Faculty Rights Tip: How Can I Access My Salary Information to Know I’m Getting the Correct Raises in My Paychecks?

With the arrival of April, many faculty are looking forward to receiving the raises we won in the extended (2022-25) Collective Bargaining Agreement, including our retroactive raises.

With the “manual update” which registers our new salaries with the state occurring soon (April 24-25, according to the CSU’s payment chart), we should ideally be receiving retroactive checks in the later part of April.

However, given the history of payroll delays and errors by the CSU administration, it is vital that faculty know what we are owed in salary as well as what we are actually paid and when by the CSU. It is up to each of us to “check their work” and make sure we are being paid correctly.

If you are a faculty member who is not sure how to find out your salary or see the breakdown of deductions in your paycheck, you can register with the “Cal Employee Connect” portal here. This is a secure web-based employee self-service portal available to California state workers.

When you register, you need to provide some information such as an access code which can be found on prior pay stubs. If you do not have this information, you can email your campus payroll office to get the correct information needed to set up your portal.

Once you have an account set up in this portal, you will be able to view all your paychecks as well as W2 forms, from 2017-present. This is a useful tool to log into regularly, as we start to receive checks for retroactive pay (dating back to July 1, 2023) that we may not understand. As faculty, we need to make sure the CSU is paying us the full amount they owe us, a 5 percent General Salary Increase for the entire 2023-24 Academic Year, plus any other raises we may be eligible for, such as a Service Salary Increase for eligible faculty or a Department Chair pay increase (see Article 31), as negotiated in the new agreement.

Login, keep track of the checks you receive, do the math, and be in touch with your campus faculty rights representative if you have any questions or concerns about being paid correctly!

Want to learn more? Become active with your local CFA chapter Faculty Rights team. Find your representative here.

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