Promotional and Transfer Increases
Former Chancellor Berdahl announced during his September, 2000 talk to the Berkeley Staff Assembly that the 15% cap on reclassification and promotional increases, and the restriction on salary increases for lateral transfers, would be removed. The Vice Chancellors then met to determine how this policy would be administered and to give hiring managers guidelines for these salary decisions.
The program is an interim measure designed to provide equity for internal candidates in relation to outside candidates. The Compensation Advisory Committee will make recommendations to the Chancellor about these and other concerns with the current compensation structure by the end of this academic year.
For more detail, please see the questions and answers below.
What is the difference between a “promotion” and an “upward reclassification?”
A promotion involves movement from one position to a different position with a higher salary range maximum. An upward reclassification involves a change in the functions of a position, which results in the assignment of an employee’s current position to a new payroll title with a higher salary range maximum. A reclassified employee typically retains the majority (50% or more) of the prior functions and assumes additional functions as well.
How much of a salary increase will I receive upon approval of my reclassification or promotion?
An employee’s new salary after a reclassification or promotion depends on a number of factors, including external market comparisons, internal equity, departmental budget considerations, the employee’s performance, and the knowledge and skills the employee brings to the position.
What is a lateral transfer?
A lateral transfer is movement to another position with the same salary range maximum. A lateral transfer may occur within a department, or between departments on the Berkeley campus, or between campuses.
If I accept a lateral transfer, will I automatically receive a salary increase?
No, lateral transfer salary increases are not automatic. A lateral transfer salary increase may be given upon movement to a position that was openly recruited. A manager should consider the skills the employee brings to the new position, relevant external market comparisons, internal equity, and departmental budget considerations. The department offering the lateral transfer may make one salary offer. The transferring employee’s current department can counter-offer if it chooses, but one time only, to avoid bidding wars. As in the case of other salary offers, managers will want to consider the criteria discussed above. A manager may have the funds to offer a salary up to the range midpoint, or even to request approval of an over midpoint salary from the relevant Vice Chancellor. But in doing so, the manager will also want to avoid creation of inequities with others in the unit.
The Compensation Unit is available to provide guidance to managers and supervisors who are making decisions about salaries, for external market salary comparisons and internal equity considerations based upon availability of information. If you have questions about your own salary range, please talk to your manager or supervisor. (Salary ranges for positions on campus are posted on the HR website at http://hrweb.berkeley.edu.hrpay.htm.)
Who has the authority to approve a reclassification or promotional or lateral transfer salary increase and what is the maximum increase they can offer?
The department head (or designee) may approve reclassification/promotional and lateral transfer salary increase requests up to and including the midpoint of the range for a position without steps and up to step 3 for a position with steps. To ensure that salary decisions receive all due consideration, each Vice Chancellor will continue to have the authority to approve salaries above the midpoint of the range for Professional and Support Staff (PSS) positions and Management and Senior Professional (MSP) positions. However, each Vice Chancellor has the authority to further delegate that authority within his or her control unit.
Under University policy, an employee’s total base salary increase in a single fiscal year may not exceed 25% of the employee’s June 30 salary, unless an exception is granted by the Chancellor.
The Compensation Unit is available to provide guidance to managers and supervisors who are making decisions about salaries, for external market salary comparisons and internal equity considerations based upon availability of information. If you have questions about your own salary range, please talk to your manager or supervisor. (Salary ranges for positions on campus are posted on the HR website at http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/hrpay.htm .)
Is 25% or 25.1% the percentage which requires Chancellor approval?
More
than 25%, i.e., 25.1% or higher.
Say, for example, that an employee is moving from a PSS 2 position to a PSS 1 position. Is it acceptable to provide a lateral transfer increase for this employee since the ranges overlap?
No, moving from a PSS 2 to a PSS 1 position is considered a downward reclassification or a demotion, not a lateral transfer, since the maximum of the PSS 1 salary range is lower than the maximum of the PSS 2 salary range.
Do these new delegations of authority apply to represented bargaining unit employees?
Actions taken for employees represented by bargaining units must still be in accordance with the contract language covering the situation.
When are these new delegations effective?
At the September 26, 2000 Berkeley Staff Assembly meeting, Former Chancellor Berdahl stated that this change is “effective immediately.”
What about reclassification requests which were submitted to Human Resources prior to September 26, 2000?
Since reclassifications are normally effective the first day of the month following receipt of the request in Human Resources, all reclassification requests that were submitted in September would fall under the new process. However, there is no requirement that a department head (or designee) make an increase retroactively. If the department head (or designee) thinks it is more advantageous to take advantage of the removal of the 15% cap, he or she could use the effective date of October 1, 2000 for reclassification requests submitted to Human Resources prior to September 1, 2000. So as to not to disadvantage any employee, the department head (or designee) should consider the subsequent salary setting under both scenarios using the same criteria (i.e., external market salary comparisons, internal equity, departmental budget considerations, the employee’s performance, and the knowledge and skills the employee brings to the position.)
What about a promotional salary increase that was being considered, but not finalized, for an employee prior to September 26?
Any promotional salary increases that are effective on or after September 26, 2000 would fall under the new process.