Clicking the Parameters button of the Salary Merit Scale dialog box (or the Salary Merit Scale Override dialog box) of the Salary Increases topic leads you to another dialog box, in which you code additional parameters for the merit component of salary growth (including merit scale overrides, if any). When there are two or more applicable salary merit scale tables, these parameters specify how the salary scale varies, according to either the calendar year that a salary is associated with or the contents of a coded database field.

If the salary scale varies by coded field/calendar year, to indicate that the merit scale varies by the contents of a coded field on the database, that is, different tables should be used for different groups of records, identified by values of a coded database field (e.g., Division), check the Coded database field box and then select the field from the list of all coded fields unhidden in the current Project. A Database Code column will appear in the grid below: for each code value, there is a row in the grid for the applicable Rate Table. For each database code, select the desired salary merit scale library entry.

To indicate that the merit scale varies by calendar year of decrement (i.e., the calendar year of the anniversary of the valuation date in the year of decrement), check the Calendar years box and enter (in the text box below) for all rates that you will specify, the first calendar year to be associated with each particular rate table. For example, if the rates will be one particular table through 2008, another for 2009, yet another for all years 2010 through 2014 inclusive and one last table in 2015 and later years, then enter “2009 - 2010, 2015” or "2009,2010,2015" in the text box. Two columns, From and To, will appear in the grid below, and rows appear according to the “breakdown by year” indicated by the text box entries. In our example, rows appear for years through 2008, for 2009, for 2010 through 2014 and for years 2015 and later, so that you may enter the rate table associated with each set of years. For each year, select the desired salary merit scale library entry.

To indicate that the merit scale varies by both a coded field on the database and the calendar year of decrement, combine the instructions in the two paragraphs above; the grid below will populate with both the Database Code column and the From/To columns. Specify the desired salary merit scale library entry for each combination of code value and year.

If you wish to create a new table or edit an existing one, click the button to access the Salary Merit Scales Library.

The Table service based on parameter is used to define service for look up if the table has a service dimension. The preset option, “<rounded attained age – rounded hire age>” indicates that service will be computed as the difference between rounded attained age (as of the decrement date) and rounded hire age. (See also the discussion of the date of hire (or hire age) parameter under the Active Data topic of the Census Specifications command.) Alternatively, Table service may be based on a database Field; select from the list of database fields in the current Project. You may refer to a date field from which to measure service or to a numeric field containing service as of the valuation date. Note that selecting, by name, the date of hire field of the Active Data topic of the Census Specifications might not produce the same result as the preset option. This is a consequence of the fact that if a database field is selected, truncated service based on the field is used. That is, if you select the date of hire field by name, ProVal subtracts the hire date from the decrement date and then truncates. The result may be lookup service of one year more or less than lookup service computed as the difference between rounded ages at the valuation date and at hire. For more information about table lookups, see the discussion of table interface. To use fractional service attribution (e.g., hours-related service) or rounding (e.g., completed years), select from the library of Service Definitions. The button accesses the library to create and modify Service Definitions. (See also the discussion of Service Definitions and attribution in the Technical Reference article entitled "PUC and UC attribution".)