UUP Professional Request for Promotion or Salary Increase Policy

Policy Statement

SUNY Brockport has established policies and procedures pertaining to the consideration of requests from Professional Staff represented by United University Professions, or the supervisors of said Professional Staff, for promotion and/or certain salary increases. Definitions of terms, Guidelines and the Procedure are described herein.

Applicability

Decisions relevant to requests described in this document are made based on:

1. Criteria for Promotion as listed in the Memorandum of Understanding Between the State University of New York and United University Professions Relating to System of Promotion and Certain Salary Increases for Professional Employees (copies are available in the UUP office) and;
2. Duties and responsibilities as delineated in the Performance Program of the Professional Staff member

Definitions

Promotion – An increase in a professional employee’s basic annual salary accompanied by movement to a higher salary level with a change in title, resulting from a permanent significant increase or change in the employee’s duties and responsibilities as a consequence of a permanent increase in the scope and complexity of function of the employee’s position. 

Salary Increase – An employee who has been assigned a permanent and significant increase in duties and responsibilities as demonstrated by the employee’s performance program. 

Permanent – Long-term in duration with no anticipated end date. Assuming additional duties to cover for an employee on leave, sabbatical, or temporary assignment does not constitute a promotion or salary increase under this process. 

Significant – Results in a substantive impact on an employee’s daily work life. Not typically a task or responsibility that is done occasionally. 

Scope – The range, extent, capacity or span of an employee’s responsibilities; the scale or reach of an employee’s responsibilities. 

Complexity – The difficulty, intricacy, level of involvement or complicated nature of the duties and responsibilities.

Policy Procedures

Guidelines Pertaining to the System of Promotion and Certain Salary Increases

A promotion may affect the projected permanent appointment date or existing permanent appointment of the employee. Please consult with Human Resources.

The decision to provide a salary increase is within the discretion of the president and the president’s decision shall be final.

The UUP Professional Request for Promotion and Salary Increase process is not the same as a Discretionary Salary Award (DSA). The DSA process is the collectively negotiated pool of money that can be distributed to members of the UUP bargaining unit as specifically detailed in the UUP Agreement. The DSA process may take into account an employee’s participation in short-term projects, community service related to position, level of performance, etc. The Promotion and Salary Increase process does not take these into account unless they are directly tied to a permanent and significant increase in responsibilities.

The UUP Professional Request for Promotion and Salary Increase process is not used to correct inequity. Inequity is pursued directly with the employee’s supervisor. The president considers salary inequity separately from the promotion and salary increase request process.

If an employee attains a new degree or certification and the employee’s job responsibilities do not change, the employee would not qualify for a promotion or salary increase. It could, however, be utilized for a DSA under certain conditions. If an employee’s job responsibilities change based on the attainment of a degree or certification (e.g., The employee is assigned personnel to supervise, or the employee is now responsible for a new program area), the employee could apply under this process.

There are differences between a salary increase and a promotion. An employee can receive a salary increase for assuming additional responsibilities that do not necessarily require more knowledge, skills or abilities, but are at a similar level as the employee’s current duties (e.g., an employee has routinely reported activities to New York State and the State has recently made a significant increase in its reporting requirements which directly impacts the requirements of the employee). A promotion is to recognize an addition or change in duties or responsibilities that increase the scope or complexity of the employee’s work and usually requires a higher level of knowledge, skills and abilities to carry out those responsibilities and may lead to a change in pay grade and budget title (e.g., An office is responsible for multiple program areas and to comply in a change in regulations, the office has added a substantial program and made the employee responsible for it).

When an employee is given additional responsibilities and also has some responsibilities taken away, a salary increase would not be warranted if duties were ‘exchanged’ and the knowledge, skills and abilities required to perform the new responsibilities are similar to those required to perform the removed tasks. If the new tasks require a new skill set and have a significant impact on the employee’s daily work life, the employee may be entitled to a salary increase and/or promotion.

If an employee is not seeking a promotion or a salary increase, a request for a campus title change does not have to be made through the UUP Professional Request for Promotion or Salary Increase process. The request should be submitted to the employee’s immediate supervisor, in consultation with Human Resources, and all subsequent supervisory levels to the President with reasons justifying the change

Procedure to Follow for Promotion and Certain Salary Increases

1. Before applying for promotion or salary increase, be sure that your Performance Program is current and on file.

2. Either the employee or supervisor completes the UUP Professional Request for Promotion or Salary Increase Application form, available online at UUP Professional Request for Promotion or Salary Increase Application

3. Complete the application form consistent with the instructions provided on the form.

4. Review appropriate title/position standard if applicable. These are available through the Human Resources Office. (ext. 2126)

5. The employee or immediate supervisor should start the process of approval. Fill in the name and the exact date the materials were submitted. The employee or immediate supervisor fills in the name of each supervisory level for the request. The immediate supervisor is required to provide the employee a copy of the application form as indicated in number six (6) below.

6. Each supervisory level is to review the contents of the submission for accuracy and either agree or disagree. Each level is responsible for forwarding the application to the next level, regardless of response, with notification to the employee that it has gone forward.

7. The materials should be submitted/forwarded to each level based on the relevant schedule below*:

A) If the employee reports directly to the vice president, the deadline for submission of the application materials is:

B) If the employee reports to 2 levels of supervision, including the VP, the deadlines for submission of the application materials are:

C) If the employee reports to 3 levels of supervision, including the VP, the deadlines for submission of the application materials are:

D) If the employee reports to 4 levels of supervision, including the VP, the deadlines for submission of the application materials are:

*(If the submission deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, the deadline will be the next workday.)

8. Upon completion of the vice president’s review, the vice president is required to submit the original application materials to the Director for Human Resources for technical review by October 30 for the fall or April 30 for the spring. The time for Human Resources technical review and consultation with the Budget Office and vice presidents, will be part of the review period.All employees will be notified of the final decision via a formal letter from their Divisional Vice President or equivalent by December 1 for the fall and May 31 for the spring.

9. If the employee fails to receive notification that his/her request was submitted to the next level of supervision, he/she should contact the next level of supervision and send a copy of the request to the next level OR contact the Director for Human Resources who will inquire on the employee’s behalf.

10. Following the process and schedule noted in number seven (7) above each level of supervisor is required to act on the application for a promotion or salary increase within approximately seven days of receipt. At no time, will an application remain at any level for more than 45 days. If an application remains at any supervisory level after 45 days of submission to that level, such inaction is considered a denial and the employee has the right to appeal his/her application to the University Review Panel.

11. If the application for salary increase and/or promotion has been denied at the level of the vice president, the employee may appeal the decision to the University Review Panel. The UUP Professional Promotion or Salary Increase Appeal form will be attached to any denial. (Appeal deadlines are January 1 for the fall review and July 1 for the spring review.)

12. a.) If a request for promotion is denied at an organizational level below that of the president then the employee has the right to appeal the decision with the University Review Panel. If the University Review Panel determines the promotion is not warranted, the Panel will notify the employee using the UUP Professional Promotion or Salary Increase Appeal Form and provide a copy of the notification to Human Resources. Further appeal of the University Review Panel is not permitted. If the Panel determines the promotion is warranted it will forward its recommendation to the president and copy the employee and Human Resources. The president will render a decision in 90 days. If a decision is not rendered within 90 days by the president, it will be deemed to be denied for the purposes of the employee’s right to file with the University Review Board in accordance with appropriate provisions contained in the Memorandum of Understanding relating to Systems of Evaluation and Promotion for Professional Employees.

b.) If a request for a salary increase is denied at an organizational level below that of the president then the employee has the right to appeal the decision with the University Review Panel. If the University Review Panel determines the salary increase is not warranted, the Panel will notify the employee and copy the supervisor, president and Human Resources using the UUP Professional Promotion or Salary Increase Appeal Form. Further appeal of the University Review Panel is not permitted. If the Panel determines the salary increase is warranted it will forward its recommendation to the president and a copy of the recommendation to the employee and Human Resources using the UUP Professional Promotion or Salary Increase Appeal Form. The decision to provide a salary increase is within the discretion of the president and the president’s decision is final.

13. Applications for Promotion (change in title and salary level) that are disapproved may not be resubmitted for a period of eighteen (18) months, or until the employee’s performance program has been changed, whichever is sooner.

14. Applications for Salary Increase, approved or disapproved, may not be resubmitted for a period of twelve (12) months, or until the employee’s performance program has changed, whichever is sooner.

15. Salary increases will be effective the first day of the pay period following presidential approval.

16. A petition for salary increase or promotion may be initiated at the supervisory level outside of these two windows when the request is due to significant organizational changes. Requests are reviewed by Human Resources for classification and salary level accuracy, by the vice president, and the Budget Office for financial planning purposes.

Links to Related Procedures and Information

UUP Professional Promotion or Salary Increase Appeal

UUP Professional Request for Promotion or Salary Increase Application

Reference:

UUP Contract Appendix A-28: Memorandum of Understanding between the State University of New York and United University Professions Relating to a System of Promotion and Certain Salary Increases for Professional Employee.

Contact Information

There is no contact information for this policy at this time.

History (in descending order)

Approval

There are no approvals for this policy at this time.