Merit & Faculty Unit Adjustment Process Guide

For details on salary increase eligibility, review the merit authorization letter applicable to your campus as well as the list of Job Profiles Not Included in the Merit Process.

The table below outlines major activities and deadlines associated with preparation and submission.
(OAP=Office of Academic Personnel; UWHR=UW Human Resources; UW-IT=UW Information Technology)

Units must review and ensure data used in the merit and faculty unit adjustment process is correct. If errors are identified, units must complete corrective action by July 31. Completion means no approval steps remain on the Workday business process. Addressing data errors helps ensure that accurate information is pulled into official merit/unit adjustment spreadsheets (“official file”).

The official files–created and distributed by UWHR in early August–contain Workday data that projects what each merit-eligible employee’s record will look like on August 31. This date is important since salary increases will be calculated on the projected August 31 full-time monthly base salary. When verifying and cleaning up data, it is especially important to confirm pay and position details as of this date.

NOTE: During the clean-up process, do not submit or save draft transactions with an effective date of September 1 or later; they will be rescinded.

1. Run the Merit Data Audit Report R0536 (“R0536”) available in Workday
2. Review and confirm the following data:
   • All merit-eligible employees show up on the report
   • Supervisory organization is correct
   • Full-time monthly base pay is accurate
   • Compensation is a non-zero number
   • Practice plan allowance (if one exists) has been updated commensurate with the FTE
   • If UW employment will continue, Compensation Actual End Date extends beyond August 31 and matches End Employment Date on the position
   • If UW employment will end prior to September 1, a termination has been processed and fully completed in Workday; employees terminated prior to September 1 are not eligible for merit
3. Initiate corrective action in Workday if you identify data errors during the above review; ensure all approvals associated with corrective action are completed by July 31.
4. Run R0536 again after errors have been addressed to verify data is correct. Errors will continue to show on the report until the corrective transaction completes through the associated approval chain. Re-run the report regularly to check for new errors.

• Keep on top of your data clean-up deadlines. Remember, the deadline for data clean-up is July 31. Failure to run R0536 and clean data accordingly could cause serious errors with the data load into Workday and result in a delay of salary increase, over/underpayment, or significant time/effort/frustration for unit staff, campus partners, and merit recipients.
• Discuss anticipated increases with all impacted units. Units that share funding for a position must discuss the anticipated increase with all impacted units. An employee’s approved increase will be distributed proportionally to the existing costing allocation.
• Know your eligible populations. Unless otherwise indicated in Job Profiles Not Included in the Merit Process, salaried personnel in paid status, including faculty with courtesy or part-time appointments, are eligible and will appear on the official file.
• Don’t zero out compensation. Employees with zero compensation will not be on the official file. Do not zero out compensation as a means of delaying the termination or reappointment process. Doing so is against university policy and will result in serious data errors.
• Avoid restricted transactions. As indicated in Restricted Entry Period, select transactions are restricted beginning in August. Once approved salary increases are successfully loaded, restrictions will be lifted and units will be able to enter new transactions freely. Transactions that block the merit process will be cancelled, including transactions that have been drafted or ‘saved’ for future processing

The Merit Data Audit Report R0536 (“R0536”) is an important part of the clean-up process. When using the report, keep the following in mind:

• By default, R0536 displays information projected for August 31. For merit preparation purposes, units should not change the report date.
• Data is extracted based on supervisory organization.
• R0536 looks only at merit-eligible job profiles. Review Job Profiles Not Included in the Merit Process and the merit authorization letter applicable to your campus for details on merit eligibility.
• If a single worker has unique position numbers in different supervisory organizations, R0536 only displays positions belonging to your supervisory organization. Units with faculty who hold joint appointments must work with the joint unit to agree upon and match recommended percent increases.
• Compensation information is displayed in full-time monthly rates
• ‘End Employment Date’ ,‘General Salary Plan Actual End Date’ and ‘Practice Plan Actual End Date’ are displayed only if they exist in Workday
• ‘Date of Last Base Pay Change’ is the date of the most recent transaction in Workday that may have changed UW base pay. NOTE: Some compensation change actions in Workday don’t result in a change in actual compensation (e.g., Extend Compensation End Date). Units should review the employee’s Workday record to understand whether a change in compensation actually occurred that could serve as a basis for precluding the individual from a salary increase.

To support an accurate data load, select Workday transactions need to be restricted for merit-eligible populations. Other job profiles, including those listed in Job Profiles Not Included in the Merit Process, are not restricted.

The restricted entry period is August 1 – September 11. Review the table below for details on specific restrictions.

NOTE: Termination, Costing Allocation, One Time Payment, and Period Activity Pay transactions as well as transactions utilizing UW Hires are not restricted at any point during merit preparation. Terminations should be processed in Workday in a timely manner.

Restricted Entry Period: August 1 – September 11 

In early August, UWHR will coordinate distribution of official files to units for each population authorized for salary increases. Do not add rows to the official file as that may compromise embedded formulas and data accuracy.

The official file is a spreadsheet. To complete it, the unit will complete the following steps:

STEP 1: Enter a Merit Reason Code

• Choose the most applicable merit reason code from the drop-down menu in the merit reason code column
• Review Merit Reason Codes for definitions and guidance
• If requested, units must provide documentation to support their selection

STEP 2: Enter recommended merit percentage

• Faculty merit percentages must be either 0% or 2%; no other values are permitted
• Librarians who are meritorious and not otherwise precluded may receive an increase between 0.5% – 10% provided the average across the unit’s academic staff population does not exceed 3%
• Academic staff as defined in APS 40.1 who meritorious and not otherwise precluded may receive an increase between 0.5% – 10% provided the average across the unit’s academic staff population does not exceed 3%
• Professional staff who are meritorious and not otherwise precluded may receive an increase between 0.5% – 10% provided the average across the unit’s professional staff population does not exceed 3%
• For jointly appointed faculty, the primary appointing unit must have the concurrence of the secondary unit(s). The increase will be applied to the primary appointing unit, unless the joint appointment exists across two positions in which case each position will receive the same percentage increase.

STEP 3 (Faculty Only): Enter recommended CENTRAL unit adjustment [“CUA”] percentage

1. Confirm faculty member meets CUA eligibility criteria:
   • Determined to be meritorious in the 2023-24 academic year; and
   • Has not had a retention adjustment since September 1, 2023
2. Enter proposed CUA percentage
   • Individual adjustments must be between 0.5% and 10%; if individual will not receive a CUA, enter “0”
   • Equal ‘across-the-board’ CUA distribution is permissible
   • For jointly appointed faculty, the primary appointing unit must have the concurrence of the secondary unit(s). The increase will be applied to the primary appointing unit, unless the joint appointment exists across two positions in which case each position will receive the same percentage increase.
3. Ensure that the average CUA across the eligible population does not exceed 1%
4. Complete ‘Methodology & Consultation’ tab on official file to document the distribution methodology and confirm required consultation (See APPENDIX for details)

STEP 4 (Faculty Only): Enter recommended LOCAL unit adjustment [“LUA”] percentage

1. Confirm faculty member meets LUA eligibility criteria:
   • Determined to be meritorious in the 2023-24 academic year; and
   • Has not had a retention adjustment since September 1, 2023
2. Enter proposed unit adjustment percentage
   • Individual adjustments must be between 0.5% and 10%; if individual will not receive an LUA, enter “0”
   • LUA increases should be distributed differentially and should reflect the specific goals outlined in the unit’s proposal. NOTE: unlike the FY25 centrally funded unit adjustment, an equal ‘across-the-board’ distribution is not permitted for the locally funded unit adjustment. 
   • For jointly appointed faculty, the primary appointing unit must have the concurrence of the secondary unit(s). The increase will be applied to the primary appointing unit, unless the joint appointment exists across two positions in which case each position will receive the same percentage increase.
3. Ensure your unit’s total LUA distribution is within the approved allocation. Check the “Local Unit Adjustment Allocation” and “Allocation Used” fields in the top right of your official file. If you are over your allocation, adjust individual distributions accordingly.

STEP 5: As applicable, add detail to the Additional Information column

• Provide additional context that may help OAP or UWHR better understand merit recommendations of ‘preclude’ or ‘ineligible’
• If an employee has a retirement, resignation, or termination date effective prior to September 1, but the Workday process was not completed by July 31, note the retirement/resignation/termination effective date and confirm the transaction has been processed in Workday. An employee whose separation is effective after September 1 is eligible for merit.
• NOTE: Information in this column is not loaded into Workday

STEP 6: Submit completed spreadsheets by August 16

• Faculty, librarian, and academic staff spreadsheets go to Peg Stuart at mjstuart@uw.edu
• Professional staff spreadsheets go to UWHR at prostaffmerit@uw.edu.

A reminder that all increases–including faculty unit adjustments–are calculated on the projected August 31 full-time monthly base rate, regardless of actual FTE or funding source. New September 1 base rates are rounded up to the nearest dollar. 

Academic Personnel Merit Reason Codes & Definitions (jump to Professional Staff)

Professional Staff Merit Reason Codes & Definitions (jump to Academic Personnel)

Between September 9-13, units must confirm that approved increases have loaded as intended into Workday, by running  the R0537 report in Workday and checking the output against the approved official file(s). NOTE: R0537 is not the same report that was used for data clean-up. If the unit identifies errors, they should follow steps outlined in the Corrections & Changes section.

It is the responsibility of individual units to award meritorious faculty a merit increase in compliance with the Faculty Salary Policy. Meritorious faculty who received compensation at any point during 2023-24 academic year, but have not been reappointed, rehired, or are not in active pay status on September 1, 2024 are due the equivalent of a merit increase should they be reappointed, rehired, or returned to paid status at any point during the 2024-25 academic year. A salary increase equivalent to the percent authorized for faculty merit must be factored into the new base salary upon rehire and the appointment letter should note the salary as inclusive of a merit increase.

This applies to all faculty as identified in the Faculty Code Section 21-31, including those with part-time or full-time appointments in clinical, acting, affiliate, or visiting faculty ranks/titles, teaching associates, lecturers, and artists in residence.

Annual or shorter-term faculty who have been processed for Fall 2024 reappointment should appear on the official file, provided they are active or on summer hiatus. If a unit is unsure of their 2024-25 workforce needs and has not reappointed an existing annual or shorter-term faculty member, the unit should terminate the employee and rehire when they are ready to make an employment commitment. As noted above, units should factor the equivalent of a merit increase into the individual’s salary upon rehire. Units should not zero out compensation as a means of circumventing the termination process as that is against university policy and will result in serious data errors.

A correction is in order when a recommendation was entered on the official file and approved by OAP or UWHR, but did not load into Workday correctly. If a unit identifies such an error when validating increases loaded into Workday, they must submit a correction request as soon as possible and no later than September 13 to ensure the error is corrected in time for the September 25 pay date.

A change is when a unit would like to revise the percentage or merit reason code after it has already been approved by OAP of UWHR. Please be aware that there is no guarantee that review, approval, and loading of changes will be completed in time to appear on September 25 pay slips. As such, it is critical that units carefully consider recommendations they enter onto the official file before submitting them for institutional review. It is the provost’s expectation that there will be an extremely limited need for changes.

‘Corrections’ are prioritized ahead of ‘Changes’.

Keep in mind that some job profiles are not included in the merit process and that unpaid or terminated/non-renewed academic personnel are not eligible for merit until they move into paid status or are rehired. For more detail, please see Job Profiles Not Included in the Merit Process and Merit Considerations for Annual or Shorter-Term Faculty.

If an individual was omitted from the official file when they shouldn’t have been, it is often a result of a data error with their Workday record or the timing of their hire relative to the merit review. In such cases, the unit should contact OAP (for academic personnel) or UWHR (for professional staff) to confirm merit eligibility and get information on next steps.

Submitting Corrections or Changes

Before submitting a correction or change, verify with your dean/chancellor/VP office unit administrator that the employee was listed on the official file and that the increase was approved by OAP or UWHR.

To submit a correction or change, create a UW Connect ticket by emailing your request to HRhelp@uw.edu. The subject line must indicate whether it is a correction or a change and the employment category (e.g., “MERIT CORRECTION – Academic”, “MERIT CHANGE – Staff”).

UW Connect ticket must include the following information as applicable:

• Employee Name
• EID
• Position Number
• Full-time Monthly Salary Rate in effect as of August 31, 2024
• Full-time Monthly Salary Rate to be effective September 1, 2024
• Proposed merit, CUA unit adjustment, and/or LUA unit adjustment percentage(s)
• Proposed merit reason code
• A change in an OAP-approved or UWHR-approved percentage or reason code must include a description of and rationale for the requested change, and an attestation that the dean/chancellor/unit head has approved the revision. Supporting documentation of dean/chancellor/unit head approval should be maintained in the department. Upon OAP/UWHR approval, the change will be processed centrally.

For additional questions not addressed in this process guide, please contact the appropriate resource identified below and include “Merit Process Question” as the subject line of your email.

• For general merit and faculty unit adjustment questions, your first point of contact should be your dean’s/VP office unit administrator.
• For questions on how to cancel or rescind actions in Workday, email HRhelp@uw.edu.

If you have questions that cannot be resolved by your dean’s/VP office, the dean’s/VP office unit administrator should reach out to the contacts below, as appropriate:

• Academic personnel merit and faculty unit adjustment processes
  Email Peg Stuart at mjstuart@uw.edu
• Professional staff in-grade and review processes
  Email your Assigned Compensation Consultant or uwhrcomp@uw.edu (for campus) or medcomp@uw.edu (for medical centers)
• Professional staff merit process
  Email UWHR at prostaffmerit@uw.edu
• Merit and faculty unit adjustment authorization/policies
  Email Peg Stuart at mjstuart@uw.edu

Academic Personnel Job Profiles Not Included in the Merit Process (jump to Professional Staff job profiles)

Professional Staff Job Profiles Not Included in the Merit Process (jump to Academic Personnel job profiles)

Units will be prompted to enter information onto their official merit/unit adjustment file that describes the methodology they used in arriving at their Central Unit Adjustment (CUA) recommendations, and to describe and confirm how they engaged with faculty councils in the process. The following prompts can guide units in their preparation.

• Please provide a brief description of the distribution methodology used in planning for the CUA (e.g., equal vs. differential distribution).
• If recommending a differential distribution, what specific challenges did the unit seek to address?
• Please provide a brief description of how the department chair/campus dean consulted with department faculty—in accord with Faculty Code 24-71 Section B.2—when developing a CUA distribution plan.
• Please provide a brief description of how the dean/chancellor consulted with their elected school/college/campus-level faculty council—in accord with Faculty Code 24-71 Section C— when developing a CUA distribution plan.