| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 63.09 |
| Liaison | Elida Erickson |
| Submission Date | April 17, 2015 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of California, Santa Cruz
PA-9: Employee Compensation
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.50 / 3.00 |
Lacey
Raak Sustainability Director PPC |
Number of employees:
Number of staff and faculty covered by sustainable compensation standards, guidelines, or policies; and/or collective bargaining agreements:
Does the institution have employees of contractors working on-site as part of regular and ongoing campus operations?:
Number of employees of contractors working on campus:
Number of employees of contractors covered by sustainable compensation standards, guidelines, or policies and/or collective bargaining agreements:
A brief description of the sustainable compensation standards, guidelines, or policies; and/or collective bargaining agreements covering staff, faculty and/or employees of contractors:
UCSC complies with federal or state laws governing employee compensation.
Background on Collective Bargaining at UC
The Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act
The Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA) is the state law that authorizes and regulates collective bargaining between the University of California and the labor organizations that represent UC employees. The complete text of the law is available on the web at http://www.perb.ca.gov/laws/HEERA.aspx.
The Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) administers HEERA. PERB conducts representation elections and investigates and makes decisions regarding Unfair Labor Practice charges filed by employees, labor organizations and the University.
The law protects employees from reprisals, discrimination, coercion or interference with their exercise of HEERA rights, including the right to form, join and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of representation on all matters of employer-employee relations and for the purpose of meeting and conferring over those matters. Employees also have the right to refuse to join employee organizations or to participate in the activities of these organizations. Employees cannot, however, refuse to pay an agency fee (fair share) in lieu of paying membership dues.
Employees who are managerial or confidential within the meaning of HEERA, and some student employees, are excluded from the law's coverage. Supervisory employees have some rights to union representation under HEERA; however, the law prohibits collective bargaining of supervisors' terms and conditions of employment.
History of Collective Bargaining at UC
Under HEERA, a bargaining unit is a group of titles with a sufficient "community of interest" (e.g. similar working environment, occupational category, level of education) that a union can reasonably represent the employees in the unit - particularly the negotiation of the employees' terms and conditions of employment.
After the enactment of HEERA in 1979, PERB made a number of determinations about appropriate units at the University of California and conducted representation elections. The current contract for each bargaining unit is available on UCnet (link is external). HEERA prohibits the University from negotiating directly with represented employees ("direct dealing") or consulting with any academic, professional or staff advisory group on any matter within the scope of representation.
The Negotiation Process
HEERA requires that in negotiating contracts the parties engage in good faith negotiations to try to resolve their differences and to attempt to achieve a signed contract. In the event the parties cannot reach agreement, HEERA provides intervention through an impasse procedure. This procedure includes mediation and fact-finding. If mediation fails, the mediator can elevate the issues to fact-finding. In the fact-finding process, the parties present their respective positions on the unresolved issues that are designated by law as mandatory subjects of bargaining to a three-member fact-finding panel. The panel issues recommendations for resolving the differences between the parties. At the conclusion of fact-finding, if the parties cannot reach agreement using the fact-finder's recommendations the recommendations become available to the public.
Does the institution wish to pursue Part 2 of this credit (assessing employee compensation)?:
Date Revised: June 25, 2015
Number of staff and faculty that receive sustainable compensation:
Number of employees of contractors that receive sustainable compensation:
A brief description of the standard(s) against which compensation was assessed:
At UCSC the [Human Resources Compensation Unit] conducts and participates in a number of compensation surveys to obtain market data for the majority of occupations found at UCSC. The surveys range from local to national markets and include specific jobs and major occupational groupings. Surveys include a number of well-defined (benchmark) jobs in the market that are matched to similar jobs in the University.
Labor market analysis is the process of:
Identifying the appropriate labor market for various types of positions.
Surveying the market to determine the salaries that are being paid for like positions. Identifying market trends such as: ancillary pay, and merit and pay practices.
Establishing, adjusting, and/or recommending salary changes and/or structures for staff positions. Consulting with management on their workforce needs.
Labor Market Analysis at UCSC
Labor market analysis is a five part process to:
Identify the area within which employers are competing for labor.
Conduct or participate in market surveys within the labor market to determine the salaries being paid for specific positions. Work with management to validate the market areas, market competitors, and job matches (benchmarks).
Identify market trends such as: ancillary pay, merit and pay practices.
Establish, adjust, and/or recommend salary structures that will allow the University to effectively compete for staff within specific classification levels or grades.
The results of market survey analysis, recruitment and retention indicators, availability of funds, and internal equity/alignment issues are all considered in establishing or adjusting salary ranges. These factors are of equal importance when used by managers in making individual pay adjustments. In response to proposals to improve our classification and pay systems, refinement and fine-tuning of our survey methods, identification of appropriate labor markets and market trends, and solicitation of feedback from managers will be an on-going process at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
A brief description of the compensation (wages and benefits) provided to the institution’s lowest paid regular, full-time employees:
At UCSC, most payroll titles are assigned either a grade or a step scale. Graded titles have a minimum and a maximum rate and employees can be paid anywhere within the range. Titles with a step scale (ie. step 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, etc.) have a succession of steps, beginning with step 1.0 and ending with a negotiated maximum step (differs between titles). Generally speaking, positions in the Professional and Support Staff (PSS) program and the Managers and Senior Professionals (MSP) program are assigned a salary grade,
and positions assigned to a Collective Bargaining Unit are on a step scale. Positions that are assigned a grade must be paid a salary within the minimum and maximum of the salary range, and positions that are on a step scale, must be paid on one of the negotiated steps.
In addition, full--time employees also receive: Medical Insurance (a package of their choice)
Dental Insurance - UC pays the entire cost of monthly dental premiums for staff and their family members. Vision - UC pays the entire cost of monthly vision premiums for staff and their family members.
UCSC is governed by Federal Law but chooses to use the more generous California State Wage Minimum as it's minimum wage in order to remain competitive as an employer. Our Student Assistant positions begin at the state minimum wage of $9.00/hr.
Federal Minimum Wage = $7.25/hour
California State Minimum Wage = $9.00/hour*
UC [CAMPUS] Minimum Wage for Student Assistants = $9.00/hour
UCSC’s purchasing contracts stipulate that contractors must pay their employees minimum wage.
A brief description of the compensation (wages and benefits) provided to the institution’s lowest paid regular, part-time employees:
Federal Minimum Wage = $7.25/hour California State Minimum Wage = $9.00/hour* UCSC Minimum Wage = $9.00/hour
A brief description of the compensation (wages and benefits) provided to the institution’s lowest paid temporary (non-regular) staff:
Federal Minimum Wage = $7.25/hour California State Minimum Wage = $9.00/hour* UC SC Minimum Wage = $9.00hour
TransAccess Manpower, Randstad offers:
- Competitive salaries
- A variety of assignments and locations - UCSC
- Opportunities for skill enhancement
Employees may be eligible for University benefits including:
-Medical Insurance
- Life Insurance
- Legal and Tax-Savings Programs
- Exposure to career opportunities with the UCSC System. Many TES employees find career employment with UCSC.
A brief description of the compensation (wages and benefits) provided to the institution’s lowest paid temporary (non-regular, adjunct or contingent) faculty:
UCSC has academic salary scales for all levels of academic personnel. The scales can be found here:
A brief description of the compensation (wages and benefits) provided to the institution’s lowest paid student employees (graduate and/or undergraduate, as applicable):
UCSC has academic salary scales for all levels of academic personnel. The scales can be found here:
The local legal minimum hourly wage for regular employees:
Does the institution have an on-site child care facility, partner with a local facility, and/or provide subsidies or financial support to help meet the child care needs of faculty and staff?:
Does the institution offer a socially responsible investment option for retirement plans?:
The website URL where information about the institution’s sustainable compensation policies and practices is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.