UW-Stout Administrative Procedure
I.
Office:
Human Resources
Number:
023
Subject:
Unclassified Salary Adjustments
Effective:
February 12, 2008
Last Revision:
February 9, 2015
Purpose
This administrative procedure outlines the process for requesting salary adjustments
that are not related to the normal state raise process.
II.
Scope
This document describes the different types of raise requests, information that the
person making the request must provide to their immediate supervisor, and the
approval process. Approval of an unclassified staff salary adjustment is dependent on
funding availability as well as evaluation of the rationale and documentation
provided. Division administrators have final approval in all cases.
III.
References
Unclassified Salary Adjustments Table
Faculty/Academic Staff/Limited Appointees Handbook
Unclassified Personnel Guidelines #1
Unclassified Personnel Guidelines #4
Wis. Stat. § 36.09(1)(j)
IV.
Procedure
When requesting salary adjustments that are not related to the normal state raise
process, the supervisor should be the first contact in all cases. Base adjustments
cannot be granted through ES forms and contract renewals. The request should follow
the approved procedure:
1. The Unclassified Staff Salary Adjustment form is submitted with required
justification and/or supplemental documentation and approves the request.
2. The request is forwarded to the Human Resources Office to obtain approvals from
the Budget Manager, Supervisor, Dean/Director, and Division Administrator.
Until final approval is obtained, no university official is authorized to promise a
base adjustment to an unclassified employee.
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Section 36.09 of the Wisconsin Statutes states that the Board of Regents is
authorized to grant salary increases (other than the annual pay plan) only for the
following four reasons:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Job reclassification/retitle
Promotions
Salary Inequities
Competitive Factors
Note: Under state statutes, it is not possible to grant a base adjustment to
recognize good performance. Salary increases for good performances can only
be provided through the annual pay plan process.
V.
Types of Salary Adjustments
1. Temporary Change of Responsibilities
This adjustment reflects the rate increase for a temporary assignment while
recruiting for a permanent position, for an unanticipated assignment of an
unusual, short-term or non-recurring nature, or for a temporary administrative
assignment (e.g., department chair or program director).
Amount: The amount of a temporary salary adjustment depends on the
circumstances of the assignment. For Category A positions, the salary cannot
exceed the maximum of the assigned salary range.
Effective Date: Temporary salary adjustments cannot be made effective earlier
than the first paycheck following the Division Administrator’s approval, as
indicated on the Unclassified Staff Salary Adjustment Form.
Required Documentation: A Salary Adjustment Form must be filled out and
accompany the request. Any appropriate change in salary should be
recommended at the same time, along with rationale for the adjustment. A new
position description may be provided.
The temporary adjustment must be removed when the temporary duties are
no longer being performed. A new Salary Adjustment Form removing the
adjustment should be submitted when the temporary base adjustment ends.
Approval Process: This process must be initiated by the supervisor. The Salary
Adjustment Form and supporting documentation are submitted electronically to
Human Resources. Human Resources then routes the request for approval.
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2. Permanent Change of Responsibilities
A salary adjustment for permanent change of responsibilities is used when there
are significant changes to the duties and responsibilities of the position. The
result must be a qualitative rather than quantitative change in duties and
responsibilities. The result may or may not include a title change. Most title
changes involve major changes in duties (i.e. job reclassification) or they reflect
greater experience, expertise, and applied ability in a particular specialty area (i.e.
career progression – see Promotion/Progression below). If new responsibilities
consume 50% or more of the employee’s position, this constitutes a new job, and
a recruitment must be conducted in order to fill the position. Contact Human
Resources for more information.
Effective Date: Change of responsibility salary adjustments cannot be made
effective earlier than the first paycheck following the Division Administrator’s
approval, as indicated on the Unclassified Staff Salary Adjustment Form.
Required Documentation: A Salary Adjustment Form must be submitted. Any
appropriate change in salary should be recommended at the same time, along with
rationale for the adjustment. A new position description should be provided.
The Unclassified Salary Adjustment Form should not be used for title changes
due to a change of responsibilities that consumes 50% or more of the employee’s
position. The process for title change requests - and required documentation - may
be found on the Human Resources website.
Approval Process: This process must be initiated by the supervisor. The Salary
Adjustment Form and supporting documentation are submitted electronically to
Human Resources. Human Resources then routes the request for approval.
3. Promotion/Progression
A promotion is a natural career progression through which academic staff and
faculty might be expected to progress in the area of specialty with successively
higher levels of required proficiency in a particular position. Prefix levels within
a title series reflect progressively greater required experience, professional
expertise, and knowledge applied to duties and responsibilities expected of the
position.
Examples of promotions include the following:


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Faculty promotions include moving from Assistant Professor to Associate
Professor and from Associate Professor to Professor
Category B and Professional Category A academic staff promotions
include a prefix changes within the same title series (e.g., Assistant to
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
Associate Lecturer) based on the promotional criteria found in the
Unclassified Personnel Guidelines #1
Movement within the Program Manager, Administrative Director, and
Special Assistant series are based on evaluation of the PQ
Amount: Academic staff promotional increases must equal a minimum of 4% or
an amount necessary to bring the employee up to the minimum of the proposed
salary range, whichever is greater.
Required Documentation: For Professional Category A and Category B
academic staff career progression, a résumé or CV must be submitted if external
experience is counted to meet the required promotional criteria.
Effective Date: Promotions cannot be effective earlier than the first paycheck
following the Division Administrator’s approval as indicated on the Unclassified
Staff Salary Adjustment Form. Faculty promotions are generally made effective
on the first day of the academic year.
Faculty must meet or exceed the academic year floor level for their respective
rank and Ed. Prep. Code after the promotion amount has been applied. Current
academic year floor levels may be found on the Human Resources website. The
process for faculty promotions- and required documentation - may be found on
the Faculty Senate website.
4. Equity Adjustment
This process is used to correct an inequity (for individual employees or a group of
similarly situated employees) identified through analyses of unclassified staff
with comparable training, experience, and responsibilities.
Annually in January, the Office of Planning, Assessment, Research, and Quality
(PARQ) will issue a report to review the need for any market/equity adjustments.
The report will be provided to the division administrators for action as necessary.
Individuals requesting an equity adjustment must include his/her individual salary
equity residual from this report in the request process. Individuals have the option
to also attach any additional equity data that helps demonstrate the need for a
salary increase.
Process: For unclassified staff, this process may be initiated by the employee or
the employee’s supervisor. Completed forms and supporting documentation
should be submitted to Human Resources to obtain signature approvals. Faculty
promotions follow procedures outlined in the Faculty/Academic Staff/Limited
Appointees Handbook.
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Effective Date: Equity adjustments cannot be made effective earlier than the first
paycheck following the Division Administrator’s approval as indicated on the
Unclassified Staff Salary Adjustment Form.
Required Documentation: A Salary Adjustment Form must be completed in
addition to evidence of market data showing existing staff salaries are below
market, and identification of the similarly situated group of employees must be
submitted. The salary equity residual from the PARQ annual report must be
included. No equity adjustment will be accepted without supporting
documentation.
Approval Process: This process must be initiated by the supervisor. The Salary
Adjustment Form and supporting documentation are submitted electronically to
Human Resources. Human Resources then routes the request for approval.
5. External Job Offer
This process may be used if an unclassified individual is offered another position
outside of UW-Stout and to assist the University to retain faculty/academic staff if
appropriate.
Effective Date: External job offer adjustments cannot be made effective earlier
than the first of the month following the Division Administrator’s approval, as
indicated on the Unclassified Staff Salary Adjustment Form.
Required Documentation: Individuals pursuing this type of raise must provide a
copy of the outside offer letter or other evidence of the offer (e.g. email exchange
between the employee and the outside institution), along with a completed Salary
Adjustment Form. No external job offer adjustment will be accepted without
supporting documentation.
Approval Process: If a job offer is made, either the individual may ask the
supervisor or the supervisor may ask the individual about the possibility of a
salary adjustment to retain them at UW-Stout. The supervisor and individual may
discuss the amount necessary to retain the individual. If the immediate supervisor
approves the request, the supervisor should electronically complete an
Unclassified Staff Salary Adjustment Form. The job offer should be attached to
the form. The completed form should be submitted to Human Resources to obtain
the necessary signatures. These requests should be processed as quickly as
possible given the short turnaround time that is typically required.
6. Market Adjustment
This process is used when there is evidence to suggest that one or more faculty or
staff are being compensated below the average salary for their position(s) or a
comparable position(s) external to UW-Stout. A market adjustment may be
implemented to assist UW-Stout in retaining faculty and staff.
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This adjustment may be used when a salary increase is necessary to retain one or
more individuals who have not received an outside offer, but significant evidence
of the serious retention problem or the potential of retention problem exists, such
as a recent pattern of employees in the same discipline/unit leaving UW
employment to take outside positions with comparable duties and responsibilities
at higher levels of pay or that others in the same discipline/unit have received
outside offers. This type of adjustment will be used only to retain individuals
whose expertise is highly valued and whose performance is exemplary.
Annually in January, the Office of Planning, Assessment, Research, and Quality
will issue a report to review the need for any market/equity adjustments. The
report will be provided to the division administrators for action, as necessary.
Individuals requesting a market adjustment must include his/her individual
percent of market data from this report in the request process. Individuals have
the option to also attach any additional market data that helps demonstrate the
need for a salary increase.
Effective Date: Market adjustments cannot be made effective earlier than the
first paycheck following the Division Administrator’s approval, as indicated on
the Unclassified Staff Salary Adjustment Form.
Required Documents: A Salary Adjustment Form must be completed in addition
to evidence of market data showing current salary is below market (e.g. salary
surveys) and evidence of a retention problem. Percent of market data from PARQ
annual report must be included. No market adjustment will be accepted without
supporting documentation.
Approval Process: This process must be initiated by the supervisor. The Salary
Adjustment Form and supporting documentation are submitted electronically to
Human Resources. Human Resources then routes the request for approval.
7. Educational Preparation Code Change
All unclassified staff are assigned educational preparation codes according to the
level (degree and/or credits) of education possessed. Faculty and staff who
become eligible to change an educational preparation code 4 and above will
receive the appropriate salary adjustment. All educational preparation code
definitions are identified in the Faculty/Academic Staff/Limited Appointees
Handbook.
Effective Date: Salary adjustments due to educational preparation code changes
cannot be made effective earlier than the first paycheck following the Division
Administrator’s approval as indicated on the Unclassified Staff Salary Adjustment
Form.
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Required Documents: A Salary Adjustment Form must be completed in addition
to official transcripts verifying the change in educational preparation code.
Human Resources will update the faculty or staff member’s educational
preparation code after all approvals have been obtained. No educational
preparation code change will be accepted without supporting documentation.
Approval Process: Employees must initiate this process with their supervisor.
The Salary Adjustment Form and supporting documentation are submitted
electronically to Human Resources. Human Resources then routes the request for
approval.
VI.
Records
The Human Resources Office will have primary responsibility for recordkeeping and
ensuring compliance with this procedure.
VII.
Approvals
_______________________________________________________
Kristi Krimpelbein, Interim Director, Human Resources
_______________________________________________________
Robert Meyer, Chancellor
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Appendix A: Review Log
Review Date
February 2015
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Changes Made to Procedure
Updated procedure to reflect
new form usage. Added salary
adjustments to make
procedure comprehensive.
Reviewed By
Samantha Pearson
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