More than 600 Iowa staffers appeal preliminary job redesign

More than 600 University of Iowa staff members have appealed their preliminary job classifications in a university process to redesign job compensation and classification for all non-union staff.

The deadline for UI staff to file appeals of their preliminary classification assignment is midnight Tuesday. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 600 staffers had initiated the appeal process through their supervisor, Kevin Ward, UI assistant vice president for human resources, said.

Of the 5,200 UI non-union staff affected by the redesign, about 4,000 were eligible to appeal because they had completed their job review information through the system, Ward said. UI staff received word of their preliminary classification assignments Feb. 28 and have until midnight March 22 to file appeals.

"We're still talking about 85 or 90 percent being OK with where they are in the new system," Ward said. "It's important for us to get feedback because we want this to be a system that people feel good about and feel is fair and accurate."

The Compensation and Classification Redesign Project is aimed at making staff job classifications and pay scales more in tune with the marketplace, UI officials have said. The redesign in more than two years in the making. The new system will assign some employees more specific titles as a better reflection of job duties and expectations, officials have said.

No staff member will see a pay decrease as a result of the redesign, though the new system likely will impact how future pay raises are determined, Ward said.

The new job classification structure will be in place by July 1, and the new pay structure will be rolled out by Oct. 1.