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Academic Personnel

Postdoctoral Scholar Retention Salary Adjustments

Policy

The UW-UAW Postdoctoral Scholars Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) states that “[f]or the purpose of retention, the Employer may enter into individual agreements at any time with Postdoctoral Scholars regarding salary increases.”

Discretionary salary/stipend increases for postdoctoral scholars typically should occur upon their reappointment or anniversary date. However, “off-cycle” requests for discretionary increases may be considered when circumstances justify an earlier (or expedited) review.

These discretionary retention increases must be prospective and require approval by:

  • Principal investigator
  • Academic unit
  • Dean’s/chancellor’s office
  • Office for Academic Personnel and Faculty (APF)

All approvals must be in place before entering into an agreement with the postdoctoral scholar.

Process

To request a retention salary adjustment, follow these steps in Workday:

For either Workday business process listed above, units must include the following information in the comments field in order for APF to complete the business process:

  • Effective date of increase (Must be prospective, dated the first or sixteenth of the month)
  • Proposed percentage increase
  • Justification for retention increase and for timing not aligned with reappointment or anniversary date
  • Attestation from the academic appointing unit and dean’s/chancellor’s office that all of the following are true:
    • The salary or stipend increase can be paid with existing resources and maintained through the lifecycle of the appointment
    • The discretionary retention increase does not impact the anniversary date for any applicable CBA-mandated increases
    • The individual has made satisfactory progress on their Individual Development Plan (IDP) per their most recent progress assessment