Achieve Together Salary Increase or Merit

Achieve Together and Salary

Employee performance will be assessed based on the five Achievement Criteria, in addition to notes taken during the check-in conversations.

Achievement Criteria:

  • Collaboration
  • Goal Accomplishment
  • Inclusion & Belonging
  • Innovation
  • Job Mastery

There are three Performance Levels for each of the criteria:

  • Needs Attention
  • Well Done
  • Stand Out
Person giving a thumbs up sign

To determine the Performance  Level, managers and supervisors will refer to notes from Check-in conversations, compare them to the behaviors for that particular criteria, and identify a Performance Level that aligns most closely with performance within the performance evaluation period, April 1 to March 31. Check out the Achievement Criteria with definitions for each criterion at each Performance Level.

Managers and supervisors will assess the performance level attained across each of the five criteria considering performance contributions and documentation from three Check-in conversations that cover the evaluation period. An example could be: Job Mastery = Well Done, Goal Accomplishment = Well Done, Inclusion & Belonging = Stand Out, Collaboration = Well Done, Innovation = Needs Attention.

NOTE: Any employee who is not current on all of their Foundational Skills Required Training will receive a "Needs Attention" rating for the Achievement Criteria of Job Mastery.

Employees who are covered by Achieve Together and are otherwise eligible for salary increases or Merit are NOT eligible for an increase if they receive: 

  • Three (3) or more "Needs Attention" in any of the five Performance Levels, OR
  • "Needs Attention" for BOTH the Job Mastery and Goal Accomplishment criteria, even if all other criteria are Well Done or Stand Out

What does this mean for salary increases?

Across the Board (ATB) salary increases are given to eligible employees in career, contract, and partial-year career positions based on their job performance. Employees are eligible for ATB salary increases unless they receive "Needs Attention" in 3 or more Achievement Criteria OR they receive "Needs Attention" in both Job Mastery AND Goal Accomplishment. ATB salary increase is also contingent upon completing six months of service in PPSM.

What does this mean for merit pay?

If the UC Merit pay for performance process is used, the following will apply. Managers/supervisors should determine an employee’s Merit salary increase based on a pay-for-performance approach given the assigned Performance Levels. If an individual contributor or manager/supervisor gets a Needs Attention for any one of the five criteria and Stand Out in the other 4 criteria, they must receive Merit at the Well Done level. All Merit decisions should be confirmed in a unit calibration meeting.

Merit eligibility is also contingent upon completing six months of service in PPSM.

Recommended* Merit Increase Percentage Guidelines

Overall Performance Level Needs Attention Well Done Stand Out
Increase Percentage 0% 2-4% 3+%

 *These are recommended percentage increases only (based on a 3% salary program) and will vary by unit based on unit calibration

What is the salary increase or merit timeline? 

All salary increases (across-the-board or merit) must be in UCPath by early June so that increases can be effective as of July 1st and paid soon thereafter.

It's important for managers to finalize their Achieve Together Online Forms, with Performance Levels selected, on time to ensure that employees receive their salary increase on time and eliminate the need for retroactive pay adjustments.

If Merit conversations are required, they happen in late May, allowing unit managers to hold calibration meetings and assign merit prior to a June deadline for UCPath updates.

Note: Merit processes are dependent on merit funding availability.