Addressing employee compensation

Administrators propose allocation of CEC funds

University of Idaho administrators announced Monday they expect the Idaho Legislature to allocate funds for a Change in Employee Compensation (CEC) equal to 3 percent of the university’s current salaries.

The memo, sent out by UI Provost and Executive Vice President Katherine Aiken and Vice President for Finance and Administration Ron Smith, outlines three potential funding initiatives to work toward salary equity and address concerns of low salaries from UI employees.

The initiatives would include salary increases for employees near the bottom of the pay scale, long-serving employees and a small group of distinguished employees.

“Recognizing our long-serving employees, our employees at the lower end of the pay scale and outstanding employees in these ways addresses salary concerns expressed by many employees and by the Faculty Senate and Staff Affairs leadership,” according to the memo.

In following these initiatives, the memo states most UI employees would receive a salary increase below 3 percent, but no lower than 1.5 percent for employees who meet job expectations.

Increasing employee salaries was the top legislative goal for university this legislative session.

According to the memo, the proposed methods of disbursing the pay increase pool are only under consideration, but are intended to support fairness and opportunity among university employees.

“We are committed to seeking resolution of our compensation issues and appreciate the diligence of our whole community,” according to the memo.

While administrators anticipate having enough funds to help address employee concerns of compensation, the Idaho Legislature will have to pass the higher education budget to finalize the CEC funding amount.

To raise salaries for the lowest paid university employees, the memo states the minimum university wage would be raised to $12.02 an hour and salaries raised to $25,000 for full-time staff. If funded, the salary change would go into effect June 21.

University administrators are also considering implementing a longevity salary for employees who meet job expectations and have served the university for multiple years.

Employees with eight years of service and four years of service in their current position would have their salary increased to the first quartile in their pay grade. For an employee with 16 years at UI and six or more at their current position, their salary would be moved to the midpoint of their pay grade.

According to the memo, employees who have served 16 or more years at UI should, at the least, be moved to the first quartile in their pay grade.

The last initiative listed in the memo hopes to raise the salaries of well-deserving employees who have been adversely affected by salary compression and its impacts.

Ryan Tarinelli can be reached at [email protected]

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