The raise money will be culled from a pool equaling two percent of all the salaries in the union in each category. The contract stipulates if someone is at or near the maximum pay in their range they will receive their raise all in a lump sum. No employee can receive more than three percent in either category and if they receive lower than 60 points on the 100 point performance evaluation for core competencies, they receive nothing.
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Since the previous contract expired last July the social workers didn’t receive raises last year, so workers who are still in the county’s employ — 55 currently — will also receive a $1,000 stipend.
JFS Executive Director Bill Morrison said he is pleased with the new contract.
“Being it’s the second contract that’s based on pay-for-performance I think it is an important event for the county, that shows that the pay-for-performance process is institutionalized into our compensation system,” Morrison said. “I think the amounts of money that were put into the pot were fair to employees and allows us to reward our excellent employees in a way that’s significant.”
After two years of contentious haggling — a process that included a three-week strike in the fall of 2014 and several complaints to the state labor relations board — the social workers agreed last time to lump sum payments totalling $1,050, a 2 percent increase to the minimum and maximum salaries on their pay ranges and one to three percent pay hikes based on performance.
BCCS Union Chief Becky Palmer said 70 percent of the union membership agreed to the deal.
“We accepted the current plan the county was using because it had an additional incentive pay, which they refer to as Part B, that allows for additional earnings as a “lump sum” to be awarded quarterly,” she said. “We wanted our workers to be compensated for the incredible work they do.”
Commissioner T.C. Rogers said he is glad the friction between the two sides has eased.
“We negotiated in good faith and I think over the past years since our last contract that we have kept the lines of communication open to each party knows how the other perceives their responsibilities,” he said.
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Nearly all of the 15 unions in the county have acquiesced to some form of performance pay with the exception of the engineer’s office where Engineer Greg Wilkens has said merit pay is unnecessary. The sheriff’s unions in their most recent contracts agreed to an across-the-board percentage increase plus a half percent increase if the employee completes four extra training assignments, participates in the annual physical fitness program, and joins the county’s wellness program.
The commissioners called that performance pay but the Union Chief Sgt. Jeff Gebhart didn’t see it that way because it is voluntary and it doesn’t effect base pay.
The commissioners said the concession opened the door for future moves toward merit-based pay, a factor that was instrumental in pulling the county back from financial ruin a few years ago, according to Commissioner Don Dixon.
“It set Butler County up so we won’t ever have to go through that fiscal crisis situation we did before and laid off a whole bunch people…,” Dixon said. “The base and pay-for-performance are two separate things so it really makes it affordable for the taxpayers and it’s a good deal for our employees.”
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