Salary Increase Guidelines

Title

Salary Increase Guidelines

Policy

Policy Statement

SHRA Salary Increase Guidelines

2016 UNC Board of Governors Updates

UNC-Chapel Hill's Office of Human Resources has on-campus, pre-approval authority for all salary actions that fall within OSHR policy guidelines and do not exceed a cumulative raise of 20% from the employee's base-salary rate on the previous June 30th, provided that we have delegated authority for the career-banded title.

Which Increases Require UNC General Administration Pre-Approval?

Any salary increase in any amount for a career-banded title for which we do not have delegated authority (or which results in an exemption to any standing OSHR policy) must go to UNC General Administration (GA) Human Resources for pre-approval. That office will consult directly with OSHR as needed to obtain any required pre-approvals.

For any permanent base-salary increase, GA pre-approval is required when the cumulative amount of all permanent increases for the fiscal year to date exceeds 20% of the most recent June 30th base salary. Current or prior temporary salary increases do not count toward this calculation.

For any temporary salary adjustments, GA pre-approval is required when the cumulative amount of all currently active temporary salary adjustments in the current fiscal year exceeds 20% of the most recent June 30th base salary. Any individual temporary adjustment that exceeds 12 months in duration also will require GA pre-approval, regardless of the amount of that adjustment. Permanent base-salary adjustments in the current fiscal year do not count toward these calculations.

When Are Approved Actions Effective?

All actions are effective on the Monday following the receipt of all required approvals. If final approvals occur on a Monday, the action can be effective that day.

What are the Qualifying Reasons for a Salary Increase?

Salary increases are only permitted for the following reasons:

• Additional job duties, when there is a substantive increase in the scope and/or complexity of the job. This includes temporary adjustments with a defined start and stop date. Please note: Such an increase may not be justified solely on the basis of increased work volume.
• Position reclassification , where application of the career banding pay factors will determine the base salary
• Competitive-hiring events, where application of the career banding pay factors will determine the base salary
• Equity, when employees in the same position/branch/role/competency are performing very similar work with a similar level of competence to those who have a higher pay rate and the pay discrepancy has no apparent justification
• Labor Market, when an employee's salary is less than the position's assigned market rate. Managers may request a salary increase up to, but not exceeding, the assigned market rate.
• Employee retention, when employees have a documented offer for a comparable position (i.e., not an obvious promotion) outside of state employment and have given that documentation to their managers and the employee has skills or knowledge that would be diicult to replace
• Increase in SHRA employee competencies, when there is a documented change in component competency ratings or overall ratings between two Employee Competency Assessment (ECA) reviews
• Change in FTE due to a schedule change, when there has been no change in annualized compensation.

Please note: Schools and divisions are advised to exercise discretion with regard to granting increases to SHRA temporary employees and to remain within the defined range for employees' career-banded classifications.

How Do I Make a Request?

Salary-increase requests must be documented on the SHRA & Non-Faculty Salary Adjustment/Supplement Form ("rainbow form"). Completed forms by the department represented should be sent to your assigned Employment Consultant for competitive-hire events and to your assigned Classification and Compensation Consultant for all other increase requests. Forms received by the close of business on Friday will be reviewed the following week, using the process that applies to that specific increase, as noted above.

Where Can I Go for Help?

If you have questions about any salary increase guidelines, please contact your assigned Classification and Compensation Consultant or your assigned Employment Consultant.

EHRA Salary Increase Guidelines

2016 UNC Board of Governors Updates

In July 2016, the UNC Board of Governors increased the EHRA salary preauthorization threshold for the President to 25% and $25,000, in addition to the existing enhanced delegations for temporary salary adjustments and retentions. The President extended up to 20% and $15,000 of this authority to the Boards of Trustees of constituent institutions. In September 2016, the UNC Chapel Hill Board of Trustees further delegated to the Chancellor or the Chancellor's permitted designees the authority to approve EHRA salary adjustments up to the aforementioned limits. This delegation shall remain in effect until modified or rescinded by the board of governors, president or board of trustees.

This means that the Chancellor or authorized designee may approve base-salary adjustments up to and including 20% and $15,000 cumulatively for the fiscal year to date, based on the prior June 30th base salary.

Salary adjustments (except job changes) are effective on the first day of the month following receipt of all required approvals.

Increases Requiring Board of Trustees, Board of Governors and/or President Pre-Approval

Actions exceeding 25% and $25,000 require formal Board of Governors pre-approval; the Board of Trustees will review all increases that exceed campus thresholds of 20% and $15,000 and the President will review increases that exceed campus thresholds of 20% and $15,000, up to an including 25% and $25,000. Please see chart below for specific salary approval details.

Qualifying reasons for a Salary Increase

• Internal Competitive Event (1a) – Employee applies for an internally recruited job vacancy, is selected competitively and changes jobs to a different position.
• External Competitive Event (1b) – Employee applies for an externally recruited job vacancy, is selected competitively and changes jobs to a different position.
• Increase in job duties or responsibilities; includes reallocation or reclassification of job (2a) – Substantive increase in the scope and/or complexity of the job. Minor changes in duties and responsibilities should be addressed during the Annual Raise Process.
• Temporary adjustment related to an increase in job duties or responsibilities; salary will revert when temporary duties cease (2b) (Temporary salary increases do not count cumulatively towards the permanent salary exception process)
• Retention (3) – Requires documented job offer or verifiable, active employment negotiations by a current EHRA employee with an outside entity.
• Equity (12) – Used to address documented salary-equity issues when employees in the same position/job family/job level are performing very similar work with a similar level of competence and experience to those who have a higher pay rate and the pay discrepancy has no apparent justification. Justification for an increase due to internal-equity issues must identify the inequity and justify the rate of increase based on the relative job level, education, credentials, and/or experience of the affected employees.
• Labor Market (12) – Used address job equity in comparison to the market or "labor market," which is defined as the area within which employers compete for labor. The market is composed of those institutions, businesses, and organizations from which University units recruit or would logically recruit job candidates. Justification for an increase due to the labor market and/or external-equity issues must be substantiated by market survey data if the position is not assigned to a job family/level in the EHRA (EPA) Compensation Structure. Note: The proposed increase may not exceed the position's assigned market reference rate.

Schools and divisions are advised to exercise discretion with regard to granting increases to EHRA temporary employees and to remain within the defined range for the position's assigned job family/level.

Salary Increase Requests

Salary-increase requests must be documented on the Non-Faculty Salary Adjustment/Supplement Form ("rainbow form"). Completed forms should be sent to epanfsalaryrequest@unc.edu. Once approval has been communicated to the department by the EHRA Non- Faculty oice, a Job Change ePar may be initiated in ConnectCarolina.

Submission Deadlines

• Adjustments less than or equal to 20% AND $15,000: Requests received by 12 pm on Tuesdays will be reviewed for approval by Tuesday of the following week.
• Adjustments greater than 20% AND $15,000: Please see the salary-adjustment submission calendar linked below for deadlines. Requests received by the stated deadline will be placed in the routing review process. Please note that requests containing inaccurate or incomplete information, unexplained acronyms, or grammatical errors will be returned to the HR representative/oicer.

Out-of-Cycle Salary Increase Requests

This procedure outlines the guidelines and procedures for requesting out-of-cycle permanent increases to base salary for EHRA non-faculty employees. "Out-of-cycle" increases are any adjustments to base salary excluding adjustments accomplished as part of the normal EHRA annual raise process (ARP), a salary supplement (which is not part of base pay) or from a job change resulting from a competitive recruitment. Waivers of recruitment (EHRA to EHRA) that result in increases of 10% or greater require pre-approval of the Board of Trustees (BOT) and/or the Board of Governors (BOG). In most cases, it is preferred that departments plan for and use the EHRA annual raise process (ARP) to implement salary adjustments for EHRA non-faculty employees.

Any internal hire or promotion that is not the result of an outside competitive recruitment where the new base salary will exceed 10% or greater of the last June 30 base salary requires reporting "for information" to the BOT. Such increases that exceed 15% and $10,000 of the June 30 base salary require both information reporting to the BOT and pre-approval by the BOG. These processes can occur simultaneously so as not to unduly delay completion of these appointments. Positions filled using waivers of recruitment by the Equal Opportunity and Compliance Oice or promotions using established career/promotional ladders which are not subject to an outside competitive recruitment are fully subject to these requirements.

Justification for an Out-of-Cycle Increase

Out-of-cycle increase requests should be non-routine in nature and have a specific and detailed justification. The following are justifiable reasons to propose an out-of-cycle salary adjustment:

• Correction of an administrative error
• To recognize permanent, newly added additional duties which are substantive in nature. (Temporary additional duties are compensated using an administrative salary supplement and not a permanent adjustment to base salary.) In the case of newly added duties, the duties in question should be demonstrated to substantially increase the scope and complexity of the employee's position. Minor changes in duties and responsibilities should be addressed in the ARP process.
• To address documented salary equity issues including those caused by the salary of a newly appointed employee within a work unit. Equity may be used when a new hire has been appointed at a higher salary rate than existing employees in the same classification within a particular unit, department or division. Justification for an increase due to internal equity must identify the inequity and justify the rate of increase based on the relative job level, education, credentials and/or experience of the affected employees.
• To address job equity in comparison to market or "labor market." Labor market is defined as the area within which employers compete for labor. The market is composed of those institutions, businesses and organizations from which University units recruit or would logically recruit. Justification for an increase due to labor market/external equity must be substantiated by market survey data.
• As a retention offer for an employee who has a documented, confirmable salary offer from an outside institution. In instances where an offer has not been presented, departments must be able to demonstrate that the intended salary increase recipient is considered a finalist for the external position. Justification for an increase due to retention should include an assessment of the individual's merit and value to the institution and the circumstances warranting a retention adjustment.

Process & Approvals

Out-of-cycle increase requests must be documented on the Recommendation for EHRA Base Salary Adjustment or Supplement Form. The form provides a space for the justification of the request. A memo, addressed to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources, should be attached providing suicient justification of the increase (this memo on letterhead is always required for requests which require BOT or BOG approval as noted below).

Increases which are 10% or greater of the employee's June 30th base salary require BOT approval. Increases which are both 15% or greater and $10,000 or greater of the employee's June 30 base salary require both BOT and BOG approval. Please note that calculations of the percentage increase amount are based on the employee's previous June 30 base salary and not their July 1 or current salary.

Please refer to the EHRA Non-Faculty Salary Approval Chart for additional information on required levels of review and approval.

For increases less than 10% of the June 30 base salary, the Recommendation for EHRA Base Salary Adjustment or Supplement Form and supporting documents must be electronically attached and submitted via a Salary/FTE action in ConnectCarolina no later than the 15th of the month in which the proposed increase is effective.

For increases equal to or greater than 10% of the June 30 base salary, the Recommendation for EHRA Base Salary Adjustment or Supplement Form and supporting documents must be sent to the epanfsalaryrequest@unc.edu email address by the salary increase submission deadline.

Refer to the EHRA Non-Faculty Salary Increase Request Submission and Effective Date Schedule to find deadlines and approval dates for actions requiring BOT and/or BOG approval.

Determining the Effective Date

Except when correcting an administrative error or other exceptional circumstances, out-of-cycle salary increases are authorized only on a current and not a retroactive basis.

Actions requiring either BOT or BOG approval may not be effective until the day that the final Board approval is granted. For example, if BOT meets on January 15, an action requiring BOT's approval may not have an effective date earlier than January15. If BOG approval is also required for this action, and the BOG meets and approves the action on February 18, the earliest effective date for the action is February 18. Please take into account the Board approval dates when determining the effective date for your proposed increases for actions that require this level of approval.

Contact Information

Policy Contact