MADISON, Wis. — A new CUNA report finds that variable-pay programs are gaining momentum at credit unions.

The programs, which tie monetary rewards to performance measures and productivity, offer credit union employers a way to increase compensation without increasing base pay.

“The current economy and lack of wage growth are causing employees to experience higher financial stress than in the past,” said Beth Soltis, senior research analyst for CUNA's Center for Research and Advice. “In addition to incentive pay, credit unions may also want to consider adopting some non-monetary methods to compensate and inspire employees, like sabbatical days, development opportunities and flexible working arrangements.”

Although variable-pay programs increased overall, bonuses remained the most common according to the 2008-2009 Complete Credit Union Staff Salary Survey, published by CUNA's Center for Research and Advice. Among credit unions with $1 million in assets or more, 62% offered bonus payments (rewards not tied to preset performance criteria) and 42% offered incentive payments (rewards tied to preset performance criteria) to their employees.

In addition, while equally likely to be eligible for incentive payments, management employees are more likely than nonmanagement employees to be eligible for bonus payments. A little more than one-third of survey respondents reported that management and nonmanagement employees were eligible for incentive payments in 2007, while 59% of management and 48% of nonmanagement employees were eligible for bonuses. The percentage of credit unions offering bonuses to nonmanagement employees increased from 42% the previous year.

The survey provides compensation data for 89 full-time and eight part-time positions at credit unions with $1 million or more in assets, including: base salaries, incentives, bonuses, total cash compensation and salary ranges. The report–available in print or Adobe PDF format–also contains job descriptions, benchmarks for salary and benefit expenses, base pay increases and turnover rates.

An electronic version of the survey's data tables is also available for purchase this year. This new offering allows users to apply formulas and insert the data directly into the credit union's spreadsheets.

CUNA's 2008-2009 Complete Credit Union Staff Salary Survey sells to credit unions for $279 for the print version or $259 for the PDF. For more information or to order online, visit buy.cuna.org,

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