Compensation and Merit Resources

1. Employee submits request with supervisor:

• The employee discusses concerns of equitable pay with their supervisor.
• The employee identifies comparators (positions doing similar work in a similar environment).
• If the employee is uncomfortable discussing with their supervisor, they may also submit the request through their school, college, unit HR representative/business partner. Please note, the employee’s supervisor will still be notified of the request.

2. Initiating the review process:

• The employee's supervisor contacts the school/college/unit HR Business Partner to begin the process.
• The HR Business Partner contacts with the Talent Acquisition/Compensation Partner and submits request for equitable pay review via Compensation Request Form information to include: requestor’s comparator(s), employee’s job description, employee’s resume.

3. Review, analysis and recommendation:

• The Talent Acquisition/Compensation Partner reviews and confirms the requesting employee’s position is correctly classified.
• The Talent Acquisition and Compensation Partner reviews the employee's position description and comparators.
• Determines if the work is similar situated and in a similar environment to the identified comparators.
• Review of years of experience, credentials, and tenure in the position is conducted.
• The Talent Acquisition and Compensation Partner provides the HR Business Partner with the analysis, including whether there is pay disparity and a recommendation of an equitable salary range if applicable. February 2025

4. Supervisor Review:

• The HR Business Partner reviews the outcome of the review and discusses next steps with the supervisor.

5A. If No Salary Adjustment is recommended:

• Supervisor to discuss outcome with employee.
•  Process ends.

5B. If Salary Adjustment is recommended conduct a budget review:

• A review of the budget to adjust the requesting employee's salary is required.
• Budget approval is obtained through an approved second-level budget approval form.

6. If a Salary Adjustment is recommended, then process the salary adjustment for Approval:

• The HR Business Partner submits a Non-Person Profile, attaching the job description, second-level approval, addendum letter of offer, and the employee's resume for justification of the increase.
• Once the addendum letter of offer has been approved, it is routed for signatures.

7. Final Submission:

• Following the signed addendum letter of offer, the HR Business Partner submits the TBT with the signed addendum letter of offer attached to increase the annual salary.

Appeal Process

1. If the requesting employee would like to request an appeal, they have 10 working days to submit, in writing, to the EVC for Finance and Administration. The appeal must satisfy the following criteria:

• Based on total salary, not an appeal of annual merit or any corresponding annual raises.
• The appeal may not be based on MOUs or secondary appointments, rather the employee’s primary appointment. Only base salary is to be considered.
• The appeal must be based on an internal comparison between the salary of the individual and other staff members in career family/professional level within their performing substantially similar duties. As a part of the appeal, an individual must identify a comparator. 

2. The EVC for FA will conduct a review of the appeal as follows:

• Verify whether the comparator performs substantially similar duties
• Assess salary data and documentation
• Determine if salary differences are due to allowable factors outlined in university policies and EPEWA.

3. The EVC for FA will make a determination notify the employee, supervisor and school/college/unit leader, hr business partner and CU Denver HR of their decision within 10 days.

Prohibition of Retaliation

No staff member shall face retaliation for filing a salary equity grievance, as mandated by APS 5065.

Additional Reporting Options

Staff may also file concerns with the Office of Equity in accordance with APS 5065. However, most salary equity issues will be referred back to the School/College for review.

* For classified staff salary reviews, additional analysis to ensure compliance within the state step system will also be conducted.

Units were given a merit pool of 2.25% of their total active benefits-eligible staff and faculty to allocate to their eligible employees based on the unit’s criteria. CLAS sets aside 10% of the annual merit pool to address faculty and staff market/compression-based salary concerns. Based on CLAS criteria, university staff merit increases are calculated based on the number of overall evaluation scores of 3 or greater and the available merit pool allocated each year.

2026 merit increase percentages for university staff were as follows*:

Rating of 3 = 1.29%

Rating of 4 = 1.72%

Rating of 5 = 2.15%

*Percentages are not applicable for the Academic Advising Office. Advising Office staff should contact their supervisor with questions regarding their merit increase percentage calculation.

CU Denver January 2026 Compensation FAQ