Compensation Workbench & Salary Increase Frequently Asked Questions

The compa-ratio is the comparison of an individual’s full time salary against the market benchmark for their position. To determine the compa-ratio, divide the current full time salary by the market benchmark. (Note: Instructional faculty salary benchmarks are based on a 9 month/40 hour per week salary.) A compa-ratio that is greater than 100% means the individual’s pay is above the market; a compa-ratio less than 100% means the individual’s pay is below the market. The compa-ratio information in Compensation Workbench (CWB) is based on the faculty and staff benchmarks effective as of September 1, 2025.

Individuals on Short Term Disability or Workers’ Compensation will be included in the overall merit pool and in the Compensation Workbench tool. They will receive their increase at the same time as all other faculty and staff. Merit increases cannot be adjusted due to Short Term Disability, Workers Compensation, NYS Paid Family Leave, or FMLA approved absences.

Yes, and the same guidelines explained herein apply to grant-funded or other non-permanently funded employees. Any increase must be funded by the grant or other sources.

Staff members who are currently paid above the maximum of the wage grade range are eligible for merit dollars based on their performance. In prior years, staff members who are paid above the maximum of the wage grade range received their merit in the form of a lump sum payment rather than an increase to base pay.  The current staff wage band structure remains unchanged this year pending benchmarking and assessment of our salary structure as part of the Staff Career Architecture initiative. As was the case last year, increases for eligible staff whose current pay is at or above the maximum of their assigned wage band will be incorporated into their base salary, rather than as a lump sum (which is the standard practice).

Yes, for example, if a faculty or staff member has received an unsatisfactory performance appraisal or has received performance improvement documentation within the performance year, the expectation is that the staff member will not receive a merit increase in this cycle. Please review these situations with your HR Business Partner; they will assist you in developing appropriate communication to the individual.

Employees promoted or hired on or after June 1, 2025 are not eligible for merit increase consideration until 2026.

Please work with your college/division financial contact to understand the available merit funds and if there is specific guidance from the dean/senior leader on the process for allocating merit.

No, CWB will not prevent overspending.  For merit, managers should monitor their team’s ‘Unused Merit Pool’ dollars within the ‘Compensation Summary’ to avoid overspending. 

There may be instances (for example, if performance is high in one group and low in another) where a division manager directs one group to underspend and another group to overspend in order to stay within the overall merit pool at the school/division level. The CWB tool is purposely configured to allow for this flexibility.

The system may round the percentage within a few hundredths of a percent in order to allocate a merit increase to the nearest whole penny. This will be especially common among non-exempt employees due to the increases being applied at an hourly rate rather than an annual amount.

Yes, there are a couple report options available to you in CWB:

1. The “CWB Faculty” and/or “CWB Staff” report(s) include all active employees on the ‘As of Date’ entered on the parameter page of the report whereas the CWB tool includes only those individuals who are active as of September 1, 2025 and who were hired prior to June 1, 2025. Employees promoted or hired on or after June 1, 2025 are not eligible for merit increase consideration until 2026. Depending on the date entered in the parameter, these reports may include employees who do not appear in the CWB tool. These employees likely have a termination date between July 1, 2025 and September 1, 2025 or were hired on or after June 1, 2025.
2. The “CWB Faculty Worksheet” and/or “CWB Staff Worksheet” report(s) contain data that is within the CWB tool only and is designed to look and work like the tool itself.

If data is missing on the report(s) and this is not the case, please contact Dan Rizzo at djrpsn@rit.edu or Dave Kloc at dmkpsn@rit.edu.

Your College/Division as well as Human Resources will perform a final review. If the salary increase program is approved to move forward, employee notification letters will be available to print from CWB.