| Overview
The
objective of the Berkeley campus compensation program is to establish
and maintain salary rates and make individual salary
decisions that help you recruit, retain, and motivate highly qualified
employees. The Compensation Unit in Human Resources oversees
the pay programs for all staff employees covered by Personnel Policies
for Staff Members (PPSM), and the various collective bargaining units.
Policies,
procedures, and practices differ among the programs in terms of flexibility
to manage salary actions, hiring, promotions, and merit increases. Your
Compensation Consultant is available to consult with you on pay issues
and to interpret pay policy and procedures.
Guiding
Principles
Your goals in the compensation program
are to:
- Make
salary decisions based upon appropriate qualifications, contributions,
performance, and equity and budget considerations
- Encourage
and reward excellent performance with merit
increases whenever possible
- Provide
salary increases, when appropriate, within
available funding
- Motivate
employees by demonstrating the link between performance and pay
Salary
Ranges
Salary ranges involve a number of factors: local,
state, or national prevailing salary rates, campus recruiting and retention
problems, and internal relationships to other related classifications.
Currently,
two different salary structures for staff positions exist in the campus
system: positions with steps (step-based) and positions without steps
(open ranges). You can find out which structure a particular position
is in by checking the contract or policy that covers the position, or
by looking the title up in the Berkeley Campus Title and Pay Plan at http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/pay2/.
If the position has steps, they will show in the Title and Pay Plan. If
no step rates appear, then the position does not have steps.
Certain
titles may be either in bargaining units (covered) or Personnel Policies
for Staff Members -- PPSM (uncovered). Covered titles end with a C and
uncovered titles end with a U (e.g., 4722C and 4722U). These titles can
have different salary ranges; be sure you are reviewing the correct salary
range.
Positions
with Steps
Covered under some collective bargaining unit contracts and Police
Sergeants covered by PPSM.
- The salary
of an employee must be on one of the predefined steps.
- Title
and Pay Plan consists of ranges of monthly and hourly rates of pay
- A
Step Structure may range from 1 to 25 or more steps of pay, and
may or may not include half-steps.
- Salaries
for the majority of staff employees are stated in monthly rates.
- With a
range adjustment, each step is increased by a specific percentage and
each employee on a step automatically receives the new rate for that
step.
Positions
Without Steps
Those in the PPSM - Managers and Senior Professionals (MSP) group
and PPSM - Professional and Support Staff (PSS), except for Police Sergeants,
and some positions covered under some collective bargaining unit contracts.
- A salary
grade range is assigned for each title in MSP & PSS.
- Salaries
of individuals in MSP program are determined by their placement in the
appropriate range.
- Each grade
range is divided into quartiles with a defined minimum, midpoint,
and maximum rate. There is a percent range spread within each grade
and approximately a 10% midpoint differential between grades in most
cases.
- Salaries
are stated in annual rates and in whole dollar amounts, not steps.
- An individual's
salary may be any whole dollar amount within the range.
Range
Adjustments and Structure Adjustments
Salary
range adjustments apply to step-based positions, usually in one or more
selected classifications on a systemwide or local campus basis. Recommendations
for salary range adjustments are based on, but not necessarily limited
to:
- Prevailing
salaries in public jurisdictions and private industry
- Campus
recruiting and retention problems
- Internal
comparisons
- Amount
of available funding
- Agreements
with unions
Open-Range
or Merit-Based Pay
Salary
structures for open-range or merit-based pay plans are reviewed annually
and adjusted when funding is available from the state and/or when warranted
by market conditions. Automatic increases are not provided when structure
is adjusted; individuals are usually eligible for performance-based or
merit-based increases.
Salary
Placement Guidelines
The
Salary Placement Guidelines are intended to provide managers with the
framework they need to establish and maintain fair and equitable salaries
in managing the work force.
These guidelines
apply to new hire, promotional, reclassification, stipend,
equity, and merit increase salary actions. These are guidelines
only and do not take the place of University policy or campus procedures.
These Salary
Placement Guidelines apply to the broad salary ranges, which do not have
steps and which allow managers to appoint employees at a specific whole
dollar amount.
- First
Quartile (from the minimum up to halfway to the midpoint of the
range): The first quartile of the range is usually intended for individuals
who are new to the grade, are in a learning situation, and/or do not
have substantial experience in the new position.
- Second
Quartile: The second quartile of the
range is intended for employees who have gained experience and skill
and who are becoming more proficient in the position for which they
were hired. They generally meet expectations in their positions.
- Third
Quartile: The third quartile is typically reserved for experienced
employees
who frequently exceed expectations.
- Fourth
Quartile: The fourth quartile of the range is normally reserved
for individuals who are consistently exceptional performers and who
have extensive experience.
Starting
Salaries/New Hire Salaries
Establishing
a starting salary for a new employee or deciding to give a promotional
increase requires careful consideration. In both cases, you should determine
how the employee's prior experience, knowledge, and skills compare with
other employees already performing the same job.
Before establishing
the starting salary of a new employee, consider each of the following
factors:
- Recruiting
difficulty (size of qualified applicant pool, length of recruitment,
etc.)
- Candidate's
salary expectations
- Comparable
internal salaries
- Employee's
knowledge, skills, and experience compared to others performing similar
work
- Budget
FFor positions
with steps (those covered under some bargaining contracts and Police Sergeants
in PPSM):
- Authority
up to the mid-point of the range is delegated to the hiring department.
The Vice Chancellor or delegated Dean has approval through the range.
Consultation with OHR is expected for above mid-point salaries.
For PPSM-MSP,
PPSM-PSS positions and some positions covered under some
collective bargaining unit contracts:
- Requests
for consideration above the midpoint are approved by the Vice Chancellor,
except where this authority is re-delegated to specific Deans. MSP appointments
above the midpoint of the salary range require final approval by the
appropriate Vice Chancellor.
- Consultation
with OHR is expected for salaries above midpoint.
Promotional
and Reclassification Increases
For
positions under PPSM, hiring departments are authorized to grant promotional
and reclassification increases, not to exceed 25% in the fiscal year (except
as required to reach range minimum).
- For exclusively
represented employees in units with collective bargaining contracts,
consult the contract for the specific authority to grant promotional
increases.
For
non-competitive lateral moves, normally there will be no change in salary.
For a lateral move into a competitively recruited position,a salary increase
may be granted based on the qualifications of the employee and the requirements
of the position.
Merit
Increases
Salary increases are granted to eligible employees in career positions
based upon their job performance. Merit eligibility is contingent upon
completing three months of service in PPSM.
The amount
of the increase depends upon the individual's performance in relation
to current pay and assigned responsibilities, position within salary range,
performance relative to other members of the review unit, and availability
of funds.
The Compensation
Unit manages the campus' merit programs. Key elements of the staff merit
process typically are:
- The Compensation
Unit sends a call letter to the control units (organizations under a
Vice Chancellor or Provost), announcing the merit program and outlining
the merit increase guidelines and control figures as determined by the
campus within parameters set by the Office of the President. (Control
figures represent the fund pool available for merit increases.)
- Higher
merit increases are provided for employees who perform above expectation
in achieving goals and objectives; however, no merit increase may result
in the final salary exceeding the range maximum and no salary is to
fall below the range minimum.
Administrative
Stipends/Temporary Reclassifications
Under PPSM,
stipends may be granted to recognize temporary performance of higher-level
duties or "other significant duties" not part of the employee's
regular position. For employees represented by a collective bargaining
contract, consult with the contract to determine stipend/temporary reclassification
constraints.
Equity
Increases
An
equity increase is typically based on a salary inequity that cannot be
corrected through the merit review cycle.
A salary
inequity exists when an employee's salary is significantly below that
of others in the same title code with similar performance, experience,
skills, knowledge, and assignments. Examples of situations that may indicate
a salary inequity include:
- The salary
of a long term-employee is low relative to a new hire whose salary is
market-driven.
- Significant
salary compression exists between a supervisor and his/her employees.
- An employee
changes from a casual to a career position in the same class.
- Market
factors influence recruitment and retention.
Additional
Resources
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