Tulane administers compensation policies and programs that support competitive and equitable pay based on duties and responsibilities within the marketplace. Tulane’s pay administration policies and programs are administered without regard to an individual's age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status.
For more information on interim assignments, promotions, and stipends, please see the bottom of this page.
Compensation Standards and Practices
The Compensation department collaborates with hiring managers, supervisors, senior managers, and the Office of Human Resources & Institutional Equity to provide policy guidance and administration of a uniform compensation program.
Manager Responsibilities
Each manager is responsible for:
- Obtaining senior management and budget approval prior to requesting any type of compensation analysis or review.
- Making sure that each staff member’s job description reflects current responsibilities, essential functions, and minimum qualifications.
- Providing an annual review of each job description to ensure up-to-date descriptions.
- Monitoring and analyzing salary relationships within their work group to ensure fair and consistent pay administration.
Assistance is available from each unit’s Human Resource Business Partner (HRBP), as well as members of the compensation team, to provide consultation to managers regarding planning and conducting regular analyses.
Job Evaluation Policies and Procedures
Tulane’s job evaluation policies and procedures facilitate:
- Job evaluations capture and analyze the value of job duties and responsibilities.
- Consistent evaluations and market data applications university-wide.
- Alignment with career bands, levels, and pay structures to provide competitive and equitable pay and future salary growth.
For more information on job positions, procedures, and reclassification, please see the bottom of this page.
Establishing Starting Salaries for New Hires
New starting salaries are determined by the candidate’s relevant knowledge, skills, and experience, as this relates to the position’s minimum requirements. This information will help determine in which salary range quartile the starting salary will be placed.
Determining Starting Salaries
Considerations when determining starting salaries include:
- Tulane’s hiring and pay administration guidelines
- Internal pay relationships
- Candidate's applicable knowledge, skills, and abilities
- Budget and legal concerns
When considering new hire starting salaries, either through external recruitment or internal promotion, a review of the starting salary should be compared to the unit’s internal employees to ensure consistency and equity within the unit. The table below provides general criteria for placing starting salaries within appropriate salary range quartiles based upon qualifications.
Example
A job classified as having a pay grade of 22 has the following hourly rate structure:
Based on the guidelines above:
- Candidates with the minimum qualifications would be hired between the minimum and 25th percentile ($16.11 - $18.46), as they are generally less experienced.
- Candidates who possess the preferred qualifications and are fully competent for the job should generally be hired between the 25th percentile and the midpoint (18.46–$20.87), as they are more experienced.
- Candidates who are highly experienced and possess skills, competencies, and capabilities well beyond the minimum requirements and preferred qualifications may be hired between the midpoint and the 75th percentile ($20.87–$23.27).
- Candidates should generally not be hired above the 75th percentile so that you can allow for pay growth and future merit increases based on performance. This quartile is reserved for candidates with long-term experience and performance capabilities.
Additional Information
Job descriptions exist for all regular staff positions and summarize typical duties and responsibilities as well as minimum hiring qualifications, including required education, experience level(s), and licensure(s) or certifications.
A requirement of employment is the supervisor's and employee's signatures on approved job descriptions. One signed copy should be retained by the department for reference throughout the year; one copy should be given to the employee for reference as well; and the original should be forwarded via email to the Records Team or hard copy to the Records Department within the Office of Human Resources & Institutional Equity.
All jobs at Tulane are grouped into common categories based on the type of work involved, the level of difficulty, the level of responsibility, and the minimum qualifications required for the job. The Compensation Department maintains Tulane’s job evaluation system, which is used in the classification of all staff positions:
- Job Evaluation Purpose: These purposes include the evaluation of jobs internally and externally, for job posting and advertising, the planning of annual and longer-term employee performance goals, and the development and guidance of training and professional development.
- Job Evaluation Process: To ensure the assignment of jobs to pay grades is equitable and competitive, the university utilizes job evaluation, which focuses on job value considerations, market data, and internal data. Job evaluation is a process by which compensation analysts assess the degree of knowledge and skills, scope of responsibilities, and range of impact factors as outlined in the job description. Market data, as well as internal data of similarly situated positions, are also reviewed to determine the appropriate assignment of pay grade, salary structure, and Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) status.
Information required to conduct a detailed evaluation for a new position includes:
- Justification for evaluation should include business reasons for the change, the approved budgeted amount, senior leadership approval, and other factors that would be helpful in understanding how the new position relates to other positions within the department.
- Proposed new job description.
- Current and proposed organization chart, if applicable.
A reclassification may be appropriate if the content of a job has changed significantly (e.g., the responsibilities have changed by more than 15%) resulting in a job description/title change, such as:
- Department reorganization resulted in position restructuring.
- Addition of new areas of responsibility.
- Expanded level of authority, leading to increased impact on decisions.
- Addition of a leadership role or supervisory duties.
Information required to conduct a detailed re-evaluation:
- Justification for reclassification should include business reasons for the change, the approved budgeted amount, senior leadership approval, and other factors that would be helpful to understand how the revised position relates to other positions within the department.
- Current and proposed job descriptions.
- Current and proposed organization charts.
On occasion, a reclassification can also result in a move from a higher grade to a lower grade due to departmental needs and not be the result of corrective action.
What qualifies as a new position? It is considered a new position if the position did not previously exist within the department’s organization number.
Submit the updated job description for posting to the Compensation Email. Compensation will review the job description to ensure it is Compensation-approved and to ensure correct grading. Comp will reach out to the hiring manager with any questions. When the review is completed, Compensation will coordinate with HRIS to create the PCN and job posting template. HRIS will send a notification email when the job posting and PCN have been created. The department can then open a vacancy.
Please follow this link to learn more about the vacancy process.
A component of the job evaluation process is determining the appropriate FLSA designation. The FLSA establishes provisions and standards to determine overtime pay, hours worked, record-keeping plans, and child-labor provisions. Staff at Tulane are either classified as performing "exempt" or "non-exempt" work based upon the regulations of the FLSA. The Compensation Department decides whether a job is "exempt" or "non-exempt" in accordance with FLSA requirements.
Effective January 1, 2020, the Department of Labor amended Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulations by increasing the minimum salary requirement for exempt full-time and part-time employees from an annual salary of $23,660 to $35,568.
The following summarizes the primary differences between the two categories:
Exempt Status
- The Fair Labor Standards Act does not apply to or protect positions held by exempt employees.
- Individuals in this category must surpass the salary test, which is greater than or equal to $35,568 annually or $684 per week.
- Job titles do not determine exempt status.
- An individual’s job functions must also pass the Fair Labor Standards Act duties test.
Nonexempt Status
- Nonexempt employees are employed in positions covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act
- Individuals in this status have clearly defined non-exempt duties.
- The supervisors of nonexempt employees set their work schedules and core hours.
Questions regarding a position’s exempt or nonexempt status should be directed to the Compensation team.
Further information about the Fair Labor Standards Act may be found on the U.S. Department of Labor website.
Interim assignments are formal, temporary assignments. For example, if a director position becomes vacant, the assistant director may be appointed to interim director for a specified amount of time.
The amount of the interim pay increase should be determined based on the following factors:
- The temporary pay increase should not exceed the amount of increase the employee would receive if regularly promoted into the position.
- Length of appointment.
- Grade difference between the employee's existing classification and the acting position's classification.
- Extent to which the full scope of the higher classified job will be performed.
- Survey data.
Promotion refers to advancing an employee's rank or position in a graded salary structure. Managers should plan and discuss promotions during the budget cycle with senior leadership.
A promotion can be a result of:
- An opening at a higher job level due to a vacancy
- A department’s business need to create a job at a higher paygrade level
- Movement to a higher career band level within a job family
- Internal job postings
Examples of promotions within job families:
- Assistant Director to Associate Director
- Accountant II to Accountant III
- Nurse Manager II to Nurse Manager III
- Web Developer I to Web Developer II
- Veterinary Technician III to Veterinary Technician IV
- Program Coordinator to Senior Program Coordinator
Promotional Salary Increases
The following will determine promotional increases:
- If current pay is below the minimum of the new pay grade, pay will be brought to the minimum of the new pay grade.
- Employees at or above minimum may receive a promotional increase of up to 10%, contingent upon budgetary considerations, internal equity, etc.
A stipend/one-time payment is a non-recurring single payment (not applied to base pay) for specific services, events, or deliverables that are clearly outside the employee’s established job duties, including annual goals and objectives.
For exempt employees, stipends/one-time payments may be given to recognize and/or compensate for a special project or interim assignment. Example: The employee is an assistant director but receives a stipend (one-time payment) for teaching language classes.
For non-exempt employees, according to U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division Fact Sheet #56C: Bonuses under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), stipends and one-time payments must comply with the provisions of the statute.
If you would like to compensate a non-exempt employee for additional work performed outside of their regular assigned job, contact the Compensation Department before the work is performed. All requests must be reviewed against FLSA guidelines for qualification. If you have questions regarding non-exempt employees receiving one-time payments, contact the Compensation Department before any action is taken.
A lateral move occurs when an employee moves into a new position within the same pay grade as their current position.
Lateral move example: An employee is a project assistant at a pay grade of 22. There is an open Medical Office Assistant pay grade of 22. The employee applies, interviews, receives, and accepts the offer. This is a lateral move. The pay range and pay grade remain the same. This can occur within the current department or by moving to a different department.
- Typically, employees moving laterally may be eligible to receive up to a 2% increase, depending on budgetary considerations.
- Salary adjustments for lateral moves are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Transfers
A transfer is when an employee moves to a position outside their current department. Salary changes may or may not be warranted in the case of a transfer.
