Human Resources | Compensation | Mass Salary Update (MSU)

Mass Salary Update (MSU)

Please read carefully, as the 2013 guidelines have changed significantly.

The Board of Regents has approved an MSU allocation of 1% for regular, non-bargaining unit staff employees. The effective date of the MSU increase will be 7/1/2013 for both monthly and bi-weekly employees.

A. General Guidelines

All eligible regular, non-bargaining unit staff employees will receive a 1% across the board COLA (cost of living adjustment)

B. Eligibility

New Hires/Re-hires

New hires/re-hires on or after 1/1/2013 are not eligible for an increase.

Employees who have been promoted or transferred with no break in service on or after 1/1/2013 remain eligible for a MSU increase within guidelines.

Employees whose positions have been reclassified or who have completed Career Ladders on or after 1/1/2013 remain eligible for a MSU increase within guidelines.

Probationary Employees

New hire and re-hire employees who are still on probation as of 6/30/2013 are not eligible for an increase.

Employees on Interim Assignments or Temporary In-Range Adjustments

Employees who are on an interim assignment or who have received temporary in-range pay adjustments for additional duties at the time of the MSU, and who meet all other general MSU eligibility requirements, may receive the MSU increase based on the standard guidelines, calculated against the base salary in place prior to the temporary increase. The temporary increase will then be recalculated against the new base salary after the MSU increase has been applied.

At the time the employee is returned to normal duties, the base salary should include the MSU increase.

Term Appointments*

MSU increase guidelines for term staff employees are the same as for regular non-bargaining unit staff employees.

Departments with employees who are on term appointments ending on or before the end of the current fiscal year, and whose terms will be extended, must complete and submit an EPAF for the extension along with a Term Appointment Memo of Understanding form for each employee.

Departments with employees who are on term appointments ending on or before the end of the current fiscal year, and whose appointments will not be extended, must submit a separation EPAF along with the Term Appointment Notification of Completion form for each employee.

Appointment Percentage Changes*

Changes in Appointment Percentage will be processed through Salary Planner and require a Change in Appointment Percentage form.

*For a complete list of UNM Staff Employment Transaction Designated Approving Authorities, please see UNM Staff Employment Transaction Designated Approving Authorities.

Employees on Leave

Employees on Leave without Pay or Catastrophic Leave are not eligible for an MSU increase while on such leave. Upon the employee's return to work, the employing department should generate and submit an ePAN requesting an MSU increase within guidelines effective as of the date of return.

2012 Performance Reviews Not on File

Employees who do not have a written 2012 Performance Review on file in Human Resources shall only receive a MSU increase of 1% and are not eligible to receive additional salary increases subject to the out-of-guidelines process.

Contract Staff Employees

MSU increase guidelines for contract staff employees are the same as for regular non-bargaining unit staff employees. In addition, once the increase amount has been established for a contract employee, a new contract will be created by Human Resources as per policy and returned to the department for appropriate signatures.

Please ensure that all signed original contracts, revisions, exceptions, and extensions are received in HR Client Services no later than 6/7/2013, to ensure processing in time for the July pay period.

Bargaining Unit Employees

The 2013 MSU Guidelines do not apply to employees in classification titles that appear in a bargaining unit agreement.

Increases for bargaining unit employees are subject to the applicable collective bargaining agreement.

CWA Update for MSU Guidelines

The Communication Workers of America (CWA) has ratified its Agreement with UNM.

Effective July 1, 2013, all bargaining unit employees who were in an active status with continuous employment prior to January 1, 2013, who are in an active status on July 1, 2013, and who are no longer on probation will receive a one percent (1%) increase to their hourly rate. The first payment will be distributed on July 19, 2013.

Those employees who were transferred or promoted between April 1, 2013 and July 1, 2013 and received an increase at that time will not receive the one percent (1%) increase.

In addition, a one-time pay equity supplement of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) will be paid to all employees who meet the requirements below and the payment will be prorated based on an employee's appointment percentage as of August 2, 2013.

Eligible employees are those who have been in an active status with continuous employment prior to January 1, 2013 and they must remain actively employed on a regular status as of August 31, 2013. Employees who were laid off and rehired or who are on extended unpaid leave will be treated in the same manner as non-bargaining unit employees. The payment will be distributed on August 30, 2013.

In addition, compensatory time language was changed to state that time off must be taken within sixty (60) workdays from the date it is earned rather than thirty (30) workdays. Compensatory time earned but not taken within the sixty (60) day limit must be converted to overtime pay.

Exception: Employees who are in titles named in CWA or US-UNM bargaining agreements, but who work less than 0.5 FTE are not members of the bargaining unit. In these cases the non-bargaining unit MSU guidelines and procedures, as well as the new staff salary range structure, will apply.

Temporary and On-Call Staff Employees

Temporary and on-call staff employees do not participate in the Salary Planner process, and no records for these employees will appear in Salary Planner. Temporary and on-call staff employees are not eligible for the 1% COLA.

C. Exceptions/Out-Of-Guidelines Increase Requests

All exceptions to the 2013 MSU guidelines outlined above must be requested through and approved by the Provost/Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Executive Vice President for Administration, or the Chancellor for Health Sciences Center, and/or designee.

All out-of-guideline increase requests must be documented as to the specific reasons for the request (e.g. needed to address critical inequity within the department, needed to address external market conditions, needed to reach new range minimum, etc.) The "Comments" field on the Salary Planner form should be used for this purpose. Any salary increase proposal appearing in Salary Planner that is not supported by appropriate approval documentation will be removed from the system.

To facilitate these requests, use the Out-of-Guidelines Exception Request Justification Memo template.

HR will not accept requests for MSU-related pay increases after July 31, 2013. There can be no exceptions to this rule.

Please direct any questions you may have to your Human Resources Consultant.