Pulaski County employees will get a three-percent pay raise in 2021, but some may be left out. The county council approved the 2021 salary matrix during this month’s meeting.
Council Member Jay Sullivan made the motion. He said he intended the raise to be across-the-board, for both full- and part-time employees. But under the “matrix rules” adopted in 2018, those grandfathered in at higher pay levels are not eligible for any increases at all, until the matrix formula catches up to their current pay rate. Council President Ken Boswell felt that a true, across-the-board pay raise would require a formal change to the “matrix rules.”
Council Member Kathi Thompson cast the lone opposing vote to the 2021 matrix, since she had a list of issues that she felt needed to be addressed.
Additionally, the Pulaski County Council clarified that coroner’s deputies will now be considered part-time deputies at a pay rate of $14.42 an hour. That had been getting paid per-call, but there had apparently been some confusion about what exactly a call consisted of. For example, responding to the scene of a death all the way up to appearing as a witness in court could all be considered part of the same call.
