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Resolution 21-04

 

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Employee Forum Resolution

 

Resolution 21-04 : Calling for the Elimination of the “20 Percent Rule”

WHEREAS, it is the stated mission of the Employee Forum to seek out and address constructively issues affecting Staff, Faculty, and Students of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and

WHEREAS, State of North Carolina Executive Order 93 promotes pay equity and bans inquiries into job applicants’ salary histories for state agencies under the governor’s oversight[i]; and

WHEREAS, State of North Carolina Executive Order 93 bans inquiries into salary histories expressly to address the “racial and gender pay equity” gap, noting that “relying on salary history during the hiring process may perpetuate gender pay inequities, as this practice is grounded in the false assumption that prior salaries are fair or free from bias,” and

WHEREAS, per Section 2 of the State of North Carolina Executive Order 93, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is not under the oversight of the governor, but is nevertheless, per section 5(c) of the Order, encouraged to comply with the State of North Carolina Executive Order 93; and

WHEREAS, the North Carolina Office of State Human Resources’ (OSHR) Career Banding Salary Administration Policy states that “it is the policy of the State to compensate its employees at a level sufficient to encourage excellence of performance and to maintain the labor market competitiveness necessary to recruit, retain and develop a competent and diverse work force;”[ii] and

WHEREAS, the OSHR Career Banding Salary Administration Policy states that “an agency must submit written justification to the Office of State Human Resources for review and approval prior to implementing a salary increase of 20% or more” for “promotion,” “horizontal transfer,” and “reassignment;” and

WHEREAS, the OSHR Career Banding Salary Administration Policy defines a “promotion” as “employee movement from one banded position to another with a higher market rate,” defines “horizontal transfer” as “employee movement from one banded position to another with the same market rate,” and defines “reassignment” as “employee movement from one banded position to another with a lower market rate;” and

WHEREAS, OSHR has delegated authority for managing salary actions at UNC System institutions, including pay increases over 20%, to the UNC System Office; and

WHEREAS, the UNC-Chapel Hill Office of Human Resources SHRA Salary Increase Guidelines state that SHRA employee permanent base-salary increases that exceed 20% must receive UNC System Office pre-approval[iii]; and

WHEREAS, the OSHR Career Banding Salary Administration Policy, which refers to a current employee’s existing salary, conflicts with the clear intent of the State of North Carolina Executive Order 93, which prohibits state agencies from requesting salary history from applicants and relying on prior salary information in determining an applicant’s salary; now, therefore, be it…

RESOLVED that the Employee Forum calls on the Chancellor and his Cabinet to:

  1. With the guidance of the UNC Institutional Privacy Office, openly and transparently publish de-identified and disaggregated data (by race, gender, unit, and position type) listing the total number of internal hires over the past five (5) years (2015-2020) who applied for salary increases greater than 20% and the total number of those applications that were granted, and update these data annually, using the preceding five years to show trend analysis.
  2. Advocate to the UNC System Office, OSHR, and the State Legislature, as needed, for the elimination of the approval process for SHRA salary increases of greater than 20% so UNC System institutions pay policies align with the intent of Executive Order 93.
  3. Establish departmental oversight of salary increases for internal applicants contingent on availability of funds and career banding guidelines.

[i] https://files.nc.gov/governor/documents/files/EO93-_Prohibiting_the_Use_of_Salary_History_in_the_State_Hiring_Process.pdf

[ii] https://oshr.nc.gov/policies/salary-administration/career-banding-salary-administration

[iii] https://hr.unc.edu/employees/class-comp/policies/salary-increase/

Signed by,

 

Katie Musgrove

Chair

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