Acting assignment
When an employee serves temporarily for an employee on university-approved leave. The expectation is that the employee on leave will return to the position.
Benchmark job
A job whose major responsibilities and requirements are found in the market. These jobs are typically included in salary surveys and have reliable market data readily available year after year.
Bring-to-minimum
A type of market adjustment that occurs when upward movement in a pay range causes an employee’s salary to fall below the minimum of the range. It refers to raising the employee’s salary up to the bottom of the pay range.
Career architecture
The design and placement of jobs within the organization’s units. Often referred to as the hierarchy of jobs within a unit, department or division.
Career stream
A progression that describes the nature of work being performed. There are four career streams at NIU:
- Entry level/laborers
- Individual contributors
- Specialized skills and supervisors
- Directors and executives
Compa ratio
The formula commonly used by compensation professionals to assess the competitiveness of an employee’s pay level. Compa ratio is calculated as the employee’s current salary divided by the midpoint (market reference point or MRP).
Compensation program
The program that provides a framework for managing compensation jobs at the university. The program consists of a philosophy, benchmarking methodology, career tracks, job classifications, a pay structure and guidelines for managing pay.
Counteroffer or retention offer
An increase in pay resulting from an external offer of employment. Counteroffers are a retention strategy intended to be used in exceptional and limited circumstances.
Demotion
The movement of an employee to a job in that has a pay range with a lower maximum rate of pay.
Equity adjustment
An adjustment made to an employee’s salary to appropriately reflect their skills, competency, job knowledge, education, experience and sustained contribution in relation to similar positions.
Exempt job
Exempt employees are paid an established salary and are expected to fulfill the duties of their jobs regardless of hours of work.
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
A federal law that sets the minimum wage, as well as other work rules, and guarantees pay for work beyond 37.5 or 40 hours (depending on work group and collective bargaining agreement; in some cases, daily overtime may be accrued). The law includes specific tests to determine whether a job will be covered by the law as either non-exempt or exempt. These tests consider duties, not characteristics of the incumbent.;
Institutional base salary
The total amount of compensation that is provided as part of an appointment or contract term.
Interim appointment
A position filled by another employee temporarily. At the same time, a search is being conducted, a unit is reorganized or a leader can no longer serve in their leadership capacity.
Job description title
A specific title that relates to a job within the university’s career architecture and describes the job’s role and responsibilities.
Job entry date
The date an employee entered their position. This date is used to measure the employee’s time in their classification.
Job family
A sub-set of job function, usually more specialized in nature. Examples:
- Compensation, benefits (families within human resources)
- Computer operations, system administration (families within information technology)
- Research program administration, research development (families within research)
Job function
A group of jobs involving similar types of work and requiring similar training, skills, knowledge and expertise. The job function concept helps organize related jobs for purposes of pay, career progression and performance management.
Lateral move/transfer
The movement of an employee to a job that is assigned to the same pay range as the employee’s current job.
Market adjustment
Refers to a salary adjustment that is made to recognize compensation changes in the marketplace for a specific job.
Non-benchmarked job
A job that is not commonly found in the market and that is not found in salary surveys, generally because these jobs have been tailored to meet specific needs of the university or a department.
Non-exempt job
A job that is subject to all the provisions of the FLSA. Non-exempt employees, commonly called hourly employees, must record the hours they work. They receive compensation for overtime.
Pay range or pay grade
A pay range to which jobs are assigned based on the job role, complexity and requirements, as well as the market value of benchmarked jobs.
Progression
The process by which an employee can enjoy growth within their current classification at certain intervals in their career path.
Promotion
The movement of an employee to a job that is in a higher pay range than the employee’s current job.
Red-dotted
A designation applied to an employee whose compensation exceeds the maximum of the pay range.
Total earnings
The total amount of compensation that is earned through base pay and additional pay.
Wage compression
A situation where longtime employees end up making the same or less than employees who have less experience, seniority, skills or education.
Working title
A title added to their official classification that more clearly defines the employee’s role. This title cannot conflict with a title in the classification system.