In-Range Salary Adjustments

Human Resources Policy HR 16 98 effective August 1, 2005

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A. Purpose: This policy is to provide a review process for in-range adjustments. An in-range adjustment is a change in an employee's salary within the current salary range.

B. Scope: Employees subject to the State Personnel Act (SPA), with permanent or time-limited permanent appointments, are eligible for in-range adjustments. Employees in career-banded positions are not eligible for in-range adjustments.

C. Policy: It is the policy of The University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP) to grant in-range salary adjustments to permanent employees to recognize job change (when the change is not significant enough to reclassify the position), establish equitable salary relationships, and/or respond to labor market conditions. All in-range adjustments granted will be awarded fairly and consistently for all employees regardless of age, disability, national origin, race, religion, or gender.

D. Responsibilities:

The Chancellor and Vice Chancellors are responsible for determining overall priorities concerning all salary administration programs and ensuring that the in-range program is conducted in a fair and consistent manner.

Financial Manager, in consultation with Human Resources, are responsible for communicating in-range to employees by ensuring employees attendance at related HR training, identify situations where in-range adjustments may be appropriate, based on employee evaluations, provide justification for in-range requests, and prioritize these situations within their departments/divisions. In-Range salary adjustment requests require approval by the FM and the respective Vice Chancellor. The Department Chair and the Dean must approve requests initiated within the academic departments.

The Director of Human Resources/EEO/AA Officer is responsible for ensuring that the program is administered on a non-discriminatory basis and all necessary components are in place for an effective program.

Human Resources is responsible for administering the in-range policy in conjunction with other salary administration policies, providing consultation and oversight of all program areas including communication, ensure employee’s understanding of policy and procedures by providing employee and manager training and program evaluation. In-Range training is a part of the required “core” training program for staff development.

E. Human Resources Department

The Personnel Analyst for Classification and Compensation will serve as the In-Range Plan Administrator by coordinating the in-range adjustment process and to:

• administer the in-range salary adjustment policy in conjunction with other salary administration policies

• provide consultation to identify situations that warrant adjustments based on job change, salary equity, and labor market

• assure that recommendations prepared by management meet program guidelines

• monitor the program to assure fairness and compliance with the criteria and limitations set forth in this policy

• meet all reporting requirements (see the reporting requirements section in this policy)

• ensure that all in-range adjustment requests are supported by appropriate documentation and that all specified criteria pertaining to each adjustment are reasonably considered

• prior to submitting the action for final approval, Human Resources staff will verify proposed salaries considering the employee's job related qualifications using the same methodology to qualify new employees' salaries or proposed salaries resulting from reclassification. This will ensure consistent application of labor market and internal salary equity considerations among various salary adjustment options.

The Staff Development Specialist will introduce the In-Range Salary Adjustment Policy to new employees through the orientation program and provide training to all employees on policy revisions within 30 days of the plan approval through informational sessions, articles in the Braves Bulletin, staff meetings and campus-wide email.

F. Procedures:

1. In-Range Adjustment Criteria

Employees may be granted in-range adjustments in the following circumstances:

a. Job Change

To compensate employees for changes in duties and responsibilities, as documented by position descriptions and work plans, where significant changes have occurred in duties and responsibilities which:

i. are at a higher level, but are not substantial enough to justify a higher grade through reclassification or a salary range revision; or

ii. are at approximately the same level, but the changes increase the variety and scope of duties and/or accountability of the employee. Additional duties typically recognized at a lower salary grade can be used to justify an in-range adjustment if the salary grade is not significantly lower than the current salary grade, and the additional duties clearly make the employee(s) more valuable to the organization.

iii. If the change in duties and responsibilities exists only for a limited time period, the employee's salary shall be reduced to the previous level when the additional duties and responsibilities are removed.

NOTE: If a position is subsequently reclassified to a higher level, the reclassification adjustment must take into consideration the extent to which duties and responsibilities have already been recognized through an in-range adjustment.

b. Salary Equity

To establish equitable salary relationships among employees in related work units who are in the same classification or similar classifications performing the same level of work, and for appropriately differentiating the salaries of the employees in those related work units or classifications. Education, skill, related work experience, length of service, and performance level are all equity factors that should be considered. Salary relationships may be studied at individual or classification levels.

Related work units are those in which the salaries of employees are closely related to each other due to similarities in work. While a related work unit would typically be a department within a division, work of employees in related classes across divisions might be considered a related work unit for the purposes of equity analysis.

Managers will be able to address salary inequities among "similarly classified and/or similarly situated" employees--that is, among employees in closely related positions in related work units.

Typically, consideration is restricted to the salaries of employees in the same class; however, adjustments may be considered when there is a salary relationship among employees at different levels in a class series, among employees in the same occupational group, or among employees in employee/supervisory relationships where it is important to maintain salary equity due to similarities in work. Relevant work unit designations should remain the same, for the purpose of considering equitable work relationships, during an in-range adjustment plan cycle (a 12-month period of time).

A salary inequity is defined as a situation where employees:

i. are relatively equal when considering the equity factors (listed above) but whose salaries differ by more than 10%; and

ii. have approximately equal salaries but whose salaries should differ by more than 10%
when the equity factors are considered.

iii. In establishing equitable salary relationships within the University, priority must be given to inequities with the largest percentage salary differentials.

c. Labor Market

To increase employees' salaries in order to reduce turnover due to labor market or other conditions that may affect retention. Each of the following conditions must be met:

i. the position duties are key to the accomplishment of the university's mission; and

ii. the knowledge, skills, and abilities required of an incumbent are clearly identified as difficult to recruit or the occupational group is acknowledged by the Office of State Personnel as having a critical labor market shortage (listed on SMR inventory list); and

iii. the use of established personnel policies/a ctions are not feasible alternatives to a special salary adjustment (promotion, position reclassification, salary range revision, or performance increase); and

iv. other management alternatives are not feasible.

2. In-Range Limits

In compensating employees for changes in duties and responsibilities, the amount of the in-range adjustment should be consistent with the employee's related training and experience and the nature and magnitude of the job change. Employees shall be granted an in-range adjustment based on duties and responsibilities that have not been recognized through a previous salary adjustment action. Employees who receive an in-range adjustment and voluntarily leave the position for a lower grade position within 12 months will have their salary reduced by the in-range amount upon the effective date of the job change.

Factors to be considered when determining the in-range adjustment are:

a. Employees shall be granted no more than a 10% salary increase under this policy within a one-year period.

b. Employees who receive 10% or greater salary adjustment for reclassification are not eligible for an in-range adjustment within the same calendar year.

c. In-Range adjustments will not result in the employee's salary being above the maximum of the current salary grade.

d. Salary increases cannot create significant salary inequities (greater than 10% difference in salary) with other employees.

e. Employees cannot receive an in-range adjustment for the addition of duties that are recognized in another position.

3. Initiating In-Range Adjustment Action

In-Range adjustments may be submitted at any time and will be reviewed as received with the opportunity for an in-range adjustment once annually in October of each year. In-Range requests must be completed and in the Human Resources office by October 1 to be considered by the Salary Administration Committee. Incomplete submissions will be returned to the appropriate department. Late submissions will be held until the next review date. Human Resources will coordinate all actions and share the information with applicants by December 1. If an applicant is denied, Human Resources will develop a written response to the applicant giving the reason(s) for the denial.

a. Human Resources' Initiatives

The Human Resources department may schedule organizational-wide or occupational-group salary equity or labor market studies. Human Resources' recommendations will be reviewed by the Chancellor and Vice Chancellors and supported by appropriate documentation demonstrating the need for the study.

Salary equity reviews are intended to identify and correct inequitable relationships within similar classes in a relevant work unit, or target specific classifications of work within a specific division, or campus-wide.

University labor market studies will be used in conjunction with difficult to recruit occupational group listings already identified by the Office of State Personnel.

b. Financial Manager (FM) Initiatives

The request for an in-range may be initiated by the FM or the employee and is required to have the appropriate Vice Chancellor approval. The FM, in collaboration with the employee, will provide supporting documentation for each in-range request, using the Request for In-Range Salary Adjustment form, and submitting requests through appropriate administrative channels to Human Resources.

Approvals required:

i Department chair or director approval is required to initiate in-range requests from appropriate FM.

ii Vice Chancellor approval is required for all requests.

4. Committee Review Procedures

In-Range salary adjustments will be reviewed by the Salary Administration Committee appointed by the Director of Human Resources and one representative appointed by the Staff Council. The Committee will consider the in-range adjustment criteria as follows:

a. Job Change

- added responsibilities as follows:
- higher level duties
- increase in variety & scope

Requests based on job change:

i. must be accompanied by a current position description which details added responsibilities,
ii . employee must have been performing duties for no less than six consecutive months and be permanently employed for one year,
iii . increased responsibilities must be at least 20 percent, per definition stated below as moderate job change or significant job change.

Extent of Change:

i. Moderate job change - requires acquisition of additional knowledge, skills and abilities that takes six months to one year to attain or job change that results in a substantial increase in accountability.

ii. Significant job change -requires acquisition of knowledge, skills and abilities that takes more than one year to attain or job change which results in a considerable increase in accountability, but not sufficient enough for reclassification.

If the change is moderate and the salary is below midpoint = up to 5%
above midpoint = up to 2%

If the change is significant and the salary is below midpoint = up to 10%
above midpoint = up to 5%

CONSIDER:

• equity with other employees in the same grade/class
• performance level of employee at very good or above to be eligible
• last increase, date and percentage of increase

b. Equity

Requests based equity issue:

i. identify inequity and define relevant work unit,
ii. record education, skills, experience and length of service above minimum requirements of the position for each employee in the relevant work unit/university,
iii. consider the performance level of each employee,
iv. correct salary inequity if salaries of employee(s) in positions in same class differ by more than 10%

CONSIDER:

• salary history
• position history
• performance history
• last increase, date and percentage of increase

First consideration should be given employee(s) with the largest percentage inequity.

c. Labor Market

Request based on labor market issue:

i. Identify the problem: turnover or difficulty recruiting

• turnover - summarize turnover activity in position
• recruiting - review recruiting efforts (how many times position is
advertised before being filled and level of skills of applicants)

ii. Determine salary necessary to solve the problem

CONSIDER:

• training and experience of employee
• equity with other employees in work unit/university
• critical nature of the position
• level of position on comparable campuses
• on the Office of State Personnel's Special Minimum Rate (SMR) inventory

NOTE: The availability of this policy does not create an employee entitlement to a salary adjustment or an employee prerogative to initiate a request for such an adjustment.

G. Review Process

Step 1: Department

The Financial Manager (FM) makes the first determination as to forwarding an in-range request for approval(s) and/or to Human Resources for consideration. If the FM denies the employee’s request for an in-range at the department level a denial letter must be provided to the employee within 10 days of the decision. A copy of the denial letter should also be provided to Human Resources.

Step 2: Employee

If the employee is not satisfied with the FM decision to deny the employee's request, the employee may file a written request to meet with the FM to discuss the reason(s) for the denial. Such a request must be made within 10 days of receipt of a denial letter. The purpose of the meeting may also be to discuss what direction the employee might need to take in order to improve the possibility for future in-range adjustments. The FM will provide a written report to the employee within 10 working days following the meeting.

If the employee is not satisfied with the outcome of the meeting with the FM, or the in-range review process and outcome, and wishes to discuss this decision further, they may submit a written request to the Human Resources Director within 10 working days from the date the FM report is received. The purpose of the request would be to have the decision reviewed.

Step 3: Human Resources Director

Upon receipt of such a request, the Human Resources Director has 15 working days to convene a meeting that may include the employee, the appropriate FM, Director and Vice Chancellor. The purpose of such a meeting is to discuss the written request. The Human Resources Director will record the decision of this meeting and share a written report with all parties participating within 10 working days.

Step 4: Chancellor
Should the employee wish to pursue this matter further, they may have 10 working days to request a meeting with the Chancellor. Upon review of all the information available pertaining to the matter and after meeting with the employee, the Chancellor shall render the final decision. The Chancellor will have 10 working days after the meeting to file a decision with all parties.

The University of North Carolina at Pembroke plan for distribution of limited funding in regard to salary decisions to ensure fairness is defined in the Salary Administration Policy. Salary decisions that are restricted solely because of the limited funding are eligible for review consideration only if the plan is not followed.

Any disputes resulting from the in-range policy will be tracked and independently reviewed by Human Resources and Office of State Personnel in accordance with the established process and time limits.

H. Reporting Requirements

1. Reports to University Administrators

Human Resources will prepare an annual summary of all in-range salary adjustments by category for the Chancellor and Vice Chancellors. This report will include an analysis of trends including the impact on demographic groups in granting increases, any exceptions granted, and the fiscal impact of administering the policy on the University's budget.

2. Reports to the Office of State Personnel

Human Resources will report annually or as required to the Office of State Personnel on the University's In-Range Policy. OSP reports will include such information as specified by that office.

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