General Salary Increase Program 2025-26 for Policy Covered Staff

June 26, 2025

Dear Colleagues,

We're happy to confirm that starting June 22, 2025, for biweekly paid employees and July 1 for monthly paid employees, all eligible Personnel Policies for Staff Members (PPSM) covered Berkeley staff members can look forward to an across-the-board 3.2 percent salary increase. This general salary increase program for the 2025-26 period is intended for our policy-covered staff employees. The biweekly paid employees will see their increase on the July 30, 2025, check issue date, which is expected to also include their retroactive pay effective June 22, 2025. Monthly paid employees will see their increase in the August 1, 2025, paycheck.

Please note that staff employees who are represented by unions are not included in this program, as their wages are determined through collective bargaining agreements. This includes employees whose positions are newly represented by unions - Admin Officer 3 & 4, R&D Engineer 4, and Facilities Management Specialist 4. Negotiations regarding all titles in the newly formed Student Services and Advising Professionals (SSAP-UAW) bargaining unit are ongoing, and these titles are not included in the salary increase program at this time. We will issue an update with regard to the SSAP-UAW unit when new information becomes available.

While this year's salary increase isn't linked to individual merit, the value of ongoing performance reviews remains high. All policy-covered staff are part of the Achieve Together performance program and expected to continue receiving, at least annually, a performance evaluation in line with our policies. Please note that employees will be excluded from the across-the-board salary increase program if in Achieve Together:

  • They receive three (3) or more "Needs Attention" in any of the five Achievement Criteria; OR,

  • They receive "Needs Attention" for BOTH the Job Mastery and Goal Accomplishment criteria, even if all other criteria are Well Done or Stand Out.

Please refer to our Achieve Together website for information on the Achievement Criteria and the related Performance Levels. Achieve Together Performance Levels were due in the online form by May 31, 2025.

Other Eligibility Criteria for Across-the-Board Salary Increase:

  1. Career and contract appointment positions: Individuals appointed to career or partial-year career, and contract appointment positions in grades 15-31 covered by PPSM policy on or before January 6, 2025, are eligible regardless of funding source.

  2. Contract positions: the department will need to (a) provide funding for those who will receive an increase, and (b) update the contract with the new salary amount.

  3. Individuals (a) must be appointed to a PPSM position on or before January 6, 2025, (b) must be in a PPSM position on July 1, 2025, and (c) must remain on the payroll in an eligible position and appointment on the date that the pay increase is paid.

  4. Employees whose new salary will exceed the salary range maximum will receive an increase that is capped at the salary range maximum.

  5. Excluded employees:

    1. Individuals who were hired after January 6, 2025;

    2. Individuals whose current salary exceeds the new salary range maximum;

    3. Individuals who separate from employment on or before the payout date;

    4. Rehired retirees;

    5. Athletic positions covered by contracts that contain performance bonuses; and,

    6. Limited employees and employees covered by collective bargaining agreements.  

Questions can be directed to scottd3@berkeley.edu

Thanks,
Eugene & Scott

Eugene Whitlock, Chief People & Culture Officer
Scott Dinkelspiel, Director, Compensation

This message was sent to all staff. If you are a manager who supervises UC Berkeley staff without email access, please circulate this information to all.