Compensation

Setting Salaries

When making a salary decision, consider:

• Requirements of the position and the individual: What skills, education and experience are required to perform this job? How difficult is it to find someone with the necessary combinations of knowledge and abilities?
• Market competitiveness: What market data is available related to jobs with comparable responsibility, knowledge requirements and demand?
• Internal pay equity: What do employees with similar jobs and experience levels make within the department, division and university as a whole?
• Job profile: Positions within the university have been aligned to specific job profiles. These profiles provide a generic description of the kinds of skills, education and duties associated with jobs of that type, whether the position is exempt from overtime pay requirements according to the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the pay grade associated with the job.
• Pay grades: Job profiles have a pay grade associated with the job. While important, pay grades continue to be a secondary point of reference when making offers and setting salaries in relation to other more important factors such as the specific duties of the position, market data, departmental budget, the candidate's relevant experience and past performance, internal equity and other relevant factors.

For detailed information on setting salaries, please refer to the Guidelines for Hiring Staff [pdf], Compensation Guidelines — Staff [pdf] and Guidelines for the Use of Compensation Data (External and Internal) at CMU [pdf].

When hiring foreign nationals with H1B visas, see also the Wage Determination Packet [pdf].

Non-Salary Compensation

The compensation package comprises more than just the annual salary. The culture, environment and opportunities of the university are important features that attract leading candidates. Our benefits package is also a significant factor in attracting the country's best talent.

• Share benefits information with top candidates when discussing compensation.
• Remember that different benefits will be of value depending on the candidate's life circumstances.
• We provide a generous benefits package that is unique among employers, including:
  • Tuition benefits for the employee and their dependent children
  • Retirement contributions that do not require matching savings
  • Benefits for domestic partners
  • Family care resources, including concierge family support
  • Access to campus wellness and athletics facilities
  • Unlimited public transportation access
• Many of our benefits not only provide peace of mind and financial protection, but they also have a monetary value of several thousand dollars per year.

• Activity Pay is a pay-for-service adjustment to an individual's compensation and may be administered in a lump sum or in several equal payments. Activity pay is administered outside of the formal compensation package. In some cases (e.g., adjunct instructors), the recipient may not have a base pay, such that the activity pay is the entirety of the individual's compensation.
• One-Time Payments are performance/incentive-based disbursements granted in addition to an individual's compensation. One-time payments are not intended to compensate an individual for a specific instance of work or an ongoing assignment and are not associated with services rendered to the university.

For detailed information, see the Compensation Guidelines — Activity Pay and One-Time Payments [pdf].

Resources

• Initiating Activity Pay System Guide [pdf]
• Initiating One-Time Payment System Guide [pdf]
• Activity Pay and One-Time Payments: Costing Overrides Quick Guide [pdf]
• Activity Pay Agreement Template [docx]
• One-Time Payment Memo Template [docx]
• Activity Pay Form [pdf]
• One-Time Payment Form [pdf]