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State considers merit-based pay for civil service
BATON ROUGE -- Nearly 57,000 classified state workers received 4 percent pay raises in the fiscal year that ended June 30, according to a report released this week by the state Department of Civil Service.
The study, compiled by the department for the House and Senate Committees on Governmental Affairs, said that state agencies rated 57,882 classified employees in the fiscal year and 98.4 percent of them, or 56,974, were graded worthy of a 4 percent merit pay raise.
State Civil Service Deputy Director Jean Jones said Friday that under existing civil service policy, workers usually are given a 4 percent pay raise if their superiors feel their work is acceptable.
She said that only 1,578 workers did not get pay raises in the past fiscal year, either because they were not graded worthy by their superiors or because they were otherwise ineligible.
Jones said agencies must give either no pay raise or 4 percent, nothing in between.
But that may soon change. The state Civil Service Commission is considering a change in policy that would give state agencies the flexibility to grant pay raises to employees based on their work performance.
Jones said that the proposal would allow agencies to grant up to a 3 percent pay raise to workers who are rated as meeting expectations, up to a 4 percent pay raise to those whose work is judged to exceed expectations, and up to a 6 percent boost to those whose work is deemed to be outstanding.
The policy change was discussed at the commission's meeting Wednesday but no vote was taken.
Jones said the commission is expected to schedule an after-hours meeting so state employees can testify for or against the new plan. She said the special meeting will probably be held in Baton Rouge on Dec. 8. The commission is scheduled to meet Dec. 9 to take more employee comments and possibly vote on the new rule.
Jones said that some agencies may be given the flexibility under the proposed new rule to grant a specific-dollar pay raise coupled with a percentage raise for a worker's job performance.
