Written by Marta Bailey
Member of Provost’s Advisory Committee on Staff Compensation (PACSC)
Over the past 18 months, the Provost’s Advisory Committee on Staff Compensation (PACSC) has had a huge task: how to best distribute the annual amount of $250,000 originally allotted to the Special Recognition Awards for University Support Staff.
The Special Recognition Award was announced in July, 2003 at the same time as the 2004-2006 staff salary agreement. According to the staff recognition website, the Special Recognition Awards were created to “recognize staff members’ dedication, hard work and continued commitment to excellence in the performance of their jobs”. Awards would be given on a one-time lump-sum basis, would not apply to base salary or benefits, and would not be part of on-going salary – so that the award would not upset range position or move an employee further along in the range. The concept was that this annual fund could cover up to 250 awards per year ($250,000 divided by 250 awards = $1,000 per recipient).
Historically, when UW staff members’ salary negotiations take place, PACSC reviews the faculty members’ compensation discussions and outcomes. Effective May 1, 2004, an Outstanding Performance Fund for faculty members was established. Its intent was to reward outstanding performance in teaching and in scholarship. At the time of staff salary negotiations, PACSC felt that staff would also benefit from an award that celebrates outstanding staff performance, and thereby created the Staff Recognition Award. This award’s intent was to celebrate excellent performance amongst the staff members at UW. The fact that the money was set aside for the award at the same time as the staff salary agreement came into existence does not make it part of staff employee’s salary. Other salary-related increases were settled on during that particular negotiation, and the Staff Recognition Award was a subset of the agreement. This lump sum of money was never intended as base pay for staff employees nor was the intent that each and every staff member would see the money as direct individual compensation.
After the awards were adjudicated in 2007, PACSC discontinued the Special Recognition Award based on the (negative) concerns expressed by the UW community. Some members of the UW community called for a re-design of the program. PACSC called for alternative proposals to come to the committee to be vetted. New guidelines were created to allow for a fair vetting process. A few proposals did come forward – and some did not fall into the purview of the guidelines. The proposals that met all the guidelines were selected, and presented to the UW community in late August 2009.
The details of the award changed so significantly that a name change was also implemented and the award is now the Staff Excellence Fund. The fund amount remains at $250,000 per year (increasing with range adjustments), and the use of the funds is left to the discretion of PACSC. The underlying principle of the fund remains: the funds cannot be used to fund all staff members in the form of direct individual compensation. The funds cannot be distributed to all staff evenly.
The University of Waterloo Staff Association (UWSA), through its four representatives on PACSC, provided input to the Staff Excellence Fund discussions, but ultimately it was a PACSC decision, not a UWSA decision to eliminate the original award concept entirely and come up with something that is intended to be more egalitarian. This was done in spite of the fact that the change is contrary to the original charter. The original concept didn’t work, so it was changed. It can also be changed again. This change was not subject to UW staff approval; nor does it have to be. Staff members need to recognize that this was not “their” money; this money is part of a discretionary fund, controlled by PACSC. The pool of money still exists; the intended use is what has changed.
Since the process to create a more egalitarian award took over a year and a half to be resolved, the Staff Excellence Fund had accumulated two years of funds. The distribution of these funds on a variety of initiatives was described in a memo from PACSC on August 26, 2009, and also shared in the Daily Bulletin. It was the PACSC decision to earmark $250,000 of the Staff Excellence Fund to make a one-time capital contribution to enhance childcare facilities on-campus that has been met with some criticism.
To give some perspective – daycares are not for profit businesses – kids are their business. The daycare facilities that exist on campus are in a poor state. Putting money towards building more up-to-date facilities is a good thing. It recognizes that families are important, and that the children of staff members are the leaders of tomorrow. Understandably, some staff members will not be directly impacted by the creation of a new daycare facility on campus – but, I encourage those staff members to step back and look at this one-time contribution as a “universal” benefit – one that benefits all staff members. As is the case with all of our benefits, no matter how appealing the benefit is, some people will inherently want it while others will not. There are some people who will always get less, others who will always get more. I encourage staff members to remember that the daycare allocation is one component of one year’s worth of the fund. It is not an ongoing commitment. At its discretion, PACSC chose to spend the money on this daycare project.
It was not appropriate to take the final decision about the allocation of the Staff Excellence Fund to staff for a referendum. Our committee structure is intended to provide leadership. Any referendum/polling process would simply lead to a plethora of divergent opinions that would lead to more indecision. At the end of the day, PACSC had a decision to make. The committee solicited staff feedback over the course of 2008-9, considered that feedback, and made a decision.
This one-time contribution towards the daycare capital will enhance the lives of countless staff members on campus. PACSC also put forth a plan for the Staff Excellence Fund that includes allocations which will be implemented for a two-year trial period (except service recognition, which requires a five-year cycle to determine effectiveness). All of these allocations enhance the UW staff experience by allowing staff to make use of a Staff Career Advisor, by participating in a high-caliber Staff Conference – and by allotting funding for your own proposals through the Staff Initiative Fund ($65,000 annually) on how to further enhance staff morale.
What makes UW a great place to work are the employees that come here and give 110 per cent each and every day. The purpose of this fund is to help reward our staff for their ongoing excellence. Individuals may not benefit from all of these initiatives directly, but the majority of staff will benefit from at least one.
