Classified employees to benefit from new statewide pay plan

Staff Report

More than 470 U.Va. classified employees are slated to receive raises in their next paycheck, the first salary adjustments approved here under the state's new compensation plan.

"These special salary actions will address our most urgent recruitment, retention and salary compression issues," said Colette Sheehy, vice president for management and budget. They are in addition to the 3.25 percent raises that most of the 4,083 classified employees at the University will receive as of Nov. 25.

Sheehy said the newly permitted "in-band adjustments" will help deal with the academic division's most pressing hiring needs, including employees in skilled trades such as plumbing, carpentry and electrical work; housekeepers; laboratory technicians; information technology staff; secretarial and other office support personnel; and some supervisory positions.

Among those whose base salaries will increase are 180 classified employees in the lowest pay band, including housekeepers and groundskeepers, whose pay is significantly below the most recent market comparisons. After the special adjustment, the minimum starting salary for U.Va. classified employees will be $17,035, or $8.19 per hour. Housekeepers who work the evening shift receive another 60 cents per hour. When the November raise takes effect, employees in the lowest pay band who have completed the six-month probationary period will be earning at least $17,597, or $8.46 per hour. The starting pay will remain $8.19.

More than three-quarters of the salary adjustments will be made for employees in pay bands 1, 2 and 3 (formerly pay grades 1-8), said Thomas E. Gausvik, chief human resource officer at U.Va.

The annual cost of the Oct. 25 adjustments for salaries and benefits will be $1.3 million, which will be reallocated from current departmental and central budgets. Auxiliary services departments, such as housing, athletics, the bookstore and parking & transportation, are self-supporting, Sheehy noted, and cannot receive state funds. Raises for employees in those areas must come from internal savings, future fee increases or other sources of new revenue.

U.Va. departmental committees will consider requests for salary adjustments at regular intervals during the year and will make recommendations to deans and department heads, Gausvik said. The vice president for each area will then review and make final decisions on the recommendations.

The Medical Center has its own compensation system and has increased 124 of its lowest-paid workers to $8.19 to reflect current market conditions. These adjustments took effect Oct. 29 to coincide with their pay period.