Tag: NonExempt

  • Six Strategies for Supporting the Non-Exempt Higher Ed Workforce

    Six Strategies for Supporting the Non-Exempt Higher Ed Workforce

    by Julie Burrell | April 23, 2025

    Non-exempt staff make up more than a quarter of the higher ed workforce and provide frontline support to the campus community. They are the electricians, safety and security staff, custodians, office assistants, food service workers, and others who power higher ed’s day-to-day operations.

    This vital workforce has also been shrinking. New research from CUPA-HR has shown a 9% decrease in the full-time non-exempt workforce since 2017, and an 8% decrease in the part-time non-exempt workforce during the same period.

    It’s more important than ever to support your non-exempt employees by preventing burnout and bolstering work-life balance. Retention and recruitment must also remain a priority, with turnover rates for hourly non-exempt workers persistently high.

    Here are six ideas for strengthening your employee value proposition for this key segment of the higher ed workforce.

    Create Internal Career Pathways

    Career growth is a key factor in employee satisfaction. Review your learning, development and promotion opportunities to ensure they provide pathways for all employees and are accessible to those who work outside of traditional office hours.

    Upskilling non-exempt employees is also critical. Encourage managers and supervisors to identify who might step up to fill critical roles and who might need additional skills, certifications and competencies.

    Don’t forget to include non-exempt employees in succession planning. Particular attention should be given to skilled craft staff, an area where the decreasing number of employees over the age of 55 might signal a potentially critical pipeline challenge.

    Resource Spotlight: Hocus Pocus, Time to Focus: Innovative Career Development for Staff is an on-demand webinar detailing how the University of Tennessee Knoxville HR team built an innovative new career development unit. And learn how the University of Texas at Dallas’ BRIGHT leaders program uses a flexible model that encourages all employees to lead from where they are. 

    Prioritize Pay

    Continue periodic pay equity reviews and work toward pay equity for all employees. Our research into the non-exempt workforce has found that women of all races/ethnicities continue to be paid less than White men who hold the same non-exempt staff positions.

    Resource Spotlight: Reserve your spot in the upcoming CUPA-HR webinar Transitioning From a Broadband to a Market-Based Pay Structure to learn how University of Pittsburgh leaders replaced a 25-year-old classification system with a market-based job and compensation framework, including FLSA status adjustments. And learn about Maricopa Community College District’s strategic compensation plan in this two-part series on implementing a living wage strategy and establishing internal pay equity and market alignment.

    Provide Flexibility When Possible

    Many non-exempt staff need to be on campus to provide critical, in-person support to students and colleagues. But during the slower summer months, consider offering summer Fridays (either full or half-days off) and/or the option of longer shifts in exchange for fewer days per week worked.

    For office employees, no-meetings Fridays set employees up for a successful Monday, ensuring they can wrap up their week and head into their weekend with less stress.

    Last year, turnover was the highest among part-time hourly employees, at a rate of 25%. For this group, provide — and advertise — hours that support working parents and caregivers.

    Tout Your Benefits

    For both potential and current employees, benefits can be a key difference in recruitment and retention.

    Do you offer competitive matching retirement contributions? Tuition benefits for employees and their families? Competitively priced health insurance? Prominently feature these benefits in your job recruitment materials. And partner with educational consultants from your retirement and insurance plans to make your current employees aware of their benefits.

    Are outdated policies inadvertently causing turnover? Periodically review policies to increase benefits at no cost. For example, if your probationary period doesn’t allow sick leave, you may be losing recently onboarded staff.

    Prevent Burnout

    Because the non-exempt workforce is shrinking, it’s critical to avoid the overwork trap. Expecting non-exempt employees to do the work of multiple people can negatively impact job satisfaction.

    What work might be discontinued or altered to adjust to less availability of staff? What work might be outsourced to help close the gap between staff availability and required work? Reductions in staffing should always be reviewed to determine what ongoing work is feasible and what work must be changed or eliminated.

    Boost Culture

    In addition to good benefits, culture is higher ed’s competitive advantage in the labor market.

    Are both part-time and full-time non-exempt staff regularly being recognized for their work? Recognition is one of the lowest-cost retention tools that remains underused in higher ed overall. Examine how your HRIS and social media channels can be used to highlight consistently excellent employees.

    Consider incorporating budget-friendly employee get-togethers into your campus routines, such as ice cream socials or pizza parties.

    Resource Spotlight: Learn how to audit and boost your recognition program in Recalibrating Employee Recognition in Higher Education.

    Explore more recommendations and the full data on the non-exempt workforce in CUPA-HR’s report, The Non-Exempt Higher Education Staff Workforce: Trends in Composition, Size, and Pay Equity.

     



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  • The Non-Exempt Staff Workforce in Colleges and Universities Is Shrinking

    The Non-Exempt Staff Workforce in Colleges and Universities Is Shrinking

    by CUPA-HR | April 8, 2025

    New research from CUPA-HR shows that the number of non-exempt* staff employees in higher education has been on a steady decline for the past several years. In the newest workforce trends report, The Non-Exempt Higher Education Staff Workforce: Trends in Composition, Size, and Equity, CUPA-HR examines the makeup of and trends in the higher ed non-exempt staff workforce from 2016-17 to 2023-24.

    One of the more notable findings: Since 2017, there has been a 9 percent decrease overall in the full-time non-exempt staff higher ed workforce. Part-time staff employee numbers have also fallen — down 8 percent in that same time period. The most significant downward trend began in 2020 (the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic), with decreases for both full-time (-3.3 percent) and part-time (-17.2 percent) staff.

    Some of the other key findings highlighted in the report:

    • Fewer non-exempt staff are age 55+. Non-exempt staff are slightly younger than they were pre-pandemic, and the proportion that is age 55+ has steadily declined from a high of 34% in 2019-20 to 31% in 2023-24.
    • Women make up 59% of the non-exempt staff workforce. They are best represented among office and clerical staff. Women in non-exempt positions are paid $.96 for every dollar White men are paid. Pay equity is lowest for Black ($0.92) and Hispanic ($0.94) women.
    • People of color make up 33% of the non-exempt workforce. This representation is much higher than in any other segment of the workforce, including administrators, faculty and professionals.
    • Women and Black staff experience multiple layers of inequity among non-exempt staff. They are better represented in the lowest-paying positions (e.g., dishwasher, custodian) than among the highest-paying positions (e.g., metalworker, electrician lead). They also have lower representation in lead positions than in non-lead positions.

    Read the report and explore this data with interactive graphics.


    *A non-exempt employee is one that is covered by (not exempt from) the Fair Labor Standards Act. As such, they are required to be paid overtime for every hour worked over 40 hours per week. Non-exempt staff must track their hours and be paid at least the federal minimum hourly wage. Examples of non-exempt staff in higher education include electricians, police officers, photographers, custodians, office assistants and food service workers.



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