Pulaski County has now added more structure to the way it compensates its employees.
During last night’s Pulaski County Council meeting, the salary matrix was addressed once again. The County has been working on the living document for several months in an attempt to provide some consistency and some reasoning behind the wages employees are receiving.
Council member Linda Powers says the salary matrix does its job.
“I have 15 people that are going to stay on a freeze,” says Powers. “That’s a pretty good amount that are going to stay on a freeze for everybody thinking we’re bumping everybody up so munch.”
At issue with the final product was the amount new employees were being compensated, somewhere in the neighborhood of $16 per hour.
Pulaski County decided to take on the task of developing a salary matrix not only to provide a guide for employee hiring, but also to provide incentives for longevity. The issue of employee turnover was cited as a main driver behind attempting the changes.
The Pulaski County Council debated the merits of the pay scale for some time, Monday night. Council member Doug Roth – who was part of the committee spearheading the effort, says the wages for new employees was simply too high.
“As a general skill labor person, no special skills, no advanced education, good luck finding that kind of money,” says Roth. “Good luck.”
As a compromise, the County Council left current employees wages untouched, or increased. Newly hired employees will see the starting rate reduced.
The salary matrix was adopted with one abstention to help meet payroll in the month of February.
