Salary scales

Our HR Compensation team strives to ensure all salaries at UK are competitive for our market and are equitably administered.

HR Compensation reviews the functions and context of the job responsibilities of every position at the university, including UK HealthCare.

For positions where there is a benchmark available elsewhere in the labor market, including at comparable institutions, we review reliable salary survey data. Then, we give that position a grade level where the midpoint is closes to the median salary reported in those surveys.

At the same time, non-benchmark jobs are those for which valid and reliable salary survey data is not available. They may be unique to our organization or can’t be accurately matched to comparable positions in published surveys.

To determine the salary grade for a non-benchmark job, we take an objective approach. First, we compare non-benchmark jobs to benchmark jobs to find similar positions. The similarities are based on important factors like skill requirements, management responsibilities and scope, educational requirements, decision-making responsibilities, etc. We then slot the job into the appropriate salary grade based on other similar positions at that level.