The President establishes the size of the total salary increase pool, the amount the salary budget will increase from the previous year. This pool funds all salary increases for the fiscal year, including performance increases. Information about completing the year-end performance appraisals and the guidelines for administering the staff salary increase process are distributed to senior officers in the spring.

An employee who receives any performance rating other than the lowest rating is eligible for a performance increase each year. An employee who receives the lowest rating must demonstrate improvement to be retained and to receive future merit increases. Employees hired on or after April 1 or who have worked less than three months during the current review period are not eligible for merit increases that year. Employees hired between January 1 and March 31 generally receive pro-rated increases.

Similarly, employees who have been out on leave for a substantial amount of time during the evaluation period may also receive pro-rated increases except as determined by FMLA. Performance increases for employees on a leave of absence on July 1 will have their increase delayed until they return to active status. When employees are transferred or promoted during the fiscal year, assessments of their performance for that year should be a collaborative effort between their new and previous supervisors and they will be eligible for the normal July 1 performance increase.

Performance increase decisions are developed in accordance with the established increase guidelines and budgetary constraints. Individual supervisors will recommend merit increases on the basis of performance rating. Senior officers must approve all salary increases within their divisions.