2015-16 Salary Increase Plan

Paula Varnes Fussell, Vice President for Human Resource Services

President Fuchs recently announced a salary increase plan for University of Florida faculty and staff (TEAMS and USPS) for 2015-16. Under this program, eligible faculty and staff will participate in a 2.5 percent merit pool. Merit raises will be awarded based on criteria established by the colleges and units and will be effective January 1, 2016. In addition, President Fuchs has approved an increase in the minimum wage for TEAMS and USPS positions. The minimum wage will increase from $10 to $12 per hour, effective January 1, 2016.

Salary increases for employees in a bargaining unit are subject to union negotiation, and we are committed to working with the unions to reach agreement for covered employees. Another communication will be sent once agreement has been reached with each union.

Eligibility Criteria for Merit Increases

Employees with a performance appraisal of “minimally achieves” or higher are eligible to be considered for a merit increase. Employees with “below performance standards” or any below satisfactory performance designation, as well as faculty who are currently on a “performance improvement plan,” are not eligible for merit increases. In the absence of a current performance evaluation, employees will be considered to be at the “satisfactory” or “achieves” performance level.

Employees who have received notification of non-renewal or layoff are not eligible for a merit increase. Employees who have received discipline since January 1, 2015, in the form of a written reprimand or suspension, are also not eligible for a merit increase.

Eligibility Criteria—Minimum Wage Increase

All hourly TEAMS and USPS employees currently below the new minimum wage will automatically have their hourly wage increased to $12 per hour as of January 1, 2016. All TEAMS and USPS employees, regardless of other factors, will be eligible for this increase.

Salary Increase Process

Automated processes are being developed for implementing both the minimum wage increase and the merit increases. No action is required from departments or colleges for the minimum wage increase. These increases will be applied before any applicable merit increases.

Beginning November 30, departments and colleges will be provided access to an online list of current employees and their salaries to support the merit increase. Designated departmental staff or faculty will use this file to input any faculty and staff merit increases.

Instruction guides with directions on how to review the Raise Review File for both faculty and staff may be found on the myUFLToolkit available at http://hr.ufl.edu/learn-grow/just-in-time-training/myufl-toolkits/job-and-position-actions/.

Additional information regarding the process, including a frequently asked questions section, may be found on the Classification and Compensation section of the HRS website at http://hr.ufl.edu/manager-resources/classification-compensation/compensation/.

Funding

For state-funded positions, the 2.5 percent merit pool will be allocated based on filled positions only using funding distributions identified by the units in the Budget Prep System as of June 2015. Contract, grant, and auxiliary units are expected to fund all salary increases from existing sources.

Salary Increase Processing Calendar

• Monday, November 30, through close of business, Friday, December 11 – Raise Review File available to departments for entering faculty and staff merit increases
• Friday, December 18 – Raise Review File with salary increases loaded into myUFL
• Monday, December 21 – Faculty and staff increases available for review in myUFL (through Monday, January 11)
• Friday, January 22 – First paycheck with merit increases, effective January 1 (includes pay period January 1-14)

Departments with questions regarding the salary increase program for staff positions may contact Classification and Compensation at (352) 392-2477. For questions regarding faculty positions, please contact Academic Personnel, also at (352) 392-2477. You may also e-mail your questions to salaryincrease@ufl.edu.