Unclassified pay plan detailed

A key state agency is expected to vote Wednesday, Oct. 3, on a pay plan covering many UW System employees over the next two years.

The state Department of Employment Relations will recommend a pay plan offering 3.2 percent increase in the first year and 4.2 percent in the second year for unclassified UW System faculty and academic staff. The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Employment Relations must approve the plan.

DER recommendations calls for an increase of 3.2 percent for fiscal year 2001-02 (retroactive to July 1) and two increases for 2002-03: 2.1 percent July 1 and 2.1 percent Jan. 1, 2003.

Pay plans for state classified employees are still under negotiation.

Earlier this year, the Board of Regents asked the state to recommend a 4.2 percent pay increase for faculty and academic staff in each year of the two-year budget cycle.

“The governor is trying to balance state priorities in a very tight financial situation,” says Katharine Lyall, UW System president. “I appreciate that this DER recommendation of 3.2 percent and 4.2 percent for our faculty and academic staff is intended to help us strengthen the state’s ‘brain gain’ efforts by keeping our talent in Wisconsin.

“Naturally, I’m disappointed that the economy doesn’t let us achieve the regents’ full pay plan request, but we will aggressively work to retain our best faculty and staff and repel efforts to recruit these employees to other states.

“The governor has made clear that he values our faculty and staff and he has signaled this support by treating the university well in the state’s operating and capital budgets. We need to retain and grow our faculty and staff to deliver on our commitment to help Wisconsin transition to the ‘next’ economy.”

JCOER, which oversees pay and fringe benefits for all state employees, including those at UW–Madison, often approves DER’s pay plan without changing it. But the committee does have the authority to make changes and submit them to the governor for approval. If the governor vetoes the changes, JCOER can override the veto with a two-thirds vote of its members.

The state has already finalized raises for the state’s non-represented classified staff, including those at UW–Madison. Those employees will see a 1 percent pay raise this year and a 2 percent raise starting July 2002.

UW–Madison classified staff human resources director Jim Stratton says those employees should get their first paychecks under the new pay plan Thursday, Oct. 4, including a lump sum pay check to cover the difference in pay back to the effective date of July 1, 2001.