Contracts, multiple raises quickly push up county pay
Officials are concerned about overpaying employees, but don't want to lose good ones.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
In January, every employee in Butler County's Department of Environmental Services received a raise of at least 2.9 percent. More than half of them got a boost of more than 6 percent.
The county's union contract for that division requires a 3 percent pay raise for every employee with a satisfactory performance rating until that person receives the maximum for his or her pay grade. Plus, the county then gives everyone another 3 percent raise every year.
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Though roughly two-thirds of the department's employees are in the union, the county applies the union rules to all workers.
This means new employees rack up pay increases faster. Wastewater Operator III Greg Roberts was hired in 2004 at $40,580. He now makes $54,267. Network Specialist Bruce Butler started in 2002 at $41,776 and now makes $59,550.
These are the type of increases that worry county commissioners, leading them to freeze all pay raises and promotions Thursday, May 8, until the county can conduct a salary survey.
"We need to put a freeze on all promotions until we get a handle on our personnel policy," said Commissioner Donald Dixon.
Contracts cover pay raises in Children Services and Job and Family Services. The Child Support Enforcement Agency uses a similar system without a contract.
Together, these divisions account for nearly all the 600 employees that report to the board of county commissioners.
The Children Services union contract breaks all jobs into 16 classifications, each with eight "steps" of 3.35 percent. New employees go up a step six months after they're hired, and another step six months after that. A 3.35 increase is guaranteed each year thereafter until the worker reaches the top of his or her pay scale.
If that worker gets a promotion, he or she gets a pay raise, and another step increase six months after the promotion. Plus all employees countywide get a 3 percent cost of living increase, which has been approved by commissioners every year since 2000.
Thomas Nowel, Children Services personnel director, said he expects a salary study that's under way will put his department slightly above average for children services agencies.
"We want to be where we're at so we can be competitive and attract the best workers," he said.
CSEA uses six pay steps for its classifications. Employees are hired at step zero, get a step increase of about 3 percent 120 days later and another step increase eight months after that. Thereafter, it's one per year.
"Step increases might work if you don't give them every year like they're an entitlement," Dixon said.
Commissioner Gregory Jolivette agreed, saying the step increases should be based on performance. But he's holding his judgment on whether pay is excessive until he gets a salary study.
"We don't want to lose people," he said. "But then again, we don't want to pay too much."
Neighboring counties are not as generous with raises.
"I didn't get a raise this year," said Hamilton County Compensation and Benefits Director Cheryl Keller. As a result of budget shortfalls, no county employee there did, she said.
In previous years, Hamilton County has boosted payroll by 3 percent across the board, and left it up to department directors to divvy up the raises.
Warren County has few unions and no written policy on pay increases, according to Office of Management and Budget Director Tiffany Zindel. There, workers get raises that match inflation up to 3 percent.
In the private sector, the average worker earned a 3.8 percent pay raise in 2007, and is expected to do the same in 2008, according to New York-based Mercer Human Resource Consulting.
Mercer's annual survey found that the 12 percent of private sector workers ranked as the highest performers earned an average 5.7 percent increase in 2007, while average performers earned 3.5 percent.
