When submitting a qualifying personnel action for regular staff employees, management and HR will review the employee’s qualifications and review internal equity before determining a final salary. The salary will be based on the position classification, the individual’s qualifications such as education and job-related experience, and internal equity.
For purposes of Salary Determination and Internal Equity, qualifying personnel actions include:
When establishing a starting salary or salary increase, departments should consider factors such as the following:
Salary placement parameters are determined by using the Salary Placement and Equity Tool (SPET) in conjunction with the above factors. A request for a salary rate above the recommended SPET range may be considered for individuals who have highly desirable competencies or in cases of demonstrated market-related pressures on salary levels, as determined in consultation with HR. For salary requests above the recommended SPET range, a written justification explaining the business reason must be documented in the SPET and submitted with the qualified personnel action, which must be reviewed and approved by the Level 3 HR Agent and HR before proceeding.
The requested salary should generally be similar to the current salary of any employee in the department with the same job title and comparable qualifications. Existing employees’ salaries with comparable or greater qualifications should not be paid below the salary of the employee undergoing the requested personnel action unless there is a compelling and documented business need to support the inequity. If it becomes necessary to offer a higher rate of pay, then the University’s internal equity policy applies (see University Administrative Policies (UAP) #3500, Wage and Salary Administration, Section 3.2).
A SPET Grid must be compiled and submitted for each qualified personnel action to demonstrate how the requested salary compares to other incumbents currently in the same classification within the College/School/Division which is defined in Banner as a Level 3 Organization. The assessment will be conducted by the SPET Dept Initiator and the SPET Level 3 HR Agent. If the requested salary creates an inequity, the SPET Dept Initiator and/or SPET Level 3 HR Agent, in consultation with department and/or College/School/Division leadership, must address the inequity prior to making a verbal or tentative offer to the applicant or employee undergoing the requested personnel action. Requested salaries and required equity adjustments must be approved by the SPET Level 3 HR Agent and respective Dean/VP, or designee. SPET Department Initiators must receive approval prior to submitting the requested action to Human Resources (HR) for HR review and approval.
Once internal equity is reviewed, and any inequities are addressed in the SPET Grid, the department will attach the completed and approved SPET Grid and other documentation supporting the requested action (UNMJobs hiring request, PRQ, Career Ladder request, etc.) with their request to HR. Equity adjustments may be submitted with the action by attaching an ePAN, which will be reviewed by HR before finalizing the requested salary action.
In some cases, a requested personnel action may create an inequity for a short-term or temporary period of time. In these cases, departments may elect to provide a temporary salary adjustment to address the inequity. These cases are typically related to the annual mass salary update process, where personnel actions occurring in May or June create an inequity for a limited period until incumbents receive their scheduled salary increase on July 1. Such adjustments are not increases to the base salary and are provided to employees on a temporary basis until such time that the inequity is addressed on a permanent basis. Departments requesting a temporary equity adjustment must submit an ePAN that includes the end date of the increase and an explanation of how the department will address the inequity on a permanent basis, which will be reviewed by HR before finalizing the requested salary action.
Internal equity adjustments may be considered for temporary and on-call employees upon hire of a difficult-to-fill position. In such cases, a department may submit a request to HR for review. When requesting an equity adjustment for on-call staff, departments must demonstrate the difficult-to-fill nature of the position.
For bargaining unit employees please refer to the appropriate collective bargaining agreement.
The Education and Experience Calculator is a tool to assist departments when calculating the education and job-related experience credit of a candidate or current staff. The information obtained from the Edu/Exp Calc can be used with SPET.
A degree must be earned to receive credit. Partial credit for degrees not earned is not given, except where two years of credit can be given for 60 college-level credit hours.
Multiple degrees earned at the same level are not cumulative and cannot be added together when determining degree credit; for example, a master’s degree (6 years) includes the bachelor’s degree (4 years).
For positions requiring a college degree, or if a higher degree is obtained and used for education credit, the department must provide transcripts before HR approves and finalizes the qualifying personnel action. Incumbents receiving an equity increase must have official educational transcripts on file.
If noted in the Position Description, completed degree(s) from an accredited institution that are above the minimum education requirement may be substituted for experience on a year-for-year basis.
Years associated with the degree earned are as follows:
High School/GED/No Requirement = 0
Associates/60 Credit Hours = 2
Bachelor’s = 4
Master’s = 6
Doctorate or equivalent = 8
The Position Classification Description describes the job-related experience an individual must possess. Job-related experience must be clearly outlined in the application or resume of the individual, along with hours per week worked to be given credit.
Credit for Experience:
