General pay increase for faculty and staff anticipated early next year

UW–Madison expects to provide a 2 percent wage increase early next year to employees under the 2021–2023 pay plan. However, the state’s legislative Joint Committee on Employment Relations (JCOER) still needs to formally approve the pay plan increases.

The 2 percent increase is anticipated to take effect Jan. 2, 2022. However, the effective date will need to be confirmed once the pay plan is formally approved by the JCOER.

The State of Wisconsin’s Joint Finance Committee first acted on funding the pay plan in June 2021. The pay plan specifies a 2 percent increase for all state employees, including faculty and staff at UW–Madison, in each of the next two years.

In response to the initial Joint Finance Committee vote in June 2021, Chancellor Blank said, “UW-Madison employees work hard to ensure our students receive among the best educational experiences in the nation, do life-saving research and provide important outreach services to people and businesses around the state of Wisconsin.

“They’ve continued to do this during an incredibly difficult time, and today’s vote by the committee is an important recognition of the role that UW–Madison faculty and staff, and all state employees, perform.”

All Academic Staff, Faculty, Limited, and University Staff are eligible to receive the pay plan increase. Some employee categories, including Temporary Employees and student hourly employees, are not eligible.

Employees who are receiving the pay increase will receive a written communication informing them of their new pay rate, when that pay rate becomes effective, and when the increase will be reflected on their paycheck.

To be eligible to receive the pay increases, individuals must have been employed in their current positions on Dec. 5, 2021. Employees must also have completed UW–Madison’s sexual harassment prevention training; completed cybersecurity awareness training; and met performance expectations as identified in their last performance evaluation. Supervisors are required to be up to date on performance evaluations for the employees they supervise. Additional criteria may apply at the divisional level.

For employees in the building trades, the JCOER also needs to approve the pending collective bargaining agreements for the last two fiscal years. These contracts stipulate increases of 1.81% (effective Jan. 3, 2021) and 1.23% (effective Jan. 2, 2022). After JCOER approval, the full Legislature and Governor need to approve the collective bargaining agreements before the pay increases can be implemented.