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I. Starting Salary for New Hires

A. External Hires
Salary Ranges - The normal starting salary for a successful external candidate for a vacancy in a salary range may be established by the hiring department at a salary rate up to 15 percent above the established range minimum salary. Hires beyond the 15 percent hiring range, but not in excess of the established range maximum, require VP/Provost approval and authorization.

Salary Grade Structures - For a vacancy in the grade structure, the normal starting salary may be established up to ten (10) percent beyond the midpoint of the grade. Exceptions will require the approval of the appropriate Vice President/Provost and UHR.

Hiring at rates in excess of the range or grade maximum, including requests for T-code appointments, are to be submitted to the Associate Vice President for University Human Resources or his or her designee for consideration and decision.

B. Internal Hires
The compensation level for a successful internal candidate (current Rutgers employee) for a job posting will be determined as detailed in the following section on Promotion or the section on lateral move as appropriate.

II. Promotion
Promotion is the formal advancement of an individual from one position to a more responsible vacant position in a higher salary range or grade. Promotion results either when an employee is the successful applicant for such a position or when a department decides to promote an employee internally to such a position. All vacant positions that are to be filled must be reviewed by UHR. Affirmative Action procedures must be followed during the recruitment process.

A. Salary
The salary increase resulting from a promotion is determined as follows. (Use the same formula for employees who are promoted into a URA-AFT covered position from another unit.)

1. A minimum of five (5) percent up to a maximum of fifteen (15) percent increase to the employee’s salary at the discretion of the hiring authority. The new salary cannot be less than the minimum or more than the maximum of the new range or grade. For salary grades, most salaries are expected to cluster around the grade midpoint, which is the measure for the market rate. Hiring authorities must take this fact into consideration in determining the offer salary. An additional factor to take into consideration is whether the promotion results in an increase in the standard number of hours worked per week.

2. Under extraordinary circumstances, a Vice President or Provost may request that an exception be made to provide an increase in excess of the above parameters. Exception requests should be forwarded to the Associate Vice President for Human Resources or his or her designee.

B. Effective Date of Promotion.
The effective date is the date on which, after all necessary approvals are received, the employee begins work in the new title.

III. Lateral Move
If an employee moves laterally (i.e., to a new position that is evaluated in the same range or grade as the position the employee is leaving), the employee will be placed in the new title but will remain at the same salary, unless the department determines that an in-range/grade adjustment is appropriate and approved in accordance with Section V.

IV. Job Reclassification
Job reclassification is the formal change in a position's range or grade due to a substantive change in job content. Reclassification may be downward or upward with a corresponding change in compensation and possibly a change in job title. (See Article 33 regarding reclassification)

A. When a position has been reclassified to a higher range or grade, the effective date of the upward reclassification will be the payroll begin date following receipt of the completed Classification and Recruitment Form by the Newark Human Resources Office, the Camden Provost's Office, or UHR in New Brunswick. The compensation level for the individual is determined by following the promotion policy in Section II.

B. When a position is reclassified to a lower range or grade, the compensation level for the individual is determined by the downgrade policy in Section VI.

V. In-Range/Grade Salary Adjustments
In-range/grade salary adjustments may be used to provide increases to employees who either transfer to a different position within the same salary range/grade or who assume a demonstrable increase in their job duties and outcomes within the same position. All requests for in-range/grade salary adjustments require concurrence by the supervisor, the department/division head, and the appropriate Vice President/Provost. Requests will be submitted to UHR to determine if the additional responsibilities added to the position are appropriate within the current range/grade. In-range/grade salary adjustments must satisfy the following parameters:

A. The salary adjustment should not exceed ten (10) percent.

B. The resulting salary does not exceed the salary range/grade maximum.

C. The employee has not had another in-range/grade salary adjustment within the last 12 months.

All requests that are outside of these parameters must be submitted to the Associate Vice President for University Human Resources or his or her designee for approval.

VI. Downgrade
Moves to a lower job classification may occur as the result of an employee's personal choice (voluntary downgrade); for documented inadequate job performance (deficiency downgrade); or when through no fault of the employee the university determines that the individual position should be reclassified downward (involuntary, no-fault downgrade).

An employee who is given notice of layoff but who, before removal from the payroll, is the successful applicant for a lower-rated position, will be compensated in accordance with Section VI.A. - Voluntary, below. An employee who is laid off and then rehired will be compensated in accordance with the Policy on Employment Protection, Section 60.4.3, of the University Policy Library.

If an employee moves into a position covered by a bargaining unit as a result of a downward reclassification or as a result of being a successful candidate, the rules for that unit apply.

Salary adjustments resulting from these downward moves are calculated as follows:

A. Voluntary and Deficiency Downgrades
1. If an employee voluntarily elects to move to a lower-rated job and received an appraisal rating of Meets Standards on his or her most recent performance evaluation, or if the downward move is a result of documented below-standard job performance or documented disciplinary action, the employee’s salary is reduced by a minimum of five (5) percent and up to a maximum of fifteen (15) percent. If the reduced salary exceeds the maximum of the lower range or grade, the individual will be placed at the maximum of the lower range or grade.

2. The dean, director, or department head must submit a written request for a salary reduction to the Associate Vice President for Human Resources or his or her designee for consideration and decision.

3. The adjusted salary is effective the first day of the pay period following the date the employee begins work in the lower-rated job title after all necessary approvals have been received.

B. Involuntary Downgrade (No Fault Downgrade)
When the university, through no fault of the employee, determines that a position should be reclassified downward, the individual is moved on to the lower range or grade at the same salary, not to exceed the maximum of the lower range or grade. If the salary falls above the range or grade maximum and the employee received an appraisal rating of Meets Standards on his or her most recent performance evaluation, the individual’s salary will be frozen (“red-circled”) until such time as the maximum is raised above that level, but not to exceed two years from the date the salary was frozen. If at the end of two years (2) the red- circled salary continues to exceed the maximum of the lower range or grade, the employee’s salary will be reduced to the maximum of the lower range or grade at that time.

This Section does not apply to positions supported by grant funds. When a position that is supported by grant funds is reclassified downward, compensation will be calculated as in Section VI.A. – Voluntary.

VII. Title Upgrade
When the job content of a title remains essentially the same but the range or grade is deemed to be incorrect and the title is given a higher range or grade, incumbents are moved to the higher range or grade as follows:

A. The employee retains the same salary in the new range or grade.

B. If the employee’s salary is below the minimum of the new range or grade, it will be increased to the minimum.

VIII. Title Downgrade
When the job content of a title remains essentially the same, but the range or grade is deemed to be incorrect and the title is given a lower range or grade, salary adjustments are calculated in accordance with Section VI.B – Involuntary Downgrade (No Fault Downgrade).

IX. Red-Circled Employees

A. When a red-circled employee is promoted or reclassified upward, the compensation level for the individual is determined in accordance with the promotion policy in Section II – Promotion.

B. When a red-circled employee is reclassified downward, the compensation is determined by the downgrade policy in Section VI.B – Involuntary Downgrade (No Fault Downgrade).

C. When a red-circled employee's title is upgraded, salary is calculated in accordance with Section VII.

D. When a red-circled employee's title is downgraded, salary is calculated in accordance with Section VIII.

X. Exceptions
Exceptions to this article may be granted only by the Associate Vice President for University Human Resources or his or her designee following written request by a dean, director, or department head.

XI. All determinations made pursuant to this Article shall be made at the sole and exclusive discretion of the University.