Annual Salary Review   Email     Print   PDF

Policy Information

• Issue Date: August 26, 2004
• Primary Contact: Director of Human Resources
• Responsible Member of Directorate: President and Director
• Responsible Office: Human Resources

Contents

Overview

I. Eligibility

Employees of the Institution shall be considered for a merit increase for demonstrated performance within the year being reviewed. A cut-off hire date will be established as part of the merit increase process to identify those employees considered "new hires." This date is typically at least four months prior to the merit increase effective date. Separate merit increase guidelines will be set for new hires.

II. Establishment of Annual Merit Increase Guidelines

a. On an annual basis, the Directorate sets general guidelines for Department Chairs, Administrative Managers and Center Directors to use in conducting performance reviews and recommending merit increases. The Compensation & Employment Services Manager provides compensation and economic information to the President and Director to assist with the formulation of annual guidelines.

b. Guidelines will include:

i. The percentage each department may increase their salary budget by.
ii. Merit choices based on performance ratings.
iii. The merit increase that may be given to newly hired employees and the cut-off hire date for identifying those considered "new hires."
iv. If approved, any additional money available to departments to further reward performance.
v. The maximum merit increase allowed.

c. The Compensation & Employment Services Manager will establish the salary review schedule and communicate said schedule along with established guidelines to Department Chairs, Administrative Managers and Center Directors.

III. Performance Evaluations

a. Since the performance review of all employees is the most important part of any merit-based salary program, employee evaluations must be completed by supervisors and shared with their employees. This is an annual process, completed prior to department salary reviews. (See Performance Evaluation, for more information).

IV. Salary Recommendation Submissions

a. The Compensation & Employment Services Manager will provide Department Chairs, Administrative Managers and Center Directors with a listing of all employees in their department/group with recent employment data.

b. The Department Chair, Administrative Manager or Center Director, with the assistance of the immediate supervisors, will review all employees for performance and will make salary recommendations based upon this performance review and established guidelines.

c. Salary recommendations must be submitted to the Compensation & Employment Services Manager by a set deadline and in the format outlined by the annual guidelines.

d. The Compensation & Employment Services Manager will conduct an initial review of all recommendations to ensure that guidelines have been followed. If discrepancies are found, s/he will follow up with the department to reconcile the data or recommend alternative solutions. S/he will enter the data into salary spreadsheets, create statistical graphs, and compile all data for the review process. S/he will provide information to the Directorate to show the actual, overall increases to salary budgets submitted by each department.

V. Salary Review

a. Salary recommendations for the Scientific and Technical Staff are reviewed during a meeting attended by the Directorate, Department Chairs, the Human Resources Manager, the Compensation & Employment Services Manager, and the Executive Assistant to the Director of Research.

b. Salary recommendations for science department direct reports, such as Administrative Professionals and Department Administrators, are reviewed during a meeting attended by the Director of Research, the Department Chair, the Department Administrator, the Human Resources Manager and the Compensation & Employment Services Manager.

c. Other personnel are reviewed during a meeting attended by the Directorate, the Human Resources Manager, and the Compensation & Employment Services Manager.

d. Changes to recommended merit increases may be made during any of the meetings mentioned above.

e. If a Department Chair, Administrative Manager or Center Director wishes to recommend a change in merit increase at a time other than one of the meetings mentioned above, the Compensation & Employment Services Manager is to be advised in writing as to the reasons. Any salary change will be subject to review and approval by the appropriate member of the Directorate.

f. Authority to approve merit increase recommendations is delegated to the appropriate members of the Directorate.

VI. Approval, Notification, and Implementation

a. The Compensation & Employment Services Manager will provide final merit increase recommendations to the Controller for inclusion with the annual budget submission to be approved by the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees.

b. When and if the annual salary recommendations have been approved, the Compensation & Employment Services Manager will notify Department Chairs, Administrative Managers and Center Directors after confirmation from the Office of the Vice President of Finance and Administration.

c. The Compensation & Employment Services Manager will provide the Human Resources Information System (HRIS) Staff with the final salary figures to coordinate updates to the BiTech system with Management Information Systems (MIS), the creation of notification memos for individual employees, and a review for electronic data accuracy.

d. The effective date of merit increases is typically at the start of the first pay period of the upcoming calendar year.