For the first time in four years, more than 4,000 UC Davis staff employees who are eligible for merit pay and not represented by unions will be granted salary increases. The increases will be based on a 3.5 percent merit pool that took effect Oct. 1 and will show up in paychecks beginning Nov. 1.

UC staff systemwide are eligible for the 3.5 percent merit pool, but vice chancellors at the individual campuses, including Davis, will determine exactly how that money will be distributed among employees.

"This year's merit raise truly is the result of efforts by UC President Robert Dynes and the Board of Regents, as well as the campus chancellors throughout the system and many others, working hard with state leaders to adopt a budget that reflects the critical importance of continued funding for UC salaries," said Dennis Shimek, UC Davis' senior associate vice chancellor for human resources.

Salary scales adjusted

UC Davis has also implemented salary grade increases, effective Oct. 1, for 30 positions on campus that will affect 178 employees currently doing those jobs. Of the total, 21 positions (affecting 122 employees) have been increased one salary grade and nine positions (affecting 56 employees) have been increased by two salary grades. Human Resources implemented the salary grade hikes based on a recent analysis of labor market data and consultation with campus managers.

At the same time, UC Davis has increased the salary scales for all 14 professional and support staff (PSS) salary grades and all nine managers and senior professional (MSP) grades. The salary grade changes and salary scale increases do not result in any immediate salary increases for the affected employees. Instead, the changes result in those affected employees having a higher potential for salary growth.

For example, the campus currently employs 22 Environmental Health & Safety Specialist IIs who, prior to Oct. 1, had been classified as PSS 5s. At a PSS 5 grade, their pay scale called for a maximum annual salary of $81,600.

However, UC Davis, beginning Oct. 1, moved those 22 employees up two grades to a PSS 7 classification and, at the same time, increased the maximum annual salary for a PSS 7 from $100,500 to $103,980. So, combining the benefits of both developments, the top annual salary for those 22 specialists has increased by $22,380, or for example, more than 27 percent.

'Give and take'

Also on Nov. 1, 796 union-represented employees on campus — including police, firefighters and service workers — will see increased paychecks for the first time this year as a result of completed salary negotiations with the UC system.

Those workers will join another 473 represented UC Davis employees — nurses, patient care technicians and residual health care professionals — whose paychecks have already increased in recent months due to completed salary negotiations.

But not all represented units have completed salary negotiations. Indeed, 1,928 clerical and allied services workers and 1,899 research support professionals and technicians are still engaged in the bargaining process.

"We remain committed to the collective bargaining process, with respect to those units," said Shimek, "and look forward to negotiated wage agreements that are the product of good faith give-and-take that the collective bargaining process requires."

For information on campus human resources, visit www.hr.ucdavis.edu.

New Salary Grades

One Salary Grade Change:

• Staff Research Associate II Supervisor (9616)
• Staff Research Associate III Supervisor (9615)
• Staff Research Associate IV Supervisor (9614)
• Staff Research Associate V (9609)
• Sr. Public Information Representative (7671)
• Sr. Writer (7703)
• Sr. Writer Supervisor (7702)
• Sr. Editor (7683)
• Sr. Editor Supervisor (7686)
• Pr. Editor (7682)
• Pr. Editor Supervisor (7680)
• Computing Resource Manager I (7282)
• Buyer I (7775)
• Producer-Director (6214)
• Sr. Producer-Director (6213)
• Sr. Producer-Director Supervisor (6109)
• Pr. Producer-Director (6212)
• Pr. Producer-Director Supervisor (6108)
• Managing Producer-Director (6211)
• Nurse Manager (9130)
• Histotechnologist Supervisor (9068)

Two Salary Grade Change:

• Assistant EH&S Specialist (7134)
• EH&S Specialist I (7133)
• EH&S Specialist II (7135)
• EH&S Specialist II Supervisor (7137)
• EH&S Specialist III (7132)
• EH&S Specialist III Supervisor (7136)
• Public Safety Dispatcher Supervisor (5218)
• Sr. Animal Technician Supervisor (9527)
• Pr. Animal Technician Supervisor (9528)