Understand how employment grades and steps set base pay, how tax and take-home pay are shown, and how approved additional compensation and academic breaks are handled.
How do employment grades, salary scales, and steps work?
The grade catalog describes the institution's job levels and their salary scopes. A grade may have a range or scale made up of ordered salary steps. A person's contract records the grade and selected step together with the saved salary rate. The grade describes the position's pay structure; the step identifies the rate within that structure.
A promotion or approved step-up creates a new effective-dated contract version. Earlier versions remain available as history. Annual step-up is not an automatic salary change: when the policy enables it and a higher step exists, an authorized Institution Admin or Employment HR reviews eligibility, chooses the new step, confirms the amount and effective date, and saves the change. A step-up does not replace a promotion workflow where the employee's grade or designation changes.
How does salary tax and estimated take-home pay appear?
The contract uses the tax schedules applicable to the employee's staff group, campus or institution policy, salary currency, pay frequency, and contract effective date. Where a progressive schedule applies, the contract shows the taxable salary basis, bands and applied tax amounts, expected withholding or employer-paid tax, and an estimated take-home amount.
The tax section is an estimate based on the saved salary and applicable schedule. Final payroll may differ because of unpaid leave, advance recovery, eligible compensation, later policy changes, or other payroll adjustments. A contract estimate is not a tax filing or personal tax determination.
How do salary, bonuses, overtime, and extra duties work?
Salary uses the active contract version and its saved rate. Supported pay periods include monthly, half-month, 14-day, and 7-day periods. Approved compensation is kept separate from grade and salary-step progression.
- Overtime: policy can define eligibility and a multiplier. Approved overtime hours are valued using the configured derived hourly rate and multiplier (default 1.5 where used, with the policy range limited to 1–5) and included when eligible.
- Additional duties: a separately assigned duty may be paid as a fixed amount or by hour, day, session, or another configured unit. It does not change the employee's grade or step.
- Annual and performance bonuses: are one-time compensation entries. Performance awards should be supported by the institution's review and approval process and are not a permanent base-salary increase.
- Visiting faculty: a separate appointment can be paid by course, credit, lecture, hour, term, or a fixed agreed amount. It is reviewed and included in payroll when approved and eligible.
Authorized staff manage these items through the relevant compensation workflow. The payroll process includes only approved, in-scope compensation entries. Approval of extra duties or overtime should not be confused with an automatic grade step-up.
How are faculty salaries treated during semester breaks?
Teaching contracts can state that salary continues, is annualized across the year, applies only during term time, is paid through separate appointments, or follows another defined contract arrangement. Term-time-only and separate-appointment teaching uses the institution's academic semester dates. The contract and policy determine what is paid during a break; a semester break does not by itself cancel or extend a contract.
Does annual step-up happen automatically?
No. An authorized Institution Admin or Employment HR reviews eligibility and saves an effective-dated contract version with the approved salary step and rate.