay problems should not be normal and should not be accepted, but that an individual is responsible for keeping abreast of their own admin, and that a pay problem shouldn't generate a hatefest for the BOR, but just an honest effort to meet the chain of command halfway and provide everything we need to help them.
I'm not yet at the point of really plugging in content. What I'd like for the time being is some feedback on whether any of this either doesn't merit inclusion, or whether I've missed anything glaring (I must have) that needs to go in there. Once I have a revised framework for it, then I'll be soliciting a bit of help (some of which has already been kindly offered) to fill in the gaps. When all is said and done I'll be submitting it through my chain for approval and revision, so I can use it to train my troops. I might potentially develop it into a powerpoint, too. As a collaborative effort, of course, once I'm most of the way there I'll happily make the file accessible for anyone else to make use of.
So, for those of you with the time and inclination, fire away- and thank you for the help.