91Ô­´´

Principle

Memorial University is committed to providing fair and equitable pay to employees. The University’s compensation policy for non-bargaining, management and professional and leadership group employees is designed to: 

• Pay salaries that will attract and retain qualified personnel who can perform the work necessary for the successful operation of the University;
• Maintain equitable relationships amongst internal positions with similar requirements; and
• Maintain uniform administration of salaries across broad occupational groups.

Purpose

To outline the objectives, authority, and procedures for determining and administering the establishment of, and any changes to, salaries of Non-Bargaining, Management and Professional and Leadership Group employees.

Scope

All operationally funded staff employees within the non-bargaining (NB), management and professional (MPS), and Leadership Group.

Memorial University has separate Guidelines for Employment of Grant Employees, Guidelines for Student Employment and Executive Compensation is excluded from the scope of this policy.

Definitions

Classification — Categorization of a position, inclusive of an associated salary range.

Contractual Employee — A person employed by the University under a non-permanent appointment, whose terms of employment including contract duration, are specified in their letter of appointment.

ELT — the Executive Leadership Team refers to the senior administrative body of the University that normally comprises the President and the Vice-Presidents of the University. It is a decision-making body with responsibility for University operations and affairs. This is a functional description, not a formal title.

Existing Rate — The Salary paid to an employee for work performed in their permanent position; or the Salary paid for work performed in their current or most recent contractual position that they have occupied for 12 months or greater without a break in service.  for a year or more. For more information on Existing Rates, please see section 3.1 of this policy. 

Full-time Employee — An employee whose normal hours of work are thirty-five (35) or forty (40) hours per week or more, for the period of appointment.

General Economic Increase —  (GEI) A revision to a Salary scale due to the application of an approved wage percentage increase.

Leadership Group/Senior Administrative Management — Positions that have responsibilities for planning, directing and coordinating major programs or recommending the development of major policies or programs. To ensure that objectives are met, overtime is self-assigned and compensated on an annual basis with an extra week of annual leave.

Management and Professional — A person employed in a positions defined by professional standards or levels of expertise, where work is assigned in the form of an objective and may include hiring and managing the performance of others.

Market Differential — A pensionable Salary component that may be paid in addition to an employee's base Salary to recognize a significant market inequity. Approval of Market Differential establishment has been delegated by the Board of Regents to ELT.

Non-Bargaining — Positions that are excluded from bargaining unit work based on the nature of work assigned.

On-Call — When an employee is required by a Unit Head or delegate to be available on a stand-by basis, outside scheduled working hours, to respond immediately to a call back to work as required for reasons of operational necessity.

Operationally Funded Positions — Positions whose salaries are paid at a minimum of 20% from University operating funds.

Overtime — Hours worked in excess of the standard working hours of a Full-time Employee.

Part-time Employee — a person who is appointed to works less than full-time hours per week.

Permanent Employee — A person who is employed without reference to a specific date of termination in their letter of appointment. 

Red-Circling — Pensionable salary protection for a specific period of time to an employee's Existing Rate of pay when as a result of a personnel action, it exceeds the maximum of the Salary range assigned to the position.

Salary — The pay associated with performing the duties and responsibilities of a position.

Salary Range — Generally has a minimum and maximum pay amount expressed in annual or hourly values. Also includes a series of intermediate amounts for pay purposes.

Salary Scale — A collection of salary ranges organized by levels. 

Step Increment — A payment made to an individual to recognize service within the University subject to the maximum of the salary range.

Supervisory Differential — A pensionable payment that is implemented to ensure a supervisor's total salary is higher than the salary of those they supervise. It is approved when the supervision is both functional and administrative in nature.

Temporary Appointment — For a specified period, an employee is temporarily appointed to a vacant position with a higher Salary range and temporarily vacates their regular position to perform the full scope of the role.  

Temporary Assignment — For a specified period, an employee is temporarily assigned partial scope of a vacant position with a higher Salary range while continuing to perform the duties of their regular position.

Unit — Academic or administrative unit as defined in the University Calendar.

Unit Head — Refers to Dean, Director and other senior administrators at a comparable level or above, including the President, Vice-Presidents and Associate Vice-Presidents.

University — Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Policy

Memorial University is committed to fair and equitable pay of all employees. Salary Ranges are based upon the 50th percentile of the appropriate comparator market and approved by the Board of Regents. 

Salary Ranges are reviewed by the Department of Human Resources and any economic or other general adjustment, including the effective date will be subject to Board of Regents approval. The Department of Human Resources may secure market data to determine its competitiveness in the external market, however, the determination of Salary adjustments is linked to the University’s budget and overall financial position and any adjustments will be approved by the Board of Regents within the limits of affordability, stewardship, and financial feasibility.

1.0     Salary Determination for New Employees

Positions are assigned a Salary Range based upon their position Classification as determined by the application of the university’s job evaluation system.

Upon appointment, Salary placement for employees within a Salary Range is determined by the Department of Human Resources. The rate of pay shall be step 1 of the assigned Salary Range, except where:

1. a rate above step 1 of the Salary Range is approved for new employees based upon their qualifications, previous experience and departmental requirements. All upscale hire requests must be approved based on the Procedure for Upscale Hiring; or 
2. an approved Market Differential exists.

2.0     Payment of Wages 

Employees shall be paid on a bi-weekly basis and payments will be made by electronic deposit directly into the Canadian banking institution of the employee’s choice. A statement of earnings and deductions will be issued electronically through Memorial’s Employee Self Service at:

Employee benefits provided by the University, such as professional development funding may be treated as taxable benefits.

3.0     Salary Adjustments

An employee’s Salary may change as a result of a Step Progression, promotion or demotion, a reclassification of their position, or an adjustment to the applicable Salary Range such as a General Economic Increase.

3.1    Existing Rate

Existing Rates are used to determine an employee's salary for the purposes of promotions, demotions, Temporary Assignments and Temporary Appointments only. The Existing Rate for a Permanent Employee is the Salary paid for work performed in their permanent position. If a Permanent Employee has been temporarily appointed to a contract with a different Salary, their Existing Rate will change to a new contractual Salary, provided they have held this new contract for at least 12 months.

The Existing Rate for a Contractual Employee is the Salary paid for their current or most recent contract, provided they have held this contract, without a break, for at least 12 months.

If an employee does not meet the above criteria in this section of the Policy, including those hired contractually who have not held their position for at least 12 months, they do not have an Existing Rate. Any changes to their Salary will be treated as if they were a new employee. For more information on applying Existing Rates please see policy sections 3.2 Promotion and 3.3 Demotion. For employees with salaries that are Red-Circled, please refer to the Procedure for Red-Circling.

3.2     Promotion

An employee will receive a promotion and related Salary increase when appointed to a position which is assigned a higher Salary Range or when their current position is reclassified and assigned to a higher Salary Range. Salary increases are calculated based on an employee's Existing Rate. Where Contractual Employees do not have an Existing Rate, they will be placed on the new Salary Range as if they were a new employee. For more information, please see section 1.0 of the Procedure for Salary Adjustments.

3.3     Demotion

Demotions may occur as a result of an employee or University initiated action whereby an employee is transferred to a position with a lower Salary Range or changes occur to the current position which result in a lower Salary Range. For more information, please see section 2.0 of the Procedure for Salary Adjustments.

3.4    Temporary Assignments & Temporary Appointments

3.4.1 Temporary Assignment

For the duration of a Temporary Assignment, employees will be compensated with a top up to their current salary (5% to NB; 10% to MPS or LG added to their Existing Rate): their salary is not slotted to a step on the higher salary range. A temporary assignment to a NB or MPS position must be a minimum of 5 working days; temporary assignment to LG must be a minimum of 15 working days. Additional earnings are only pensionable if the assignment is scheduled for at least one year or if a shorter assignment gets extended to one year or more (the employee must then also remit retroactive pension contributions).

In exceptional circumstances where immediate coverage is required to fulfill the responsibilities of a vacant position, a Unit may allocate the duties of the position between two employees for a fixed period. Each employee will be compensated for the additional responsibilities through a Temporary Assignment. Prior approval from the Department of Human Resources is required before initiating such a Temporary Assignment.

3.4.2 Temporary Appointment

For the duration of a Temporary Appointment, if it is at a higher Salary Range, employees will be compensated for the duration with a top up to their Existing Rate salary (5% to NB; 10% to MPS or LG added to their Existing Rate and slotted to the closest higher step on the higher salary range). Additional earnings are pensionable regardless of duration of appointment. Temporary Appointments may also be lateral (no change in salary) or follow section 2.0 (Demotions) of the Procedure for Salary Adjustments as applicable. Selection for Temporary Appointments must adhere to the policy for Recruitment and Selection of Non-Academic Employees.

3.5     Supervisory Differential 

In order to maintain an appropriate and equitable supervisory relationship, employees may receive a pensionable payment which would maintain a minimum differential while employed in the supervisory position. 

Supervision is both functional and administrative in nature and that the supervisor possesses the necessary qualifications, training and background to successfully supervise and guide the work of the direct report. Functional supervision means providing technical expertise, guidance, training, and direction in an employee's work based on subject-matter knowledge while administrative supervision refers to exercising formal managerial authority over the employee's work and employment matters, such as directing workflow, approving leave, and managing performance.

Unit Heads and Supervisors are responsible for informing the Department of Human Resources of any changes that may impact the calculation of Supervisory Differentials. Failure to inform may result in potential overpayment that will require correction. For more information, please see section 3.0 of the Procedure for Salary Adjustments.  

3.6     Market Differential

In exceptional circumstances a Market Differential may be applied to a position or group of positions. The Department of Human Resources will conduct a market review to determine if a differential is required only where:

1. The position(s) exist in a low supply/high demand labour market. The requirements to meet this criterion include the inability to recruit qualified staff that are deemed critical to the operation of the department/university, substantiated by a failed job competition to fill the role, and may be accompanied by a high turnover.

2.  A higher salary is deemed essential to recruit/retain an employee (or employee group) that serves a critical function that cannot be achieved by any other possible means.

Market differentials will be reviewed regularly and may be increased, decreased or eliminated following consultation between the Department of Human Resources and the ELT. In cases where a Market Differential has been associated with the position and it is removed, the total earnings including Market Differential amount will be Red-Circled.

4.0     Step Progression

Employees within the non-bargaining group and Management and Professional may be eligible to advance by two steps on their respective Salary Range after completion of one year of full-time service or equivalent. Step Progression may be withheld upon request by the Unit due to unsatisfactory performance. See the Procedure for Awarding Step Progressions.

Employees within the leadership Group may be eligible to advance one step on their respective Salary Range upon completion of one year of fulltime service or equivalent and subject to meeting performance expectations, effective on the anniversary date of their entry on the Leadership Group scale (see Procedure for Awarding Step Progressions).

Where the Contractual Employee has a break in service that is less than three months, one year of service will be calculated as 1,820 hours for employees working 35 hours per week and 2,080 hours for employees working 40 hours per week. In all cases, Step Progression will not exceed the maximum step of the assigned Salary Range.

5.0     Termination

Employees whose positions are terminated due to restructuring, redundancy, or without cause will be provided with an appropriate notice period based on common law principles or as formally outlined in an employment contract, where applicable. If an employee is provided pay in lieu of working notice, they will not accrue annual leave or Step Progression. Compensation amounts and the form of notice will be provided to the employee in writing and will be subject to applicable statutory deductions.

6.0     Simultaneous Pay Actions

When the processing of two or more salary actions occurs simultaneously, they will be processed to the benefit of the employee.

7.0     Overtime

Employees included in the Management and Professional and the Leadership groups do not qualify for overtime compensation.

Overtime for Non-Bargaining Employees must be authorized in advance by the appropriate unit head. Compensation for authorized Overtime shall be in the form of payment for each hour of Overtime worked at the rate of one and one-half (1.5) times the individual's hourly rate. An employee may request time off in lieu of Overtime pay, which may be granted on the basis of 1.5 hours for each hour worked in excess of the regular workweek.

8.0     On-Call

There are circumstances where it is necessary and appropriate to designate an employee as On-Call and available for call-back to work if requirements for the employee's services during the On-Call period is immediate and essential, and the services cannot otherwise be provided. The On-Call period refers to the time when an employee is required to carry a cell phone, pager or other immediate contact device and to remain in a state of readiness to respond immediately to a call back to work or to a work demand. Where such situations are required for reasons of operational necessity, the University recognizes that such employees should be compensated fairly for the On-Call periods involved.

On-Call compensation is a supplement rate paid to non-union employees in alignment with approved On-Call procedure, implemented in alignment with Memorial's collective agreements. In determining On-Call compensation for non-bargaining employees, reference may be made to other public and private sector comparators as appropriate. These provisions do not apply to employees on the MPS or LG Pay Scales.

For details regarding establishing On-Call pay, please see the Procedure for Establishing On-Call.    

9.0     Compensation Disclosure

As per the requirements of the Public Sector Compensation Transparency Act, compensation information for Memorial University employees making in excess of $100,000 is released annually along with the compensation information for the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and other public bodies.

Disclosed information includes employee name, job title, and total compensation, with specific breakdowns of base salary and other compensation forms. An email with details of the salary disclosure will be sent to impacted employees prior to disclosure. For more information, please consult the Public Sector Compensation Transparency Act or the compensation disclosure information on the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador website.

Related Documents

Guidelines for Employment of Grant Employees

Recruitment and Selection of Non-Academic Employees

Procedures: