Non-Represented

Grade Change List July 1, 2024

Grade Change List July 1, 2023

Grade Change List July 1, 2022

Grade Change List July 1, 2021

Grade Change List July 1, 2020

Grade Change List July 1, 2019

Non-Represented Staff:

Career Tracks Salary Structure Effective July 1, 2024

Career Tracks Salary Structure Effective July 1, 2023

Career Tracks Salary Structure Effective July 1, 2022

Career Tracks Salary Structure Effective July 1, 2021

Ranges effective July 1, 2019

• July 2018 PPSM Grade Changes
  

Ranges effective July 1, 2017

Department heads or designees can make job offers (for new hires and promotions) up through the midpoint of merit-based Professional and Support Staff (PSS) positions. Before making job offers above the midpoint, consult your recruiter. Establishing a starting salary for a new employee or deciding to give a promotional increase requires careful consideration. In both cases, you should determine how the employee's prior experience, knowledge, and skills compare with other employees already performing the same job.

Before establishing the starting salary of a new employee, consider each of the following factors:

• Budget

• Recruiting difficulty (size of qualified applicant pool, length of recruitment, etc.)

• Candidate's salary expectations

• Comparable internal salaries

• Employee's knowledge, skills, and experience compared to others performing similar work

Authority up to the midpoint of the range is delegated to the hiring department. The Vice Chancellor or delegated Dean has approval through the range. Consultation with HR is expected for above midpoint salaries.

For PPSM-MSP and PPSM-PSS positions:

• Requests for consideration above the midpoint are approved by the Vice Chancellor, except where this authority is re-delegated. MSP appointments above the midpoint of the salary range may require final approval by the appropriate Vice Chancellor.

Consult with the Compensation Unit, as needed, for salaries above midpoint.

Salary Setting Authority for Above Midpoint

Counter offers - Managers may make a counter offer when an employee is offered a lateral transfer. To avoid bidding wars, the manager offering the position is limited to one salary offer, to which the employee's current manager may make one counter offer. The employee then decides which offer to accept. The same criteria will be used for setting salaries in reclassifications and promotions.

The Salary Placement Guidelines are intended to provide managers with the framework they need to establish and maintain fair and equitable salaries in managing the workforce.

These guidelines apply to new hire, promotional, reclassification, stipend, equity, and merit increase salary actions. These are guidelines only and do not take the place of University PPSM policy or campus procedures.

These Salary Placement Guidelines apply to the broad salary ranges, which do not have steps and which allow managers to appoint employees at a specific whole dollar amount.

With an increasing focus on pay equity, Compensation is moving more towards salary placement being aligned with our salary placement guidelines, which we are translating the language to the following common Compensation industry best practices:

• First Quartile (from the minimum up to halfway to the midpoint of the range): The first quartile of the range is usually intended for individuals who are new to the grade, are in a learning situation, and/or do not have substantial experience in the new position.  0 - 4 years, or 0 - 48 months, tenure in title.
• Second Quartile: The second quartile of the range is intended for employees who have gained experience and skill and who are becoming more proficient in the position for which they were hired. They generally meet expectations in their positions.   4 - 9 years, or 48 - 108 months, tenure in title.
• Midpoint: The midpoint usually represents the market rate for a position, and a fully experienced employee might be paid at this level. 
• Third Quartile: The third quartile is typically reserved for experienced employees who frequently exceed expectations.  9 - 15 years, or 108 - 180 months, tenure in title.
• Fourth Quartile: The fourth quartile of the range is normally reserved for individuals who have extensive experience and who are consistently exceptional performers. 15 plus years, or 180 plus months, tenure in title.

Base pay, is an employee’s regular grade-based salary.

For non-competitive lateral moves, normally there will be no change in salary. For a lateral move into a competitively recruited position, a salary increase may be granted based on the qualifications of the employee, requirements of the position, departmental budget, and internal equity.

By Agreement Title Codes

Title Codes are "By Agreement" when there are no specific salary ranges associated with that title code. Titles are "By Agreement" when incumbents in those positions might be paid a wide range of salaries based upon specialization (e.g., football coaches are generally paid significantly more than tennis coaches). By Agreement title codes may have any DOS codes; they are NOT restricted to BYA or BYN.

By Agreement DOS (Description of Service) Codes

Payroll DOS (description of service) codes can be BYA (By Agreement - eligible for retirement) or BYN (By Agreement - not eligible for retirement). By Agreement DOS codes are NOT restricted to By Agreement title codes.

An equity increase is typically based on a salary inequity that cannot be corrected through the merit review cycle.

A salary inequity exists when an employee's salary is significantly below that of others in the same title code with similar performance, experience, skills, knowledge, and assignments. Examples of situations that may indicate a salary inequity include:

• The salary of a long term-employee is low relative to a new hire whose salary is market-driven.

• Significant salary compression exists between a supervisor and their employees.

• An employee changes from a casual to a career position in the same class.

Market factors influence recruitment and retention.

Reasons for Equity Increases:

Equity increases may be provided for those employees who are compensated at a relatively lower level for the work they perform.

Managers should consider addressing significant salary differentials within the UC Berkeley campus.

1. Employees with relatively low salaries: Employees within a specific job title (e.g. Financial Services Analyst 3) whose annual salary is significantly lower than the average salary across campus in that same job title.

2. Salary Compression: There should generally be a reasonable salary differential between supervisor/manager and that position’s subordinates.

Factors should be part of the decision on an equity increase:

• Budget availability.

• The performance of the employee relative to other employees in the same job title.

• The special skills and expertise of the employee relative to other employees in the same job title.

• Actual salary compression of the manager’s or supervisor’s salary relative to the salaries of the subordinate employees.

• Recent salary increase the employee may have received.

As a campus, it remains our goal to pay all employees a market-competitive and internally equitable salary with considerations of budget availability, scope and complexity of the role, and individual background and skills. In the UC System and at UC Berkeley, we rely on the UC Salary Placement Guidelines to set and adjust salaries. Given the decentralized structure of UC Berkeley, we rely on many people across our divisions, especially our division leaders (i.e., deans, vice chancellors, vice provosts, or equivalent), to ensure the consistent application of these guidelines. 

Division leaders will have full and final decision-making authority, consistent with the guidelines, with respect to (1) setting salaries for new hires, (2) approving equity increases to bring an employee up to the midpoint of the range or above the midpoint of the range for an employee whose salary is already above the salary range midpoint, (3) counter offers, and (4) administrative stipends. To exercise this authority, division leaders must identify individual(s) within their units to receive annual training from the People & Culture Compensation Team and be responsible for the application of the guidelines. We continue to encourage division leaders to seek guidance from their HR Partners who work in conjunction with the People & Culture Compensation Team. Please refer to the Salary Approval Matrix for additional information and approval guidelines.  

However, an equity increase outside of the guidelines, such as salary increases greater than 10% for an employee whose current salary is below the salary range midpoint resulting in a salary over the salary range midpoint or salary increases greater than 10% for an employee above the midpoint, need to be submitted to Compensation for approval Submit the request to Increase Exception Request. Requests submitted via this form will be emailed to salary-increase-request@berkeley.edu

If the Compensation Team does not support the proposed equity increase, approval must be obtained from the Chancellor and the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost by submitting a written request which outlines the justification for the request, including an analysis of comparable salaries and the reasons why the request was not supported by the Compensation Team.

An administrative stipend may be paid when a career employee is temporarily assigned the duties of a position in a higher salary grade (defined by salary range midpoint), or when other significant new projects or duties, that are not part of the employee’s regular position, are assigned for a minimum of 30 working days (six weeks) up to a maximum of 12 months in duration.

Stipends should be processed as a percentage of the employee’s monthly rate of pay.

It is management’s responsibility to ensure that the temporary assignment does not exceed 12 months. An extension of a stipend beyond 12 months requires the approval of the Compensation department.

For contract appointment and limited appointment employees, change the contractual rate of pay and/or increase the employee’s FTE percentage.

Stipends for employees covered by collective bargaining agreements must be administered in accordance with the appropriate collective bargaining agreement.

The amount of the administrative stipend shall not exceed the amount of salary increase that could be received by an employee if they were to receive a permanent promotion to the higher level title, which is typically up to 15%. When recommending an administrative stipend, managers should consider potential internal equity issues.

Administrative Stipends up to 5% are recommended for:

• Employees temporarily performing higher-level duties up to 10% time;
• Work is lateral but considerably different and outside the scope of the current position and requires up to 10% additional time;
• Work is lateral but supervision of 3 or more FTE is added;

Administrative Stipends up to 10% are recommended for employees temporarily performing higher-level duties up to 20% time.

Administrative Stipends up to 15% are recommended for employees temporarily performing higher-level duties 20% or more time.

Stipends that exceed 15% and/or one year in duration have been previously audited by the UC Regents. Compensation strongly recommends that stipends be capped at 15%.

The sum of the individual’s salary plus the stipend cannot exceed the salary range maximum of the higher-level position.

Assignment of temporary duties at a lower level (defined by salary range midpoint) does not warrant a stipend.

Administrative Stipends should not be provided for:

• Assignment of duties at a lower level;
• Additional duties assigned to cover short periods of vacation or other leave;
• Periodic increases in volume when the nature/complexity of duties is at the same level; or,
• Providing a “training opportunity” to develop an employee’s skills and competencies to perform higher-level duties.

Consult with the Compensation Unit, as needed, for questions related to stipends.

UC Student definition

Non-UC student definition

Student positions are primarily created and reserved for registered UC Berkeley Students as follows:  STDT 2 – 4, Title Code 004919 – 004921, Student Activities Appointed Official, Title Code 004329, and Student Residence Hall, Title Code 005287.  Non-UC Berkeley Students need to be placed into either Student Residence Hall Ld or Title Code 005286.

All titles are to be provided an Employee Class of 5-Casual/Restricted to ensure the appropriate student composite benefits rates (CBR), currently 3%, is being applied to the above titles.

Updated June 2021

VC Finance releases the approved Composite Benefit Rates (CBR) annually. We follow a standard process for calculating rates led by UCOP and will adopt their agreements with the federal government. All components of pay will be included in the salary base except for incentive pay. You can find a list of Earn Codes excluded from CBR on the Composite Benefit Rate webpage.

Have questions? Contact the Central Resource Management Team at centralresourcemanagement@berkeley.edu.

Key changes:

• New CBR Groups: UCOP classifies employees across the UC system into predetermined groups in order to conform to Cost Accounting Standards and provide transparency into cost structure. As a result, we can no longer shift employees, or their costs, between groups. Because of this, we have two additional CBR groups: Employees with No Benefit Eligibility and Student (Grad & Undergrad students). 
• Student (both Grad and Undergrad students): This group includes costs associated with GSIs and work-study students. 

        More information is available on the Composite Benefit Rate webpage.  

Student Assistant Salary Setting:

Setting salaries within the broad student assistant salary range should be based on the salary (hourly rate) one would typically pay a staff employee to perform similar functions adjusted for a lower level of responsibility. The primary focus of our students is their academic program. Work assignments are adjusted around those priorities so students are generally not held to the same level of performance and/or accountability as career or limited-term employees.

One may consider adjusting a student employee’s salary after one year. 

Effective July 1, 2024 the City of Berkeley minimum wage requirement increased to $18.67/hour. UC Berkeley STDT 2, STDT 3, and STDT 4 minimum salary ranges were increased to $18.67/hour to align with the City of Berkeley minimum wage requirement.

Historical details of The City of Berkeley Minimum Wage Ordinance:

• At least $18.67/hour beginning July 1, 2024
• At least $18.07/hour beginning July 1, 2023
• At least $16.99/hour beginning July 1, 2022
• At least $16.32/hour beginning July 1, 2021
• At least $16.07/hour beginning July 1, 2020
• At least $15.59/hour beginning July 1, 2019
• At least $15.00/hour beginning October 1, 2018