All regular staff (excludes temporary staff, faculty, and union staff) that were hired before January 1, 2026 and are actively employed on July 1, 2026. New in 2026: Employees who received salary increases April 1, 2026 or later are not eligible.
Eligibility for employees in Bargaining Units is determined by their Collective Bargaining Agreements. Employees whose pay is funded from non-university sources (grants, gifts, or endowment funds) will receive increases as funding permits based on the above guidelines. Staff who are currently on a PIP are not eligible for a salary increase. For staff who are on PIP, please contact your HR Business Partner for guidance.
Part-time staff are considered regular staff if they are not temporary employees. They are eligible for salary increases as long as they are not temporary staff, not on a PIP, and were hired Before January 1, 2026, and did not receive a pay increase after April 1, 2026.*
*Parameters for annual salary increases for employees in Bargaining Units are governed by the Collective Bargaining Agreements for their Bargaining Units.
The purpose of a PIP, or Performance Improvement Plan, generally means that you are working with your manager to bring your work performance up to a 'Successful' standard that you have both agreed on. Should an employee successfully complete a PIP, they will be eligible for an increase prospectively after the PIP has been completed. Please discuss any questions with your HR Business Partner.
Annual salary increases will be processed in Workday now for staff employees on leaves of absence who meet the above eligibility criteria. Employees on a leave of absence are in the Workday compensation planning tool.
Their increases will be effective July 1, 2026.
Please contact your HR Business Partner if you have related questions.
The approved base pay increase is effective as of July 1, 2026. The new salary will be reflected in the July 10, 2026 pay for hourly employees and the July 15, 2026 pay for salaried employees.
There are several reasons:
1) If they are in the new Academic Research union, their increases will be planned outside Workday once the terms are agreed upon. This is similar to the process for other employees in Collective Bargaining units.
2) If they are not in the Academic Research union but are 100% grant or gift funded, their increases are in a second, identical Workday compensation planning tool.
3) They were hired after January 1, 2026.
4) They took the Voluntary Retirement Program.
The salary budget pool is recommended by the university’s leadership team and approved by the Board of Trustees. Affordability, enrollments, competitiveness, and external economic conditions are key considerations.
The 2026 merit program is similar to 2025. Managers at all levels will be given a pool of money to allocate for merit increases. They will be encouraged to differentiate increases based on employees’ performance although specific guideline percentages by rating will not be provided.
Managers or designated salary planners will enter salary increases in Workday. The increase recommendations roll up to next level management for approval.
Salary planners are individuals designated by divisional managers (VPs/Deans) to enter salary increases on their behalf and/or on behalf of management in the unit. Please view the 2026 list of salary planners to determine if your unit has salary planners. Not all units have salary planners. Please contact your divisional manager if you have questions about the salary planners’ roles in your unit.
You can view the 2026 annual staff pay increase processing schedule at the bottom of the linked page.
The appropriate Finance and Research Administration Staff will review availability of funds in each employee’s grant or gift cost allocation.
NEW in 2026: Pay increases for eligible employees who are 100% grant or gift funded will be processed in Workday in a separate, identical compensation planning tool effective July 1, 2026. However, Union employees’ increases will be administered per the terms of their Collective Bargaining Agreements once defined. Exact timing is to be determined. This includes employees in the new academic research Union.
Who can I contact if I have questions about the process?
If you have questions or need additional guidance on the process, please contact the Compensation Team.
If you have questions about salary planners within your unit, please see the 2026 list of salary planners.