Annual salary review under way

Salary Chart

The annual October Salary Review for Laboratory employees is now under way. The review process is scheduled to run through noon on Oct. 16, when all salary actions must be finalized. Both biweekly and monthly paid employees will see changes reflected in their Nov. 30 paychecks. All increases will be retroactive to Oct. 1.

As in prior years, the merit budget increase proposal to the DOE was based on a comparison of the Laboratory’s average salaries for job classifications against market averages for similar jobs as reported in a number of market surveys. The accompanying article on this page provides more information about that process.

Depending on the structure, the Laboratory’s Compensation Increase Plan is divided into two or three categories: merits, adjustments and promotions. The merit allocation represents "pure merit" increases. The adjustment allocation, ranging from 0 percent to 2 percent, is for other common salary actions such as internal and external equity adjustments, structure/range adjustments, and retention pay for particular job classifications or families.

As in past years, an additional half percent has been allocated in the merit structures for increases resulting from promotions. The merit allocations and step structure adjustments for the different series are shown in the accompanying table. Individual increases will vary based on ranking and how current salaries compare to those of peers.

The variation in numbers across the different series reflects differences in the respective markets. Adjustments to the salary ranges also reflect market differences; some of the ranges have been broadened to reflect the wider range spreads seen in the Lab’s salary surveys. Complete range information is included in the Salary Program Guidelines, which are available on the Web at http://www-hr.llnl.gov/PDF/compensation/ in the Compensation Documents folder. Questions may also be directed to your directorate’s Compensation Representative.