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II.4 COMPENSATION PLAN FOR CLASSIFIED AND UNCLASSIFIED STAFF CLASSIFIED COMPENSATION PLAN PROVISIONS Represented All employees represented by a union are subject to pay provisions as outlined in the appropriate bargaining unit contract. Questions may be directed to Dave Manke (0-3494) in payroll or Mary Nuzzo (3-2321) in the Human Resource Office. Non-represented Permanent & Project General non-represented permanent and project employees may be eligible for fiscal year pay adjustments, lump sum awards, supplemental pay, and overtime compensation as specified in the current State of Wisconsin Compensation Plan. This plan is reviewed and revised every 2 years in accordance with Wis. Statute 230.12(1)(a)3., and the Rules of the Secretary (Chapter ER, Wis. Adm. Code) and is subject to approval by the Joint Committee on Employment Relations (JCOER).
Discretionary Compensation Adjustments (DCAs) are based on criteria guidelines issued by the Secretary of the Department of Employment Relations and shall be applied in a uniform manner throughout the College. More information about this award is sent out by Diana Allaby, Classified Personnel Manager, during the fiscal year. The authority amount is based on a percentage of the College's total active non-represented payroll. Funding for DCA's comes from the College budget. MERIT EXERCISE FOR UNCLASSIFIED STAFF
The State authorizes annual salary increases through a compensation plan based on a specified average percentage increase of the salary base of continuing staff members. The process by which the University and its constituent colleges, departments, and other budgetary units develop salary recommendations for individual staff members is referred to as the annual merit exercise. Since the State operates with a biennial budget, ordinarily the details of the compensation plan are established in odd numbered years for the next two years. This means that uncertainty is reduced in the second year of the biennium and the merit exercise occurs earlier, without the need for a simulation exercise based on various possible scenarios. Regardless of when the details of the pay plan are established, there are several items to keep in mind throughout the year. In order for base adjustments to appear in the printed budget, department chairs should not wait until the merit exercise is well underway to initiate this process. Planning and communicating your plans with your academic Associate Dean, even early in the fall semester, will ensure that these salary increases are reflected in the budget. This includes base increases related to retention of faculty and academic staff as well as promotional and other increases. See Chapter III for information on faculty retention and academic staff promotions. In the first year of a biennium, the specifics of the pay plan often are not finalized until after the academic year has ended. During those years the budget is normally built in two phases: establishment of the base salary, supplies and expense and capital budgets takes place during phase 1 (March/April); the pay plan is implemented in phase 2, often during the summer months. In those years, we will provide several likely scenarios for you to work with before the academic year is over so that we can act quickly when the pay plan is finalized. We recommend that you request annual activity reports from your faculty and academic staff early enough in the spring semester to allow your departmental merit committee to make its recommendations in a timely manner. Increases are determined at the department level, subject to certain constraints and guidelines established at the System and campus level and by the Dean. Detailed instructions are issued to departments each year. Since procedures vary from year to year, a detailed description would not be appropriate here. Specific components of the compensation plan will be discussed at chair's meetings and we will be happy to answer questions at any time. Despite this variation, many basic elements of the compensation plan are relatively consistent from year to year. Questions may be directed to Associate Dean Anne Gunther (3-2347). The "consistent" parts of the plan include the following: The basic elements of the compensation plan: The departmental merit allocation is determined from the continuing staff base, which is the total of all continuing faculty and academic staff members in that department (including new employees who began employment prior to July 1 of the upcoming fiscal year). This base amount is then multiplied by the merit percent distributed in the given year to determine the departmental merit allocation. Only staff members who have given satisfactory performance during the past year may receive a merit increase. A staff member whose performance is unsatisfactory normally would not receive a merit increase; the unsatisfactory nature of the performance must be documented and sent to the Dean's Office. There are other specific situations in which it is not appropriate to award merit. Examples include recent hires whose employment contract specifies that their salary carries forward through the following year, or rehired anuitants. Women staff members as a group should ordinarily receive merit increases averaging in percentage terms at least as high as their male colleagues. Similarly, the academic staff as a group must receive merit increases averaging in percentage terms as high as those of the faculty as a group. The same concern applies to minority staff members as a group relative to non-minority staff. These requirements are reviewed at college and campus levels. Merit exercise for chairs and directors: The Dean determines the merit of chairs and directors of departments with full Unit-Division-Department-Subdepartment (UDDS) designations, as well as all merit for faculty with Vilas and Hilldale Professorships. Directors of interdepartmental credit programs, area studies programs and special projects will return to their tenure homes for merit purposes. In addition, faculty members who are chairs or directors of departments that are not tenure granting entities will have their merit determined in their home department(s). Departments should recognize the value of this interdisciplinary service when making their merit recommendations. Faculty members being promoted from assistant to associate professor, or from associate to full professor, currently receive promotional base adjustments of $3,000 and $4,000 respectively (C-basis). These increases become part of the new base prior to merit. Faculty and academic staff who have been promoted must each receive at least average merit. College policy on retention of faculty is that the department will provide double the average merit, up to a maximum of one-half of the amount needed to reach the target salary, and the College will provide the balance. (See the Handbook section on faculty retention for more information.) It is not necessary for the department's contribution to come from its merit allocation; you may request a permanent base reduction in your supplies, student hourly or capital budget to cover this cost. The salary dollars of those staff members on leave without pay are not included in the continuing staff base; correspondingly, merit for this group will not be charged against your allocation. Merit must be considered for all faculty and academic staff on leave along with other continuing faculty and staff; however, merit for the leave group as a whole should not exceed the campus average. Staff members in this category should not be overlooked; generally, their salaries should keep up with the salaries of other continuing colleagues. Merit Spreadsheets: Each year the College provides a spreadsheet to assist you in processing your merit recommendations. The spreadsheet is made available for download from an L&S server. Converting 9 month to 12 month rates and vice-versa: A matter that sometimes comes up during the merit exercise is the question of how to convert a C-basis (academic year) salary to A-basis (annual). Note that at the higher monthly rate under C-basis, a total of 11 months constitutes a full annual appointment; thus 11 months at C rate equals 12 months at A rate. To convert from C to A, multiply the C rate by 1.2222; to convert from A to C, multiply the A rate by 0.81818. Updated 21 August 2009 by emk per AG |
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