Yes, and I have followed up. If a remote employee is hired at a location-specific pay band, can they renegotiate their salary should they relocate?
This type of banding based on location opens the door for this type of pay negotiation for employee/employer contracting.
Something to think about.
*I might want to retire to Portland, so I will work remotely there for five years, negotiate the higher pay band take advantage of the Oregon retiree benefits, or possibly pop over to Vancouver, Washington keep the same pay band, and choose not to pay any state taxes at all. Hmm. -M
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Michelle Davis, M.Ed.
Research Administrator, Office of Research
College of Health Sciences, Boise State University
michelledavis3@boisestate.edu------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 02-20-2023 11:10
From: Andrea Buford
Subject: Remote work and the research administrator career track
Right??? It seems to me that this whole situation is begging for a lawsuit. Your pay depends on your job description -period. VERY occasionally, a COLA could be in place for a very expensive locale, it seems to me - but it should be made obvious to all and sundry that that increment is not part of base pay. Base pay shouldn't go down in any situation I can think of.
A
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Andrea Buford
Director, Office of Sponsored Programs
Oakland University
Original Message:
Sent: 02-20-2023 10:33
From: Michelle Davis
Subject: Remote work and the research administrator career track
This is an excellent thread-a lot of good content and discussion. I appreciate everyone's willingness to talk about their experiences and university positions.
I have noted many different opportunities for WFH and Hybrid RA work recently. Both in Academia and outside. In some cases, a salary differential depends on the worker's location based on CoL for the area. In most cases, the employer will be willing to negotiate the salary depending on the applicant's experience. But CoL salaries for WFH and Hybrid jobs are becoming more popular nationwide.
An article in the Huffington Post in 2021 discussed this CoL-location-based pay scaling: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/location-based-pay-salary-cut-remote-work-pay_l_615c7ccee4b0896dd1a985d0
So, this begs the question, is this 'fair and equitable'? We have these guidelines built into our hiring system. Positions should be paid fairly and equitably based on experience, qualifications, and expertise. However, if you live in Boise, you will be paid less than in Seattle or Portland.
It should not matter if the position is remote, hybrid, or in-person, but now it seems it does. Are we now going to ask questions like, are you married, how many children do you support, do you own a home? If so, your salary will be adjusted accordingly.
Thoughts?
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Michelle Davis, M.Ed.
Research Administrator, Office of Research
College of Health Sciences, Boise State University
michelledavis3@boisestate.edu
Original Message:
Sent: 02-14-2023 10:58
From: Simon Helton
Subject: Remote work and the research administrator career track
Hi everyone,
I was recently looking at the 2022 data from the Connect Community and something that stood out to me is the number of job posts (325 in 2022!). When I started at Cayuse, I asked my coworkers about the career paths of research administrators and was told that for a lot of folks in RA, they lived in college towns where the school was the big employer, so the main way to rise in the ranks was internal promotions.
As one of those people myself who lives in a college town where the school is the big employer, I'm curious about what folks have observed about how this dynamic has changed with remote work becoming more common. Are you seeing more job hopping to climb the ladder? Has it let you bring in talented folks who normally would have been too geographically distant? What's your take on the new landscape of research administration careers?
And as a reminder, you can post anonymously if this is a delicate subject :)
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Simon Helton
He/him
Community Manager
Cayuse
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