Pay Administration

RIT values the contributions of its employees and is committed to pay competitively and equitably. We use peer institutions and market data to guide decisions regarding individual salary levels.

The President and Provost have committed to the goal of paying, on average, at the 50th percentile of the associated labor market for faculty and staff positions at RIT.

RIT's Compensation Philosophy supports the University's goals to:

• Recruit and retain a diverse, high-quality workforce to fulfill the mission of the University.
• Recognize and reward exceptional performance based on an employee's individual achievement and contribution to the growth and success of the University.
• Foster understanding of pay decisions and responsible pay practices.
• Maintain a fair and transparent process for compensation decisions.
• Provide equitable and consistent compensation for equal work requiring equal skills, abilities and responsibilities.
• Provide market competitive compensation through benchmarking with peer institutions.
• Support, reinforce, and align compensation decisions with budgetary and financial strategies with a goal of growth and sustainability.
• Prohibit discrimination, adverse impact, or adverse treatment of protected classes as identified in applicable law and policies.

Compensation decisions are reached as a result of a collaborative effort between the hiring manager or supervisor, responsible higher-level administrators, and Human Resources.

As a federal contractor, RIT will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with RIT’s legal duty to furnish information.

RIT uses external market data for salary benchmarking, including data from appropriate labor markets and peer institutions. The primary surveys utilized are:

• College & University Professionals Association (staff and faculty positions)
• Western Management Group (staff positions only)
  • EduComp Survey
  • Collegiate Athletics Compensation Survey
• Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce (staff positions only)

The market (or labor market) refers to the organizations and locations where RIT competes to hire employees. RIT’s labor market includes local and regional data and institutions classified as R1 (doctoral universities - very high research activity) or R2 (doctoral universities - high research activity) by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Athletic positions are generally benchmarked to athletic divisional data.

Staff: For each wage grade band, Human Resources compares RIT’s wage grade band midpoint to the market data to determine if RIT’s midpoint is leading, aligned with, or lagging the market on a sustained basis. Based on the results of the analysis, Human Resources will make a recommendation to the university’s senior leadership if an adjustment to the wage grade band structure is needed. The wage band structure is assessed on an annual basis.

Faculty: Faculty market data by rank and discipline is assessed annually based on survey data from RIT’s peer institutions.

Human Resources facilitates a regular equity review of employee salary data to determine if there are any pay differences not explained by expected factors such as: market pay for the job, time in rank/grade, performance rating, length of service, and terminal degree (faculty). A statistical analysis is performed by an independent third party vendor with expertise in compensation.

In accordance with New York State law, applicants cannot be required or asked to disclose their salary history. The University does not consider an applicant's current or past salary in determining whether to interview, hire, or promote a candidate and does not rely on the wage or salary history in determining that person's wages or salary if hired.  This applies to both internal and external job applicants.

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)/New York State Compliance:

RIT's compensation programs are designed to ensure compliance with a variety of federal and state labor laws. The University is committed to providing ongoing education and assessment to ensure compliance with statutory requirements for overtime pay, time reporting, and all related pay regulations.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is federal legislation that protects workers from unfair labor practices. It is administered by the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division. The FLSA provides specific criteria and guidance to aid in determining the classification of a position. The nature of job duties and responsibilities, along with other considerations, define a position as exempt or non-exempt.

Exempt Jobs (Salaried)
Staff members in exempt jobs are not eligible for overtime pay in accordance with the FLSA.

Non-Exempt Jobs (Hourly)
Staff members in non-exempt jobs must be paid for all hours worked and are eligible for overtime in accordance with the FLSA (i.e. overtime is payable for hours worked in excess of 40 per week).

Determination of position classification is the responsibility of Human Resources and will be made concurrent with the following staff wage grade determination process, as appropriate. All positions are assumed to be non-exempt unless there is substantial evidence that demonstrates the position meets the exemption criteria.

Jobs are evaluated and assigned a wage grade based on external market pricing and internal benchmarking. External market pricing looks at the pay being provided by organizations outside of RIT for the same or similar work. Internal benchmarking compares the job with similar roles within RIT taking into account a variety of factors such as:

• Knowledge needed to perform the position responsibilities
• Leadership and/or guidance that the position receives or provides to others
• Level of analytical and problem solving skills required to do the work of the position
• Position scope, level of responsibility and the resulting impact on the university, division, department and/or work group
• Level of interpersonal/communication skills required to meet the responsibilities of the position

The wage grade structure for staff jobs supports alignment of RIT jobs to the current labor market. The wage grade structure is reviewed on an annual basis to ensure that our pay levels continue to align with the external labor market.