POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
POLICY NUMBER:
SUBJECT:
EFFECTIVE DATE:
REVISION DATE:
SUPERSEDES:
APPROVED BY:
09-02
Officer, Key Employee, and Staff Compensation Policy
April 28, 2009
September 21, 2011
CWEA Board of Directors
PURPOSE
The California Water Environment Association (CWEA) is a nonprofit public benefit
corporation. CWEA seeks to attain excellence in its governance and its service to
members and the public. An essential element of achieving that goal is the attraction
and retention of staff to represent and manage CWEA in a manner consistent with its
goal of excellence. CWEA is based in Oakland, California.
CWEA recognizes that the market for staff is highly competitive. In addition, the
specialty niche of CWEA requires staff who are able to understand highly technical
information in an ever-changing environment. The compensation (including salary and
benefits) must be competitive with the labor market in which CWEA competes for each
staff position. CWEA’s goal is a long-term relationship with its staff based on their
functioning at a high level and achieving excellent results on behalf of the association.
This Compensation Policy reflects these understandings of the environment in which
CWEA operates.
POLICY
It is the policy of the CWEA Board to follow the philosophy and procedures outlined
below to determine compensation for the Association’s Officers, Key Employees and
Staff in order to:



attract and retain Officers, Key Employees and Staff who are qualified and
respected in the association community.
attract and retain Officers, Key Employees and Staff who represent the
organization to its members and key stakeholders in a manner fitting with its
philosophy of excellence and professionalism.
remain competitive in the San Francisco Bay Area association employment
market or in the local headquarters area should the headquarters move.
Top Financial Official. For purposes of this policy, the Association’s top financial official
(the person who has ultimate responsibility for managing the Association’s finances)
shall be considered an Officer, regardless of title. If ultimate responsibility resides with
two or more individuals, who may exercise such responsibility in concert or individually,
then all such individuals shall be treated as Officers.
Executive Director. There is a separate policy for Executive Director compensation.
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Key Employees. A Key Employee meets all three of the following factors, applied in the
following order:
1.
Receives reportable compensation from CWEA and all related
organizations in excess of $150,000 for the calendar year ending with or within
CWEA’s tax year.
2.
Has the following responsibilities:
a.
Has responsibilities, powers, or influence over CWEA as a whole
that is similar to those of officers or directors;
b.
Manages a discrete segment or activity of CWEA that represents
ten percent or more of the activities, assets, income, or expenses of CWEA, as
compared to CWEA as a whole; or
c.
Has or shares authority to control or determine ten percent or
more of CWEA’s capital expenditures, operating budget, or compensation for
employees.
3.
If more than twenty employees satisfy factors 1 and 2 above, then is
among the top twenty employees with the highest reportable compensation from
CWEA and related organizations for the calendar year ending with or within
CWEA’s tax year.
Staff. All employees other than Officers, Board Directors, and Key Employees are
considered Staff under this Policy.
PHILOSOPHY
Pay Philosophy:
1. Employee compensation is meant to be one of a number of important means of
attracting, keeping, and motivating the individuals who are integrally responsible
for CWEA’s success.
2. CWEA intends to pay competitively with the external market, taking into account
internal equity and financial resources; targeting the mid-point of the market for a
competent employee.
3. CWEA intends to conduct an external market evaluation and internal job
comparison, using a compensation specialist, every three years, to establish job
value. Job value will be the mid-point of competitive labor market for the job.
Midpoint means 50% of employers pay more than the mid-point and 50% pay
less than the mid-point. The labor market value of jobs will be adjusted annually
based on labor market increase, using input from a compensation specialist.
That annual labor market rate increase would determine the pool of dollars that
will be budgeted for performance increases. Distribution of that recommended
pool would be achieved by individual increases determined by the annual
performance evaluations using a salary administration matrix staff will develop
with the compensation specialist.
4. Base pay will be between 0.90 and 1.10 of job value (mid-point of competitive
labor market for the job). Special Equity Adjustments over time will be made to
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reach at least 1.0 job value (mid-point of market). New hires who are in a
development mode and those employees who need to improve competencies or
performance will typically be paid at 0.90 of job value until they are determined to
be fully performing.
5. Annual performance evaluation will determine if an annual increase is merited for
each employee within total annual labor market increase. It will be applied to
individuals based on the salary administration matrix.
6. New jobs and/or job changes will be evaluated and classified in the salary
structure, using a compensation specialist as needed.
Benefits Philosophy:
1. Employee benefits are meant to be one of a number of important means of
attracting, keeping, and motivating the individuals who are integrally responsible
for CWEA’s success.
2. CWEA intends to offer benefits that are competitive with the external market,
taking into account financial resources.
3. CWEA intends to provide 100% medical, dental, and vision premium coverage
for employees and 60% premium coverage for dependents, unless specified
otherwise by a pre-existing written agreement.
PROCEDURES
a) The Executive Director will work with an external compensation specialist to:
Conduct an external market evaluation and internal job comparison every
three years to establish job value for each position, using relevant and valid
external survey sources for the labor markets (both for-profit and not-forprofit) in which CWEA competes for each position, including data from the
American Society of Association Executives;.
Establish the annual labor market rate increase, which will be used to
determine the pool available for annual performance increases;
Develop an annual salary administration matrix to guide performance-based
increases; and,
Establish the job value for new and/or revised position descriptions.
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Criteria for selecting data/survey sources:
 Current
 Appropriate sample size
 Statistically valid
 Specific to:
CWEA’s size
CWEA’s not-for-profit / association sector
Location
b)
The Executive Director has discretion to establish compensation adjustments for
staff within the policy and budget approved by the EC and/or the Board.
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c)
Contemporaneous documentation and recordkeeping

d)
There shall be contemporaneous documentation and recordkeeping with respect
to EC and Board deliberations and decisions regarding compensation for key
staff and annual budgets.
Conflict of Interest

If any member of the Executive Committee has a conflict of interest, as defined in
Treasury Regulation 53-4958.6(c)(1)(iii), with respect to the compensation of any
key staff, such member of the Executive Committee shall not be involved in the
review and approval of that key staff member’s compensation.
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