On January 28, 2026, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) published information regarding the Fiscal Year 2026 salary limitation under NOT-OD-26-034. The terms and conditions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, restrict the amount of direct salary to Executive Level II of the Federal Executive pay scale. Additional measures under NOT-OD-26-038 established the Executive Level II salary cap at $228,000, with the revised effective date set for January 1, 2026.

Proposals

The Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) implemented the new salary cap on January 20, 2026, for all new renewal, supplement, and resubmission NIH proposals. To do so, eProposal was updated to include the new salary cap option: $228,000- FY2026 NIH Salary Cap January 1, 2026-Forward.

As a reminder, please be sure to indicate in the budget justifications when personnel are over the salary cap.

Existing Awards

PeopleSoft/RAS

The salary cap of $228,000 will be implemented over the weekend and will be visible on Monday, February 16, for all PeopleSoft/RAS awards that were previously capped at $225,700, effective January 1, 2025.

Rebudgeting

The new salary cap may be used for existing awards if adequate funds are available, as described in the NIH Notices. If the increased salary cap is adopted on existing awards, you will be allowed to rebudget funds to accommodate the new cap; however, no additional funding will be provided by the sponsor.

Payroll Processing

UCSF will use an effective date of January 1, 2026, for payroll processing using the new salary cap. The HHS cap type in the UCPath system has been updated to include $228,000, effective January 1, 2026.

Adjusting Payroll

To avoid salary cost transfers whenever possible, please complete funding entry changes in UCPath before the February funding entry deadline. January payroll funding entry deadlines have passed. To retroactively adjust January payroll to reflect the new salary cap, please submit a Salary Cost Transfer in accordance with standard practices.

To update payroll funding prospectively, create a new effective-dated funding record using the Salary Cap/MCOP Funding Worksheet and apply the updated “Cap Rate” on appropriate earnings distribution lines. While use of the Faculty Salary Calculator (FSC) worksheet is never required for funding entry, in keeping with past practice, the FSC worksheet is being updated to include the new salary cap option, $228,000-FY2026 NIH Cap, January 1, 2026.

Training materials and additional resources are posted on the Information for Funding Entry Initiators and Approvers and Information for Salary Cost Transfer Initiators and Approvers pages on the UCPath website.

Contacts

• For questions regarding the application of the new salary cap to proposals, email [email protected].
• For questions regarding the application of the new salary cap to existing awards, contact the CGA Compliance Service Desk.
• Funding Entry and Salary Cost Transfer Initiators and Approvers should contact the Controller’s Office Solution Center directly for support in updating funding distributions in UCPath.