Carnegie Mellon University

Compensation

The compensation policies of the university are designed to ensure equitable and competitive pay practices at Carnegie Mellon. As a supervisor, you will likely be faced with compensation-related questions from your staff members. It is important to familiarize yourself with the university's compensation policies and practices as well as the resources available to assist you. 

Workday is used for the performance and merit life cycle in order to better connect pay to performance. Merit facilitators and supervisor facilitators are responsible for recording merit recommendations in Workday.

Training for Merit Facilitators and Supervisor Facilitators

Resources

Support

The Compensation team is here to consult on any of your merit questions or concerns. To schedule a time to chat, please contact Andy Pujol, assistant vice president for compensation and benefits. 

Pay Scales

Carnegie Mellon's pay grade structure [pdf] provides a framework for organizing staff positions at the university. Positions with similar qualifications, requirements and levels of responsibility are grouped together in pay grades to create the classification structure.

Job Profiles

Job profile information may include:

  • Title and job profile code
  • Pay grade and Fair Labor Standards Act status (exempt/nonexempt)
  • Education, experience, skills and abilities requirements
  • Typical functions and responsibilities
  • Accountability, direction, decisions and supervision needed

The majority of staff positions at Carnegie Mellon have been assigned a particular profile through the job analysis process. However, not all staff positions are profiled. Due to the assignment of unique responsibilities, certain positions fall outside of the job profile structure. You can view the job profile assigned to your position on your worker profile in Workday. (At the top right corner of the Workday home page, click on your name, then “View Profile.”)

For the most up-to-date job profile information, please refer to the Job Profile Catalog in Workday. See the Accessing Job Families, Profiles and Market Data Quick Guide [pdf] for instructions.

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?
  • Internal pay equity: What do employees with similar jobs and experience levels make at the university?
  • External pay equity: What do other competitors pay for workers performing similar jobs?

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. The pay grades establish minimum, midpoint and maximum salaries for the position, and are intended to capture the criteria described above in their recommended ranges.

For detailed information on setting salaries, please refer to the Guidelines for Hiring Staff [pdf] and Compensation Guidelines — Staff [pdf].

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

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. 
  • Many of our benefits provide not only peace of mind and financial protection, but have a monetary value of several thousand dollars per year. We provide a generous benefits package that is unique among employers, as it includes tuition benefits for the employee and their children, retirement contributions that do not require matching savings, and benefits for domestic partners.