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Merit Pay for Staff

Austin Peay remains committed to recognizing and rewarding great performance, which is why the University is moving to a merit pay system for employees, also known as pay-for-performance. This new system will allow us to administer compensation in a fair manner.

The merit pay structure also allows the University to successfully recruit, retain, and reward high-performing employees. Our faculty and staff are consistently finding new and innovative ways to succeed and should be rewarded for their hard work. 

The following information pertains to the merit pay increases effective in fiscal year 2019-20 (July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2020). 

Overview

  • Recognizing and rewarding high performance is a key strategic priority for driving excellence at Austin Peay State University.
  • The University will be moving to merit-pay,” also known as pay-for-performance,” which provides the foundation for administering compensation in a fair manner.
  • The term “pay for performance” refers to a pay strategy where evaluations of individual performance have significant influence on the amount of pay increases given to each employee.
  • The new pay structure positions the University to successfully recruit, retain and reward high-performing employees.

 

How Merit Pay Works

  • The amount of the individual merit increase will vary according to employees performance contributions and the available merit budget allocated to each department.
  • Every department will be operating with a percent of merit pool budget allocation based on total department salaries. - TBD by Budget Advisory Task Force
  • The total of employee merit increases within a department cannot exceed the department’s allocated merit budget.
  • Reviewing Officers, Human Resources, and Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action will conduct review and audits of all submissions.

Performance Evaluations

The annual performance review process will serve as the primary method for assessing and rewarding employees. Departmental supervisors and leaders will be responsible for evaluating their employees’ performance annually and for determining merit increases for each employee. Supervisors will provide feedback regarding an employee’s performance during the review period and explain how that performance translates into a pay decision.

Click to learn more about performance evaluations

Eligibility

  • Employee is active full-time or part-time administrative, professional, or support staff.
  • Employee’s start date is prior to January 1, 2019.
  • Employee has received “Solid Performer” or higher on relevant performance evaluation.
  • Employee has not received a performance improvement plan or disciplinary action during current evaluation cycle (April 1 - December 31, 2018).

Additional Rules for Managers/Supervisors:

  • If managers/supervisors do not complete the supervisor evaluation by the deadline, they may not receive an increase.

Frequently Asked Questions

The term “pay for performance” refers to a pay strategy where evaluations of individual performance have significant influence on the amount of pay increases given to each employee. The new pay structure positions the University to successfully recruit, retain and reward high-performing employees.

Austin Peay remains committed to recognizing and rewarding great performance, which is why the University is moving to a merit pay system for employees, also known as pay-for-performance. This new system will allow us to administer compensation in a fair manner.

  • The amount of the individual merit increase will vary according to employees’ performance contributions and the available merit budget allocated to each department. 
  • Every department will be operating with a percent of merit pool budget allocation based on total department salaries.
  • The total of employee merit increases within a department cannot exceed the department’s allocated merit budget. 
The total merit pool will be determined by market trends, economic conditions and available funding.
Regular full-time and part-time employees with a start date prior to January 1 and a “Solid Performer” or higher on relevant performance evaluation.

Employees with a solid performer rating or higher on their performance evaluation, will be eligible for a standard and merit increase.

Employees with a solid performer or higher performance evaluation will receive a salary increases on the first work-day of the new fiscal year, typically July 1.

The employee will complete the self-evaluation.  Then supervisors will complete the performance evaluation and exclude the dates that the employee was out of the office.

No, supervisors and reviewing officers do not need to attend the employee training.

No, there will not be any market adjustments.

The training registration form is located at the bottom of the Trainings tab.

Merit pay is added to your base salary