Effective Nov. 25, classified employees at the University will receive a base salary increase of three percent. This is part of the state-mandated salary increase that was passed by the Virginia General Assembly for the 2005-2006 academic year.
The new raise comes a few years after a 2001-2003 freeze in salary increases, followed by a 2.25 percent increase in 2004, University Spokesperson Carol Wood said.
Classified employees are non-faculty members receiving a salary. There are currently approximately 12,500 classified employees at the University, said Nat Scurry, associate vice president and interim chief human resources officer.
The salary increase also includes a provision to reward long-term employees. Classified employees who have worked for the state continuously for at least five years will receive an additional base salary increase of $50 per year of continuous service, Wood said.
This additional salary increase is calculated before the three percent raise, so that long-term employees could receive a total increase of well over three percent, Wood said.
In practice this would mean an employee with five years of service would receive an additional $250, while one with 20 years would receive $1,000.
The Virginia General Assembly has a history of passing salary increases for state employees, but this is the first time it has given an additional raise for long-term service.
"The governor and General Assembly are recognizing that there have been several tough years for state employees and are thanking them continuing to do good work through those tough years," Wood said.
The changes to existing state employee classification comes as the University is working with the General Assembly and Gov. Mark R. Warner to finalize the Higher Education Restructuring Act, which would allow each state university to establish its own Human Resources system. Under the new prospective system, the University could set its own compensation. Under the current system, the University has established a benefits program, including health and dental coverage, independent of the state.
"We may start looking [at] creating a sister system next year, and we wouldn't expect it to run before 2007," Wood said.
Existing employees have the option of staying in the old system if they are concerned about the changes.
A separate Human Resources system does not mean that the University will discontinue participation in the state-mandated salary increases.
"The hope is to give employees even better benefits," Wood said. University President John T. Casteen, III "has often said that in order for the University to continue to grow and meet our aspiration that it is critical to have strong faculty and staff and benefits are key to their recruitment."
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