To advance our “How AU Works” strategic priority, AU’s FY23-24 budget makes extensive investments in our people, including the largest employee salary increase pool since 2005. President Burwell recently addressed several key investments that will be made in FY22-23 that will support our workforce. These investments include:

• An External Conditions Adjustment: Effective July 1, 2022, eligible employees will receive a 2 percent increase in annualized base salary.
• Performance-based Compensation Increases: Following the performance management process (PMP) this summer, eligible full-time staff and faculty may receive annual compensation increases. Departments and units will be allocated a 2 percent performance compensation pool to distribute to reward strong performance.
• Minimum Wage Increases: Effective July 1, 2022, the pay rates of eligible part-time staff will increase to reflect the DC minimum wage increase to $16.10 per hour. Eligible full-time staff will receive an increase to reflect increases in the pay band minimums if their pay falls below the new pay band zone one minimums.
• Staff eligible for this equity increase include all full-time staff, including those in full-time positions represented by SAG-AFTRA, and whose base salary is less than $100,000 per year, and meet certain years of service requirements. Full-time staff in the Provost and Enrollment Division represented by SEIU Local 500 are eligible in accordance with the terms of their collective bargaining agreement.

What is an Economic Conditions Adjustment?

The economic conditions adjustment is a 2 percent across-the-board increase that is intended to support our workforce during unique economic times. In the past, the university has not provided across-the-board increases. The economic conditions adjustment will be provided to eligible full-time and part-time employees and is separate from a performance-based increase pool that will be implemented in September to eligible faculty and staff based on their performance. The economic conditions adjustment will be applied to wages after increases to either the new DC minimum wage or the new pay band minimums.

Who is Eligible for the Economic Condition Adjustment?

This compensation measure is available to:

• Full- and non-temporary part-time employees who are not in a collective bargaining unit. The amount and timing of compensation for employees in the four bargaining units – academic affairs staff, adjunct faculty, graduate student employees, and WAMU content staff – will be determined through the ongoing collective bargaining process. Under federal law, terms and conditions of employment (including compensation) for unionized employees cannot be changed outside of the bargaining process.
• To be eligible, an employee has to have been hired, promoted, or received a pay increase prior to May 1, 2022. Faculty and staff whose positions are funded through external sources may receive the increase to the extent permissible under the funding source.
• Faculty who hold 9-month term appointments and have been reappointed for Fall 2022 will receive the economic condition adjustment effective September 1, 2022.
• Equity Increases: Eligible staff include full-time staff covered by the SEIU agreement who meet certain years of full-time service requirements and other staff not covered by the SEIU whose base salary is less than $100,000 per year and meet certain years of service requirements.

How do I know if I get a pay band increase?

AU’s staff compensation structure is designed to ensure similar compensation for similar positions across the university. Each full-time position is assigned to one of the pay band levels based on several factors, including the benchmarked market rate for the role, if available, or the relative value of the position to other similar jobs at the university. Staff whose annualized pay falls below the new band minimum for their position’s assigned band will receive an adjustment to the new band minimum. View a copy of the pay band structure that becomes effective July 1, 2022.

Please contact your unit-level HR representative or hrpayrollhelp@american.edu if you have questions about your current pay band. 

When will employees see the Economic Conditions and minimum wage increases in their paychecks?

Eligible bi-weekly paid staff will see these increases in their July 22, 2022 paycheck. Eligible monthly-paid staff will see these increases in their July 29, 2022 paycheck.

Employees will receive a new wage statement for each adjustment they receive and will be asked to confirm each statement per DC Wage Theft Prevention Regulations.

How will the performance-based salary increase work?

In September, eligible full-time faculty and staff may receive an increase based on their performance during the last academic year’s performance cycle. The Performance-Based Increase pool approved by the Board of Trustees is separate from the economic condition adjustments described above. By creating separate pools, units are able to focus the performance-based pool on its intended purpose to better reward strong performance this past year and incentivize ongoing strong performance.

Departments and units will be allocated a 2 percent performance compensation pool to distribute based upon the results of faculty reviews and the PMP. This is not a 2 percent across the board increase; rather, supervisors will allocate compensation increases based on individual performance and progress towards goals. Performance-based increases will appear in the September 16 bi-weekly paycheck or the September 30 monthly paycheck.

To be eligible, full-time staff have to have been hired, promoted, or received a pay increase prior to May 1, 2022, excluding the economic conditions adjustment, and have completed their performance evaluation process by the deadline. Faculty and staff whose positions are funded through external sources may receive the increase to the extent permissible under the funding source.

Like other increases, compensation for employees in the four collective bargaining units (academic affairs staff, adjunct faculty, graduate student employees, and WAMU content staff) will be determined through the ongoing collective bargaining process. By law, compensation for unionized employees cannot be changed outside of the bargaining process.

What is the Equity increase?

The priority of American University’s FY23-24 budget is investing in our people. AU’s staff and faculty are the cornerstones of our work, helping our students thrive and moving our mission forward. The budget reflects the commitment to supporting our teams. For our staff, this involves multiple compensation enhancements. The next phase of our compensation strategy is equity increases that will be paid to staff in January 2023 based on the criteria outlined below. The equity adjustments build on the economic condition adjustments awarded in July, performance increases in September, and increases in AU’s health benefit subsidies for our lowest-paid staff that begins in January 2023.

Staff eligible for the equity increase include all full-time staff, including staff in full-time positions represented by SAG-AFTRA, whose base salary is less than $100,000 per year and who meet certain years of service requirements. Full-time staff in the Provost and Enrollment Division represented by SEIU Local 500 are eligible in accordance with the terms of their collective bargaining agreement.  

The equity increases will be paid on January 20, 2023, to staff who are paid on a bi-weekly basis, and on January 31, 2023, to staff who are paid monthly. 

To be eligible for the January 2023 adjustment, a staff member must have completed a certain number of years of full-time service as of December 31, 2022:

• Staff who have completed 5-9 years of full-time service will receive a 1% base salary increase
• Staff who have completed 10-14 years of full-time service will receive a 2% base salary increase
• Staff who have completed 15 or more years of full-time service will receive a 3% base salary increase
• Partial years of service, such as 4 years and 10 months of service, will be credited as 4 years of completed service.

 In addition, years of full-time service:

• Will include any full-time position(s) a staff member has held at AU.
• For staff who have been rehired at the university, will include periods of full-time service that occurred prior to a break in service plus full-time service since rehire.
• Will not include periods of part-time employment, including student employment.

The same methodology to calculate eligibility for increases will be used in January 2024. 

Eligible staff members will receive notification of the changes through their earnings statement and the DC-required Wage Theft Prevention Statement.

Please contact hrpayrollhelp@american.edu if you have any questions.

FAQs

What if I have four years and 10 months of service as of December 31^st? Will I be eligible for the increase in January 2023?

If someone has worked at AU for 4 years and 10 months as of December 31, 2022, they will not receive an increase in 2023, but if they remain employed in a full-time status through December 2023, they will be eligible for the adjustment in January 2024. 

I worked as a student employee for a few years before taking a full-time job at AU. Will those years of part-time service count?

Periods of student or part-time service will not count toward eligibility. If, for example, someone started as a student worker in August of 2016 and took a full-time position in 2018, only their years of full-time service since 2018 would be counted for the equity adjustment. 

I worked at AU for a few years, left, and returned. How will my service be calculated?

If, for example, someone completed three years of full-time service before resigning, but was later rehired by AU, the three years of full-time service would count towards their cumulative full-time service for the purposes of the equity adjustment.