Supplemental Pay for EHRA Employees
This policy establishes specific procedures for supplemental pay, in the form of either overload or a salary supplement, for EHRA employees. Salary supplements and overload are intended to address temporary increases in responsibility or significant and substantial duties performed under unusual circumstances outside of normal work hours.
This compensation may be used only to address duties that are clearly exceptional to the employee’s regular position or, in the case of teaching duties, exceed what is classified as assigned teaching load by the relevant School/College academic authority. Supplemental pay is not used to compensate added duties on an hour-for-hour basis or duties which may be reasonably construed as incidental to an employee’s regular assignment, except in unusual circumstances approved by the applicable central office.
This policy applies to all permanent and temporary University EHRA employees (faculty and EHRA non-faculty).
Exclusions from this policy are as follows:
- Compensation that is part of an approved special faculty or non-faculty compensation plan (e.g., School of Medicine Clinical Faculty Compensation Plan, School of Medicine Basic Science Faculty Compensation Plan, Department of Athletics Incentive Compensation Plan for Coaching and Non-Coaching Staff, etc.) shall be paid in accordance with the provisions of that plan and are exempt from the specific procedures of this policy.
- The Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost (for faculty) and the Office of Human Resources (for EHRA non-faculty employees) may grant exceptions to the University’s general guidelines on salary supplements or overloads when deemed necessary for the conduct of essential University business. Such exceptions shall only be in extraordinary circumstances and must still comply with all of the provisions of UNC Policy 300.2.13.
A salary supplement
- is an added amount of monthly compensation above and beyond base salary. Compensation that does not have a monthly basis, or is for a defined scope of work that is more project- or course-based, should be accomplished using overload rather than a salary supplement.
- is used to compensate for added duties that will generally have a duration of 30 days or greater. Added duties of shorter durations (e.g., several days or weeks) should generally be compensated using overload.
- may be awarded for work performed within an employee’s base unit or external to his/her assigned base unit. However, it is generally permitted in an employee’s base unit only when the supplement is in recognition of a distinct administrative title that is in addition to the primary duties or some form of interim/acting assignment.
- must have an associated secondary appointment or administrative title reflected in the enterprise human resources system unless a specific exception is approved by the applicable Dean or Vice Chancellor (or approved designee) with the concurrence of the appropriate central office.
- may be utilized on a non-routine basis to compensate an employee assuming additional and extraordinary special duties for some defined period of time, as opposed to being associated with an added administrative title.
When approved, a salary supplement must be communicated in writing to the employee by the supervising Department Head or Dean/Vice Chancellor, and this communication must include the following elements:
- specific purpose of the supplement
- effective start date of the supplement
- monthly amount of the supplement
- anticipated end date of the supplement or an open end date
- a statement that reads “This salary supplement is provided at the University’s discretion and may be modified or ended at any time and for any reason without notice.” This statement may be modified for named professorships to reflect that the supplement continues for the duration of that appointment.
An overload
- is a one-time lump sum payment in a fixed amount that compensates a specific piece of work.
- is typically used to compensate added duties of a relatively short duration (e.g., less than 30 days) but may also be used for duties that extend over a longer period of time when compensated at a fixed dollar amount, such as teaching a class or providing a specific deliverable such as a special report or study.
- is generally awarded for work performed external to an employee’s base unit. It may be awarded within the base unit only in extraordinary circumstances, such as a faculty member teaching a class due to the unexpected absence of a colleague or in the case of a critical University business need that cannot be reasonably met through any other means.
The total of a full-time employee’s overload pay in any fiscal year may not exceed 20 percent of his/her July 1 base salary if in a 12-month appointment or 25 percent of base salary in a nine-month appointment, unless an exception is granted by the applicable central office.
- Exceptions should be non-routine and must be approved by the Academic Personnel Office (for faculty) or the Office of Human Resources (for EHRA non-faculty employees).
- Blanket exceptions to a specified work unit may be granted by the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost (for faculty) or the Vice Chancellor for Workforce Strategy, Equity and Engagement (for non-faculty employees) when deemed necessary for the conduct of University business.
The overload limits above do not apply to a part-time employee until the combination of his/her part-time base salary and overload in any fiscal year equals his/her full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) salary on an annualized basis. Once this threshold is reached, the normal overload limits noted above shall apply.
Compensation for EHRA non-faculty employees to teach classes shall be accomplished using overload under the provisions of this policy and is not delivered as part of an employee’s base salary except in special circumstances approved by the applicable central office.
The Office of Human Resources and the Academic Personnel Office shall jointly publish a form for departments to request approval for the award of overload to EHRA employees.
- To request overload pay, use the EHRA Overload Pay Request Form.
- To request a salary supplement, use the Faculty Salary Increase Request Form or the Non-Faculty Salary Adjustment/Supplemental Form (aka the “Rainbow Form”).
Files for these forms are available at the bottom of this page in the Forms toggle.
All requests must be submitted and approved by all required parties, including the applicable central office, in advance of any supplemental pay being communicated to the employee or any added work being performed.
Requests submitted after the fact must be approved personally by the applicable Dean or Vice Chancellor (or approved designee) in addition to all regular approvals and may be subject to disapproval by the applicable central office depending on the specific circumstances present.
Requests for overload pay which involve work performed outside the employee’s base unit shall require the approval of the Department Head of the unit in which the work is to be performed.
EHRA employees: employees exempt from the State Human Resources Act
Overload: a one-time lump sum payment in a fixed amount to compensate added duties that are typically of a more limited duration
Salary supplement: an attachment to base pay, granted in a recurring monthly amount for the timeframe of the work performed, and generally associated with added duties through a specific secondary administrative job or appointment
The Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina, through UNC Policy 300.2.13, requires each campus to have a policy on supplemental pay for EHRA employees.
Academic Personnel Office (for faculty) or Office of Human Resources (for EHRA non-faculty employees): approves overload and salary supplement requests; approves non-routine exceptions to overload percentage limit; jointly publishes overload request form.
Dean/Vice Chancellor (or approved designee): may grant exception to the associated secondary appointment or administrative title for salary supplement request; approves after-the-fact requests; may communicate salary supplement in writing to the employee.
Department Head:
…of the employee: communicates salary supplement in writing to the employee.
…of the unit in which the work is to be performed: approves salary supplement and overload requests, regardless of whether the employee works in the unit.
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost (for faculty) or Vice Chancellor for Workforce Strategy, Equity and Engagement (for EHRA non-faculty employees): approves any blanket exception to overload percentage limit for a specified work unit.
Vice Provost for Finance and Academic Planning (for faculty) or Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources (for EHRA non-faculty employees): grants exceptions to this policy when deemed necessary for conduct of essential University business.
Responsible Offices
Office of Human Resources and Academic Personnel Office
Responsible University Officers
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost and Vice Chancellor for Workforce Strategy, Equity and Engagement
Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost – Finance and Academic Personnel
(919) 962-1091
For questions regarding EHRA Non-Faculty employees:
Office of Human Resources EHRA Non-Faculty Unit
(919) 962-2897