UI non-union jobs to be reclassified, pay altered

IOWA CITY - A job compensation and classification redesign for all non-union University of Iowa staff, which has been more than two years in the making, is getting closer to reality.

The Compensation and Classification Redesign Project is aimed at making staff job classifications and pay scales more in tune with the marketplace, rather than internal relationships, said UI Assistant Vice President for Human Resources Kevin Ward. The new system also will assign some employees more specific titles as a better reflection of job duties and expectations, he 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, UI officials said Wednesday in an update to the Staff Council.

“This is a framework that will be used for making compensation decisions in the future” and, ideally, will result in a better compensation system overall, Ward said.

Staff Council Vice President Michael Schueller said many staff inevitably will wonder how the changes will affect compensation.

No compensation values are attached to job reclassifications at this point, UI officials said.

"No one's salary will be eroded on day one of implementation,” said Susan Buckley, vice president for human resources.

From April 1 to Oct. 1, while the new system is being put into place, no UI staff will be able to switch job classifications, Ward told the Staff Council. Under the old system, a staff member whose job duties changed would get a new job classification and sometimes a new pay level. There will be a moratorium on such reclassifications while things get settled next year.

“Because we are switching systems, there is a window of time when we need to leave things in a steady place,” Ward said.

Once UI staff members get their new assignments, there will be an appeal process.