Salary Compression
Dear Buffalo HSC Colleagues,
The NYS/SUNY/UUP executive-level committee has completed the methodology for analysis and guidelines for distribution of the 2019 0.5% pools to address salary compression and inversion. On behalf of the UUP team that worked with the state over the past year to develop the methodology and guidelines the UUP State-wide leadership and your Buffalo HSC Chapter Officers express their/our gratitude for your patience and understanding about the time it took to reach this point.
UUP’s goal throughout this process has been twofold. First, ensuring that the salary analysis at every campus is done as accurately as possible, given the complexity of the UUP-represented workforce across the system and data limitations we encountered. Second, ensuring that campus discretion is expressly limited to remediating compression identified in the analyses and that the distribution is proportional to the amount of everyone’s identified compression to the extent possible. We are optimistic that the methodology and guidelines achieved these goals.
You will find a summary document attached to this e-mail. This two-page summary of the salary compression analyses and guidelines is intended to give you a general understanding of the process to date. If after reading this document or after receiving or not receiving a compression/inversion notification from HR and have any questions, please contact the chapter office (buffalohsc@uupmail.org and cc myself (pglick@uupmail.org) and Nick Whitman (NWhitman@nysutmail.org). It is intended that – to the extent possible – either myself or our LRS will answer your questions. If a question or a thread of questions is beyond our understanding or seems to be a common theme relevant to a group of members, we will refer to the state-wide LRS for an answer or a solution.
This has been and continues to be a complex and time-consuming process, both at the state-wide executive level and our campus Buffalo HSC Chapter. To ensure that the compression analyses are correct and that campuses have sufficient time to make required distribution decisions -- including the extent to which the 0.5% DSI pool may be used to more rapidly remediate identified compression -- the parties (at the state-wide level) have agreed to extend the timeline for processing both the 2019 DSI and salary compression increases as outlined below:
· Campuses are encouraged to make every effort to process both salary compression increases and DSI in time for Payroll Period 18 (paychecks dated 12/24/19).
· Campuses (regardless of campus type) that require additional time shall process these payments in time for Payroll Period 19 (paychecks dated 1/8/20).
- University Centers and Health Sciences Centers that require additional time beyond Payroll Period 19 must process these payments in time for Payroll Period 21 (paychecks dated 2/5/20).
Regardless of date of payment, both salary compression adjustments and DSI will be retroactive to July or September depending on obligation.
We will check with UB HR at our December L-M meeting to determine when salary compression and DSI adjustments will be paid on our campus.
This process is historic, but very challenging for all of us. On the one hand, it is remarkable that UUP is now partnering with SUNY to begin to address the long-standing issue of salary compression. On the other hand, the complex process will create problems for us to solve collectively. But that is how progress occurs, with small but not insignificant steps. Let’s hope we are at the beginning of a process that brings us all into a situation where our salaries more accurately reflect our skills, our expertise and our professional development.
Click to get the CompressionFastFactsNov2019.pdf
(This message was paraphrased from an email sent by Fred Kowal to chapter presidents on 11/11/19)