Salaries at Penn

Penn’s compensation program is designed to pay market-competitive salaries to recruit, retain, and motivate talented employees. To that end, our program focuses on these key objectives:

• Create and support a system that provides flexibility to staff for career development and to managers for pay administration.
• Ensure salary ranges are competitive for comparable positions in the external job market.
• Evaluate staff positions consistently and fairly and classify in the appropriate job profile.
• Regularly measure the external market value for comparable jobs and adjust salary structures accordingly.

Salary Offers

Salary offers are made based on the candidate’s qualifications, experience, skills, and education as they directly relate to the requirements of the position, and in alignment with salary ranges based on external market data for the job’s level. Internal organization and peer data at Penn are also considered, as well as affordability. Staff members will not be offered a salary below the minimum or above the maximum of the salary range. 

No salary offer, or promise of an offer, may be made without prior approval from the Division of Human Resources, Compensation.

University staff members covered by collective bargaining agreements should refer to the appropriate articles in their contracts. 

Hourly Pay

The University's pay practices and procedures are governed by the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The University is committed to paying its employees in accordance with the requirements of FLSA, relevant state and local laws, and University Policy. 

Individuals paid on an hourly basis will track their time in Workday.

Refer to Compensation Policies for more information on the following topics and others related to pay:

• Overtime Compensation
• Meal and Rest Breaks
• Time Reporting

Job Architecture and Salary Structures

Penn employs over 20,000 individuals who bring a wide range of knowledge, skills, and abilities to their jobs. Penn’s salary structures provide fairness and flexibility in pay practices for a wide variety of talent across the University. The University of Pennsylvania’s staff salary structures are designed on a market best practice approach that draws on two key elements: job architecture and job leveling. 

• Job Architecture - Organizes jobs by assigning job profiles to a job family, subfamily, and career stream (support, individual contributor, management).
• Job Leveling - Within and across job families, considers the knowledge, skills, education, and experience required. Job levels are based on multiple factors, including a job’s level of responsibility, complexity, problem-solving, scope, and impact.

Job architecture and leveling offers clear pathways for career growth. This structured approach ensures alignment with market compensation, facilitates adjustments for market or statutory changes, and supports fair, consistent, and competitive pay practices across the University.

For more information, explore Penn's Job Architecture.

Pay and Performance

Pay and performance are closely linked. The University has a performance-based merit increase program to recognize and reward the valuable contributions of employees by paying market competitive salaries in a fiscally responsible manner. Eligible faculty and staff may receive salary increases as merited by performance.

The performance review cycle includes a mid-year and year-end review. This process improves understanding of job responsibilities, promotes effective job performance, provides ongoing opportunities to establish career goals, supports professional development, and provides a structure for salary growth.

Salary Surveys

The Division of Human Resources, Compensation conducts ongoing reviews of University positions to remain competitive in the marketplace. The University participates in a broad range of third-party salary surveys to assess the market, recommend competitive merit increase pools, and advise Schools and Centers on salary administration and salary offers.

All salary surveys are completed by the Division of Human Resources, Compensation, where the University’s salary survey library is maintained. This extensive library provides current data for making fact-based data-driven recommendations. 

If Schools or Centers identify salary surveys that may be relevant to Penn’s market, reach out to your HR Partner or Compensation Partner rather than participating independently. With full access to University job descriptions and salary data, the Division of Human Resources Compensation will handle the completion and submission of surveys and will share the results as appropriate.

Questions

If you have any questions related to your compensation, you can contact Human Resources in your school/center or the Penn Employee Solution Center online, by phone at 215-898-7372 or email solutioncenter@upenn.edu.