Staff In-Band Adjustments

The purpose of the in-band process is to provide a framework for senior management within each area of the university to review salaries and to use available budget to move salaries to a more competitive position relative to similar positions across the university and in comparison to the external market. An in-band adjustment can be in the form of a base salary adjustment or a one-time bonus.

Keep in mind

• Prioritization is essential. There will not be enough money to take care of every situation. Management should focus on those individuals who are paid below market median – particularly those who consistently receive an Exceptional performance rating.
  
• Documented performance of the individual as well as pay relative to internal and external benchmarks should be considered when deciding who is most deserving of increases.

Bonus or base-salary adjustment

Generally, a bonus should only be given under certain conditions such as:

• When long-term funding is not available to support a permanent increase.
• To reward an employee taking on additional duties on a "temporary" basis.
• When the employee is already being paid a premium salary well above market.

Performing an adjustment

• Each senior management area will have an annual designated time period each year to go through a scheduled in-band review process.
• Off-cycle in-band requests should be submitted for approval on a Staff and Faculty Actions or Change of Status Form (P3A).
• All recommendations must be approved by senior management (or designee) for the area and compensation management. Departments should keep in mind that what may appear justified when looking at only one department or organization could create issues when considered alongside other similarly situated positions across senior management areas or in other areas across the university.
• Once an action (in-band adjustment and/or bonus) has received all required approvals; the Department of Human Resources will notify the appropriate contact person in the senior management area who should then notify the appropriate manager(s). The Department of Human Resources encourages managers to conduct a performance discussion with employees prior to the employee actually seeing any change reflected on their paycheck. 

Justification

There are four justifications allowed by the Commonwealth of Virginia for in-band adjustments and any request must fit into one of the categories:

• Alignment
• Change of duties
• Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs)
• Retention-high turnover, hard to fill positions