After 15 years working at UVA, Michael Kidd has to decide what to do with his HR plan. To switch or not to switch? That’s the $64,000 question.
In July, Kidd and wife Jolene, who also works at UVA, discussed their thoughts with C-VILLE. At the time, Michael was more skeptical than his wife. Three months later, things haven’t changed. “I remain skeptical,” he says.
Between October and December, certain staff members must decide whether to stick with the current state human resources (HR) plan or switch to a new University plan that will go into effect January 1. The new employment plan is an outcome of the 2005 Management Agreement and Restructured Higher Education Finance Administrative Operations Act that gave UVA increased autonomy from the state.
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Michael Kidd, a UVA employee, says he will stick to the state plan for now. "We’ve got a great leave plan now," he says. "I can’t imagine how they are going to make it better." |
Kidd, who received his master’s degree in English from UVA in 2005, is a “Life Member” of the UVA Alumni Association and a member of the Staff Union at UVA. He says he wouldn’t mind trying something new if he would benefit from the change. But, he says, what he sees is not convincing.
“[The current state plan] is the best plan we have had yet, and the new plan just takes us back to where we used to be, and that was not a pretty place,” he says. There are certain aspects of the new plan that leave Kidd ambivalent.
What troubles him most is pay for performance. “It’s got so many problems with it, I don’t even know where to begin. But probably the easiest way to sum it up is no money to fund it,” he says.
The University develops pay-increase guidelines for each performance-evaluation range, and the UVA Board of Visitors is ultimately responsible for approving the raise. Kidd says performance pay is very effective in the private sector, because “they are willing to put their money where their mouth is.”
The University acknowledges in a statement from the HR department that because of the tough financial times, it is difficult to predict when funds will be available. “In addition, implementing pay for performance is also contingent on establishing the new performance evaluation system, which we will be developing over the course of 2009,” the release states. “Late 2009 is a likely time for launching pay for performance, if funds are then available.”
Kidd’s experience with the system in the mid ’90s scarred him. “I remember my supervisor ranked me at the highest level of my performance evaluation,” he says, which qualified him to accrue the highest level of increase. But the dean’s office sent it back to the English department and said there was no money for it, “so they took a white out and bumped me back down,” he says.
Kidd sees one new benefit as problematic. Employees who make below $40,000 will be eligible to receive a $300 supplemental benefit credit that they can use in many ways, such as paying for parking, health care and a pre-tax benefit to offset benefit deductions. “This creates a kind of welfare system,” says Kidd. “They are really discriminating against other workers and I just think it’s wrong.”
When it comes to the leave plan, Kidd has no doubts. “We’ve got a great leave plan now,” he says. “I can’t imagine how they are going to make it better.”
Currently, classified staff accrue paid leave based on the years of service and the percentage of hours worked in a 40-hour week.
“Right now, the leave that doesn’t carry forward, you forfeit, you just lose it,” says Susan Carkeek, vice president and chief human resources officer. “People asked for the ability to cash that in, or sell it back.”
But Kidd has already made up his mind.
“I plan on staying classified staff just to see what will happen, and my logic is pretty simple,” he says. “I’ve seen nothing that says I’ve got to change. As one of my colleagues put it, ‘What’s in it for me?’”
Not all staff members have a choice—those hired after July 2006 will be automatically enrolled. And for those with a choice, once they switch to the new system, they won’t be able to switch back to the state system.
The open enrollment period ends on December 31. By law, the University has to hold an open enrollment period every two years, but UVA has already opted to offer another one next year.
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