Special Pay Increase (SPI)

Special pay increases provide a pay mechanism that allows supervisors to provide a salary increase to an employee without a corresponding change in the employee’s job classification. SPIs may be provided for the following reasons. Please note – employees covered under a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) will be compensated in a manner consistent with their respective CBA.

• Additional Duties – permanent or temporary salary increase due to an increase in an employee’s job responsibilities and may be the result of new duties or increased volume
• Internal or External Market Equity – an increase in salary as a result of a relevant external labor market or to address an internal equity or salary compression issue. If there is a large group of requests such as Market Equity increases (15 or more) please complete a memo which provides the following instead of an SPI form for each ePAF. Attach the memo and worksheet to each ePAF. If you have any questions, please reach out to Classification & Compensation – compensation@ufl.edu to provide further guidance.
  • The memo will require the following information:
    • Broad reasoning for increases and how they were determined.
    • What sources or benchmark was used to determine the raises.
    • Appropriate college/department leadership sign off including VP/Dean.
  • Include a worksheet that lists the following information for all employees:
    • Employee Name
    • UFID
    • Employee Record
    • Department
    • Position
    • Current Salary
    • Raise Amount
    • Proposed Salary
• Counter Offer – an increase to employee’s salary as a result of a job offer
• Sustained Superior Performance (Recurring) – an increase to an employee’s salary in recognition of sustained exceptional performance in the completion of ongoing or regular responsibilities
• Superior Performance (Nonrecurring) – a one-time increase paid using the additional pay process in recognition of superior performance in the completion of special project or assignment in addition to the employee’s regularly assigned duties or a documented significant increase in productivity including a group incentive plan. These should be considered in exceptional circumstances and may not be used to compensate non-exempt employees for overtime work. Please see approval limits below.

Special pay increases may be recurring increases to an employee’s base rate of pay or a non-recurring one-time increase based on the circumstances of the request. In general, SPIs for internal or market equity, additional duties, and counter offers should be processed as a recurring increase to the employee’s base rate of pay. SPIs for superior performance in the completion of a special project or assignment may be processed as recurring or non-recurring increases as appropriate.

Superior Performance (Nonrecurring) vs. Sustained Superior Performance (Recurring)

A nonrecurring superior performance one-time payment should be used to reward and recognize staff members whose extraordinary efforts in the completion of a special project or assignment contribute to the University in significant and meaningful ways and include substantial accomplishment well beyond regular work responsibilities. These may include, but not be limited to, the following.

• Accomplishments or contributions that significantly advance the objectives of the department, division, college, or University and are typically project-based.
• Contributions that clearly and significantly impact accomplishing important objectives, deliverables or time lines.
• Extraordinary efforts during time of critical department need such as achieving critical deliverables that could have negatively impacted operations or major projects.
• Innovative work ideas, well beyond standard job expectations, that significantly improve operational efficiencies, workflow, or customer service which may include the introduction or modification business practices.

Nonrecurring increases should not be provided for:

• Outstanding or excellent performance in the completion of ongoing or regular responsibilities and are reasonably expected from a staff member. These efforts should be recognized as a recurring Sustained Superior Performance increase.
• Efforts that did not have a significant impact on major projects or assignments.
• One-time work for non-exempt employees in lieu of reporting time worked.

Approval Thresholds and Limits

Recurring SPIs – Approved by the appropriate Vice President as well as the Vice President for Human Resources. At present, no individual limit exists for recurring SPIs.

Nonrecurring SPIs –Approved by the appropriate Vice President as well as the Vice President for Human Resources. Nonrecurring SPIs for non-exempt (hourly) positions are limited to 10% of annual base pay or $3,000. Nonrecurring SPIs for exempt (salaried) positions may not exceed 15% of annual base pay unless approved by the Vice President of UF Human Resources.

Pay Increase Guidelines

When determining the appropriate salary for job changes, promotions, and special pay increases, managers should consider the employee’s skill, knowledge, experience, and performance as well as how other employees are compensated within the unit. Salary increases should not create an internal equity or salary compression issue. If the new salary were to create an internal equity or salary compression issue, Classification and Compensation can assist with developing a plan to remedy the salary issue.

How to Process an SPI

Additional guidance on how to process a Special Pay Increase (SPI) in myUFL can be found by visiting the Job and Position Action Toolkits.

Please note: One-time payments for superior performance are not permissible on many restricted funding sources such as fund codes beginning with 201 or 209. Supervisors should consult with their assigned Grant Accounting team member to determine whether or not a one-time payment is permissible by the funding source prior to communicating or approving a request for a one-time payment for superior performance.