Budget & Special Projects, Financial Services
E271 – 105 Administration Place Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A2
Tel: (306) 966-1970 Fax: (306) 966-8351
www.usask.ca/fsd
CANADA
Appendix 1 – Detailed Instructions: Review of 2016/17 Position & Salary Verification Worksheets
The unit-specific Position & Salary Verification Worksheets are being sent in today’s internal mail to each
unit’s financial/administrative officer in hardcopy. These continue to be the tool for salary and benefit
budgeting. These worksheets are similar in design to previous years, and contain information on each
position by Fund, Organization and Program – with comparative information from the 15/16 approved
budget also provided. We ask units to verify both position and salary information on these worksheets.
For all positions on the Position & Salary Verification Worksheets, the 16/17 projected salary represents
the incumbent’s current salary (at November 24, 2015) adjusted for known increases under collective
agreements that are currently in effect for each employee group (detailed below). Projected benefits are
based on actual 16/17 benefit rates for each employee group, if known; otherwise, they are based on
actual 15/16 benefit rates plus forecasted increases. Benefit rates will continue to be updated for any new
information received until the 16/17 detailed budgeting process closes.
Salary Parameters and Benefit Parameters that provide information on the average position cost per
employee group are available on the Financial Services – Budget & Special Projects website (under
“Guidelines/Procedures”) as a planning tool.
After your review, please return the completed and signed hardcopy worksheets to Budget & Special
Projects by Monday, February 29, 2016 as follows:
 If any changes are required, please indicate the changes directly on the worksheet;
 If changes are not required, please indicate “no change” on each worksheet;
Position Verification – Instructions
Please review the CFOAPAL (Chart/Fund/Organization/Account/Program/Activity/Location), position
number, title, phase, incumbent name, funding status, FTE and salary/benefits for each position.
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In order to establish the most realistic salary and benefit budgets possible, positions should be based
on actual incumbents expected to be in place and amounts expected to be paid in 16/17. For example,
if vacant (TBA) positions are expected to remain unfilled, a $1 amount can be used to track the
position without overestimating the budgeted cost. Similarly, if planned retirements and ending term
positions are expected to change a position’s salary and benefit budget, this should be indicated. If
additional positions are expected to be hired, position and salary details should be added. The revised
worksheets should appropriately reflect the unit’s experience with turnover and vacant positions.
A new salary pool called “Salary Adjustment Pool” has been created for each employee group in the
unit’s main fund/org with an initial $1 placeholder to allow units to budget for as-yet-unknown salary
changes due to outstanding collective agreement settlements and other compensation elements (e.g.
merits). Units are encouraged to contact their Budget & Special Projects representative, as required,
for assistance in determining reasonable estimates for 16/17.
All other salary pools have been carried forward from the prior year and any known increases
resulting from collective agreements have been factored in. TBA positions have NOT been carried
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forward from the prior year as it is assumed that positions vacant in the prior year have either been
filled or are not required. Please update as necessary.
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Although funding for positions is no longer tied to historical base-budgets, units are asked to
designate a funding status of “Envelope” for those expenses reflective of the unit’s core teaching and
support operations that are anticipated to be funded from their operating budget allocation envelope
(these should be primarily 103 funds). This information is used for internal as well as external
reporting purposes.
The default funding status for new positions added since the prior year is Non-Base Budget. For units
that wish to specify a funding source other than “Envelope” or “Non-Base Budget”, the following
commonly used categories are available: Recovery, Fee-for-Service, Fund Balance, and Grant.
Positions should be budgeted in the CFOAPAL where the underlying activities occur.
Position titles and numbers on the worksheets reflect the information in AboutUS for the position.
Contact the Human Resources Division for any required changes.
Please note that any change to an individual’s record between the time 15/16 budget worksheets
were finalized (March 2015) and the 16/17 information taken from AboutUS on November 24, 2015
(e.g. position title change) will cause the individual’s record to print out on two lines on the worksheet
– one line for the prior year and one line for the current year. Prior year information cannot be
changed.
For budgeting of positions in Funds other than those already included in your package, i.e. newly
created “1” and “2” and “3” funds, as well as “4” funds which do not have grants attached to the fund,
document the CFOAPAL information on the attached spreadsheet “Form – New Position & Salary
Verification Worksheet Required”. Refer to Publisher Report 4992 for a complete list of your funds.
Given that the detailed budget process requires the use of projections, we ask you to assess the
reasonableness of salary amounts rather than performing a detailed recalculation. Note that current
year salary budgets were developed using the following assumptions:
Salary Projections – Underlying Assumptions
Given the budget timeline, and the status of existing collective agreements, worksheets reflect actual
salaries as at November 24, 2015 and projections as follows:
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Faculty: The collective agreement is currently active and expires June 30, 2017. Faculty salary
projections for 16/17 include the 2.75% scale and CDI value adjustments effective July 1, 2016.
Projections have been made for CDI increases to qualifying faculty effective July 1, 2016.
ASPA: The collective agreement expired April 30, 2014. As a result, ASPA salary projections for
16/17 do not include a scale adjustment. ASPA employees who are below the midpoint of their
respective phase, regardless of whether or not there is an active collective agreement, continue to
be eligible for a 2% salary adjustment (up to the phase midpoint).
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CUPE: The collective agreement is currently active and expires December 31, 2015. As a result,
CUPE salary projections for 16/17 do not include a scale adjustment. However, the 2% annual
increments have been projected for all eligible positions as at January 1, 2016 and January 1, 2017
as these increments continue in absence of an active collective agreement.
Exempt: The employee handbook is currently active and expires February 29, 2016. As a result,
Exempt salary projections for 16/17 do not include a scale adjustment or individual market
adjustment for eligible employees.
Senior Administration: Increases effective July 1, 2016 are not yet known and therefore have not
been projected.
Students: Per Board approval, the rates for Undergraduate student wages have increased by 2%
effective September 1, 2015 and 2% effective May 1, 2016. As a result, a blended rate increase of
3.33% has been applied to all Undergraduate student salary pools for 16/17. No increases have
been applied to Graduate and Post-Doctoral student salary pools for 16/17.
Sessionals: The collective agreement expired August 31, 2014. As a result, no increase has been
applied to sessional salary pools.
Research Staff: No increase has been applied to research salaries. If increases are expected
within your unit, please indicate the salary adjustment on the worksheet.
Budget & Special Projects will make available to units, upon request, an electronic data extract of their
16/17 Position & Salary Verification Worksheets for purposes of analyzing and determining their projected
salary and benefit costs. This mechanism does not replace the submission of the hardcopy version of unitreviewed Position & Salary Verification Worksheets which must be returned to Budget & Special Projects
by February 29, 2016.
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