Employee Connection

I wanted to provide you with an update on the compensation and classification study.  As you are aware, the implementation of new pay ranges was scheduled for January 2016. I wanted to share with you that we are delaying the implementation of new pay ranges until February 2016. The planned implementation date  - July, 2016 - for compression adjustments remains unchanged. 

An in depth review of the consultant's findings has revealed that a number of positions are actually slotted in lower pay ranges. Like you, I was not expecting this. Even though the positions that are proposed to be on lower ranges are relatively few and would not result in actual pay loss, we are not yet satisfied that we understand why this was recommended for those positions. Thus, we are not prepared to advance recommendations until we have a complete understanding. I want to stress that the recommendations do not result in a decrease in anyone's pay. Nevertheless, we are concerned that lower pay ranges may negatively impact our ability to attract and ultimately retain a quality workforce. Your department heads, the Assistant City Managers and I have been reviewing the data and we have provided our questions to the consultants for further explanation. As much as I do not want to delay implementation, the study has to be correct and fully explainable. 

While I’m sure this news is disappointing, I hope you understand and can appreciate our decision not to “rubber stamp” changes that lower the pay ranges for some employees. Any salary increase resulting from the new pay scale implementation will be retroactive to January 23, 2016. I want to again stress that pay changes at this stage are limited to those who fall below the new minimums once adopted. This is the first stage of implementation. Compression adjustments which will feather people out within ranges based on time in position will be made in July, 2016 on schedule. 

Thank you for your understanding and I will provide you with an update in January. In the meantime, please feel free to write me with any questions or concerns.