University of North Carolina, Greensboro
PAE-11: Sustainable Compensation

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro adheres to the policy of the State of North Carolina to compensate its employees sufficiently to encourage excellent performance and to maintain labor market competitiveness. There were several actions taken by the North Carolina General Assembly and the State Human Resources Commission that allowed UNCG to address the compensation of its lowest paid workers.

1. Salary guidelines for fiscal year 2013-14 by the NC General Assembly were revised effective July 1, 2013. Salary increases may be given for equity, additional duties and responsibilities, interim appointments, and retention in addition to promotion, reclassification, and career progression.

2. In September 2013, the State HR Director announced that the NC General Assembly passed an Appropriations Act and established a Salary Adjustment Fund for agencies and universities to use to provide competitive salaries for actions related to: promotion, job change, career progression, salary range revisions, geographic or site differentials, in-range labor market adjustments, equity, and other adjustments related to an increase in duties or responsibilities or labor market changes.

3. On December 12, 2012 the State Human Resources Commission approved classification and rate changes for Information Technology jobs under Career Banding.

a. These changes were effective January 1, 2013.
b. These changes were based on market reviews conducted by the Office of State Human Resources.
c. The minimum and maximum ranges were increased; no ranges were decreased.
d. Seven new IT classifications were created
e. 174 UNCG employees were impacted, with 74 receiving salary increases based on the new classifications and salary ranges.

4. In July 2013 the Office of State Human Resources in collaboration with the UNC System General Administration’s HR Office began a market study of all Public Safety jobs under Career Banding to address compensation and recruitment challenges facing university public safety departments across the state.

In addition, UNCG takes proactive steps to ensure internal equity and build career ladders and opportunities for the lowest paid employees. It uses all available resources including any State Human Resource Commission’s compensation surveys. UNCG works actively to support and sustain a work environment which recognizes accomplishment and achievement. The following specific strategies are used to ensure sustainable and competitive completion for the lowest-paid employees:

1. The career banding program is structured to ensure SPA employees receive fair and equitable treatment in regard to compensation levels and career development opportunities. The Career Banding Compensation Strategy policy and guidelines will be applied effectively and equitably for all employees.

2. Human Resources use regional and local market data to ensure that the University offers a fair living wage and that the University is competitive with local employers.

3. The Human Resources Affirmative Action office regularly reviews salaries of the lowest paid employees to ensure that there is no disparate impact.

4. Human Resources conducts extensive training and development sessions designed to provide employees with the skills, knowledge, and abilities to advance in their careers.

In July 2012, Human Resources produced the SPA Compensation Analysis, a comprehensive study of all SPA classifications that are most significantly below market. This analysis was designed to equip Executive Staff members with current salary information so as to review and prioritize salary proposals for their respective units.

Information for this credit was received from Dr. Edna Chun, Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resource Services at UNCG and from the NC Office of State Human Resources (OSHR) formerly known as the NC Office of State Personnel (OSP).