Wayne County officials outline ‘rightsizing’ pay plan; commission sets 90-day timeline for appointed staff schedule

Wayne County officials presented an update May 6 on a multi-year employee compensation project that seeks to align job descriptions and market pay across represented and appointed (executive) positions, telling commissioners much of the work has focused on rightsizing classifications and calibrating a new pay plan.

Janelle Allen, chief operating officer in the county executive’s office, and Donna Wilson, Wayne County human resources director, summarized the administration’s approach: update job descriptions so they reflect current duties, determine minimum qualifications and then run market analyses to set appropriate salary ranges. Wilson said the county’s pay plan had not been calibrated in more than 30 years and that the project has required adding or changing roughly 800 classifications.

Wilson told commissioners the county used the same vendor and market-analysis factors that inform collective-bargaining discussions and that a temporary, interim pay schedule is being used by HR while staff finish adding reclassified jobs. The work has been done in collaboration with frontline employees, supervisors, department leaders and elected offices, she said.

The commission asked for a firm timeline for appointed/executive positions. The chair set a 90‑day deadline for the administration to return with recommendations intended to be codified by ordinance so the commission can review a permanent pay schedule for appointed staff. Allen and Wilson said the calibration for represented employees is largely complete through the collaborative bargaining process and that the appointed/executive-side work will follow a similar rightsizing and market-analysis process.

Commissioners asked how budget impacts were being assessed; Wilson said the county’s management and budget team reviewed proposed salary changes (including benefits) and must sign off on affordability before adjustments are adopted. Commissioners also sought examples of reclassification work; staff cited cases where a single historical job title—such as “social service specialist”—covered materially different roles (veterans services, victim advocacy, public health) and was split into distinct classifications with different credential expectations and market pay.

Committee members said they want a codified structure that can be adjusted annually if needed; administration staff emphasized that implementation is phased to minimize internal disparity and to keep the plan sustainable. Commissioners thanked staff for the collaborative process and asked to be updated at the 90‑day mark.