SHRA Compensation

SHRA Salary Adjustments

NC State’s Office of Human Resources has delegated authority for salary actions that fall within OSHR salary guidelines, and do not exceed 15% of the Market Reference Range (MRR), or the market reference range of a higher competency level or maximum of the salary range, provided that we have delegated authority for the career band. For positions with a base salary of $135,000 or greater, up to 5% of the market reference range.

Temporary salary increases are not included in this calculation. UNC-SO approval is also required for any temporary salary adjustment when the cumulative amount of current temporary adjustments exceeds 15% of the market reference range or the market reference range of a higher competency level or maximum of the salary range or exceeds 12 months in duration.

Salary increases may be permitted for the following reasons:

  • Additional job duties, when there is a substantive increase in the scope and/or complexity of the job. This includes temporary adjustments with a defined start and stop date. Please note: Such an increase may not be justified solely on the basis of increased work volume.
  • Position reclassification, where application of the career banding pay factors will determine the base salary
  • Competitive-hiring events, where application of the career banding pay factors will determine the base salary
  • Equity, when employees in the same position/branch/role/competency are performing very similar work with a similar level of competence to those who have a higher pay rate and the pay discrepancy has no apparent justification
  • Labor Market, when an employee’s salary is less than the position’s assigned market rate. Managers may request a salary increase up to, but not exceeding, the assigned market rate.
  • Employee retention, when employees have a documented offer for a comparable position (i.e., not an obvious promotion) outside of state employment and have given that documentation to their managers and the employee has skills or knowledge that would be difficult to replace
  • Increase in SHRA employee competencies, when there is a documented change in component competency ratings or overall ratings between two Employee Competency Assessment (ECA) reviews
  • Change in FTE due to a schedule change, when there has been no change in annualized compensation

Salary adjustments can be made throughout an employee’s career at NC State. All salary adjustments are associated with an action in PeopleAdmin 7. For more information on classification and salary adjustment actions visit the Classification page.

When evaluating compensation, Class and Comp Consultants utilize the four pay factors. These factors are financial resources (budget availability), required competencies, market position, and internal pay alignment.

  • Financial Resources: This information is typically provided by the Department. It is the amount of funding that a manager has available when making pay decisions. Financial resources are allocated for salaries according to the organization’s business need.
  • Required Competencies: Required competencies refers to the functional competencies and associated levels required of an employee to meet an organizational business need. This pay factor accounts for the knowledge, skills, abilities, duties, and responsibilities documented in position descriptions. It may also take into account any relevant training, certification, or licensure.
  • Market: This pay factor represents the market rate applicable to the functional competencies demonstrated by the employee. It includes the current market dynamics for the occupation, geographic area, and industry. Market reference rates are assessed and determined by the Office of State Human Resources (OSHR), and up-to-date list of current reference rates for career bands commonly used at NC State is available.
  • Internal Pay Alignment: Internal pay alignment, or internal equity, refers to the consistent alignment of salaries among employees who demonstrate similar required competencies within the same career band. This pay factor includes a comprehensive assessment of employees’ salaries relative to each other based on career band, competency level, criticality of the job to the mission of the unit, and other organizational factors

Longevity Pay

Longevity pay is an annual lump sum payment based on an eligible SHRA employee’s salary and total state service. Longevity pay is paid to eligible SHRA employees with at least 10 years of permanent employment.

Human Resources is responsible for monitoring when employees are eligible for longevity and paying longevity. HR will enter the longevity payment in the HR System so that the employee will receive payment during the same monthly pay period or by the second biweekly pay period for permanent bi-weekly employees following the date the employee is eligible to receive longevity pay.

A few caveats:

  • If an employee’s service date is adjusted due to the employee being on Leave Without Pay, then the service date change will affect the date that the longevity payment is made.
  • If an employee is eligible to receive longevity pay and is separated from state government, then the employee will receive a prorated amount on the earliest payroll possible following the date of the separation.
  • If an employee transfers to another state agency, then the employee will receive longevity on his/her regularly scheduled eligibility date.
Office of State Human Resources Policy Guidelines for Longevity Pay