University of Wisconsin–Madison

2026 Compensation Program Implementation in SMPH

UW–Madison has provided a central pool of funds to schools, colleges, and divisions across campus to support a compensation program for employees. Information about these programs was announced to all UW employees in May 2026. The campus strategy includes an allocation of 10.5 million in one-time funds to support schools, colleges, and divisions in recognizing above-and-beyond contributions related to the Workday implementation and in support of UW–Madison’s response to evolving state and federal requirements.

At SMPH, departments and administrative work units will consider employee contributions to these efforts and will nominate eligible and deserving employees for a one-time performance bonus via this program.

Leaders will consider:

  • Recognize exceptional performance
  • Scope and impact of employee contributions
  • Employee eligibility criteria

While the available resources are exciting, they will unfortunately not allow all deserving staff and faculty to be recognized at this time.

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Compensation Program Information

Performance Bonus Fund (PBF)

The Performance Bonus Fund is designed to provide departments with the opportunity to recognize exceptional work and/or service, often above and beyond employee job responsibilities, and especially tied to the Workday implementation and/or support of UW–Madison’s response to evolving state and federal requirements.  

SMPH implementation of the campus-funded Performance Bonus Fund (PBF) recognition program is aligned with campus and SMPH compensation philosophy, campus Salary Administration Guidelines (SAG), and the overarching guidelines developed by the Office of Human Resources (OHR) for this program. Departments will nominate employees who have demonstrated exceptional performance while having played a meaningful role in the Workday implementation or in supporting UW–Madison’s response to changing state and federal expectations for a lump-sum bonus.  

Qualifying activities include, but are not limited to, developing Workday processes and procedures, analyzing changes and translating them into clear guidance, communicating updates, triaging questions within the school and supporting the work to determine answers and solutions, and supporting changes to individual workflows and business processes.

Eligibility

Some basic, campus-wide parameters that SMPH departments will follow include:

  • Academic Staff, University Staff, Faculty, and Limited Appointees with an FTE of 20% to 100% are eligible
  • Employees must have completed all required UW–Madison and SMPH trainings/compliance
  • Supervisors must be current on their employee performance evaluations
  • Employees must have completed their initial probationary or evaluation period and have an evaluation with a rating of “Meeting Expectations” to be eligible for a performance bonus
  • Rehired annuitants are not eligible
  • Employees with documented performance issues are not eligible
  • Faculty whose compensation is established annually via the department compensation plan are not eligible
  • Employees who have received a performance bonus and/or a performance base adjustment in FY 2026 are not eligible

Timeline

May 6: All UW–Madison employees notified

Information about this program was announced to all UW employees in May 2026.

May 22: Unit leaders engaged, and the nomination period begins

SMPH HR sends a message to the department and other unit leadership asking that they begin to think about those employees who represent the very highest priority in terms of recognition of outstanding performance related to the Workday implementation and the support of UW–Madison’s response to evolving state and federal requirements.

The nomination period begins, and unit leaders are sent the information needed to complete the process. Department leaders implement the review and request process in accordance with program guidelines and work unit priorities.

May 28: All SMPH employees notified

Information about this program was shared with all SMPH employees via an In The Know message.

June 8: Deadline for pay adjustment recommendation from departments

Departments use materials to make performance bonus recommendations to the SMPH Dean’s Office.

Departments are also encouraged to supplement the central funding with their own discretionary funds when they are able to recognize exceptional performance outside of the scope of this program.

June 14: Approved performance bonuses effective

Department recommendations that are approved are effective on June 14, 2026, and will appear on the July 9 paycheck.