ARIN Compensation Program and Practices
Revised: January 2020
Purpose
To support our stated mission, it is imperative that ARIN be fully staffed with well-qualified, motivated, and highly productive employees. Our goal is to attract, develop, retain and appropriately compensate employees of the highest caliber so that ARIN can continue to perform its mission for the Internet community.
Philosophy
ARIN has a documented compensation philosophy and structure that it uses to set salaries. The overall compensation philosophy is to provide our employees pay and benefits that are commensurate with other similar companies in our geographic region. ARIN’s compensation structure also considers individual performance, tenure, experience, education, position type, and local market conditions. ARIN is located in Northern Virginia along the high-tech Route 28 corridor, which is one of the major centers of information technology in the country. The area continues to attract an ever-growing number of technology-based organizations. In addition, the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area makes the list of the top ten areas in the nation for the cost of living expenses.
While ARIN is a nonprofit company, it competes directly with for‐profit and technology companies in pursuit of qualified employees, and must offer competitive salaries and benefits to attract and retain staff. Studies have shown that high turnover in knowledge workers results in a high cost of replacement, so staff stability of successful employees is critical. Maintaining a tenured, highly knowledgeable, and experienced workforce allows ARIN to provide our members and the Internet community with the support and services they require.
A complete salary survey (for all positions in ARIN) is completed every two to three years, and most recently in June 2018 by an outside firm that specializes in such work. In the survey, ARIN salaries and benefits are compared against major salary sources including Mercer, ASAE, PRM, Association Trends, Salary.com, and HRA. These salary sources are a mix of associations, non‐profits, for‐profits, and technology companies. The organization generally aims to pay salaries in the median range for similarly sized organizations, but in individual cases, ARIN may pay above the median in some functional areas so that it may remain competitive in the market in these segments and minimize turnover with top performing employees.
Evidence of the success of our compensation philosophy is demonstrated by an average tenure of over six years, and forty employees who have completed five years of service or more.
Structure
ARIN has a pay grade scale that is adjusted annually to take into account increases in cost of living and inflation. The pay grade scale may also be adjusted based on insight gained from the Market Pricing Salary Survey results.
All full‐time positions at ARIN have a comprehensive job description. These are reviewed annually during the performance reviews at the end of the year. All positions are assigned to a three-grade range in the master pay grade scale.
Performance reviews are scheduled biannually. In December of each year, all employees receive a full-length performance discussion that includes both a review by the supervisor and a self‐assessment. Annual objectives for the next year are agreed upon at that point. Halfway through the year and at any time through the year, employees will meet with their supervisors for an optional performance discussion, using this time to ensure that their annual objectives and performance are on track. New hires receive a 90‐day review. Performance reviews for the President/Chief Executive Officer are conducted in conjunction with the ARIN Board Compensation Committee.
Total Compensation Components
Base Salary
Our base salaries aim to match the median salaries in our geographic area, in relation to for‐profit, nonprofit and technology companies. Merit increases are normally given annually, at the first of the year. ARIN expects all employees to continue to grow in skills and capability, and for this reason, most employees will merit an annual increase.
Bonuses
ARIN awards annual bonuses for excellent performance. Excellent performance is determined based on the results of the biannual formal performance discussions. Employees celebrating their 10‐year, 15-year, 20-year, and 25-year anniversaries with ARIN receive a special bonus.
Benefits Program
We offer a robust set of benefits to our employees. Our full roster of benefits includes medical, dental and vision insurance; Life, AD&D, Short‐term and Long‐term disability; business travel insurance; training and education opportunities; medical and dependent‐care Flexible Spending accounts; fitness facility expense reimbursement; and a computer loan program. The majority of these benefits are fully paid by ARIN. Employees pay a small percentage of the medical benefits.
Time Off
ARIN employees receive 12 paid holidays with one floating holiday per year. All permanent, full‐time employees earn between four and five weeks of comprehensive leave per year, depending on tenure with the company.
Retirement Program
All ARIN employees are eligible to join the ARIN 401(k) plan immediately upon hire. After one year of employment, employees may receive up to a 9% match. The Employee Contributions and the Employer Matches are 100% vested. Our matching schedule is aimed towards rewarding the employees who cannot make a large employee contribution. Employees who contribute between 1‐3% of their salary receive a 200% match of 2‐6%. This encourages all staff to enroll in our retirement program, and in 2019 we have a 99% participation rate in the ARIN 401(k) Plan.
Compensation Committee
ARIN’s Compensation Committee, a Board Committee, may, as necessary, review and approve ARIN’s overall compensation philosophy and practices in light of industry standards. The Committee is also responsible for the development and retention of ARIN’s President and CEO.