Classified employees can look forward to a salary increase this summer if the Board of Regents approves the University’s request to be removed from the State Civil Service.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius signed Senate Bill 74, which will allow classified positions and salaries to be managed by the University and Board of Regents rather than by the civil service system. The bill was passed 73-43 by the House of Representatives and 30-0 by the Senate.

Under the civil service system, employees are governed by state rules and regulations. This is especially important in regarding employee salaries and job titles. Salary raises have been nonexistent in the past few years.

About 1,500 employees are under the state civil service system, including library assistants, custodial staff, accountants, office specialists and employees at the KU Public Safety Office. University officials said they would like to put the request on the June agenda and are hopeful it will pass, said Ola Faucher, director of human resources.

If approved, the law would go into effect on July 1, and employees could see the benefits as early as July 3, which is the start of a new pay period.

If the employees are removed from the civil service system, they would be in a category called University Support Staff.

“We would like to be able to provide for them the way we provide for our unclassified staff,” Faucher said.

Employees under the new system would be eligible to receive more than the 2.5 percent salary increase approved by the Legislature in January.

The University needs to do better than 2.5 percent so employees can be paid better, said Lindy Eakin, vice provost for University administration and finance.

“From a political standpoint, we want to deliver,” Eakin said.

Increases from the University would come in two parts. Two-thirds of the money for increases would be used for all employees who have satisfactory performance. The remaining one-third of the money would be used for merit raises determined by evaluations within the departments and other factors such as skills or new responsibilities.

Eakin said some are nervous about the new system because it opens the door for favoritism.

“It’s a new thing,” he said. “There has never been a performance component to their salary. There hasn’t been any incentive, reward or punishment.

But separation from the state civil service system was something most University classified employees have been waiting for.

On Oct. 14, 2003, classified employees voted to withdraw from civil service. Bette Luther, an accountant, voted in favor of it.

“A lot of it had to do with the fact that our merit raises were frozen in February 2001,” she said. “There were a lot of people who had to leave to go find work elsewhere.”

Merit raises are given to employees based on the work they’ve done. Employees governed by the University and the Board of Regents, such as faculty, staff and administration, are eligible for these raises.

Employees removed from the civil service system would still be employees of the state. They would not lose any holidays or have a decrease in salary and they would still be under the state retirement system and state leave program. They would no longer be able to appeal demotion or suspension to the civil service appeals board.

As a result, Luther said classified employees were in the process of creating an appeals process for employees who feel they are wrongfully demoted, suspended or terminated.

“It is a benefit for us that we have an opportunity to get an increase in salary from the University and be rewarded for the work that we do,” Luther said.

Gov. Sebelius will be on campus today for a ceremonial signing of Senate Bill 74 at 4 p.m. at Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union.