Committee endorses countywide bilingual pay differential and will send resolution to full board

The Richland County Executive and Finance Standing Committee voted on May 13 to forward a resolution to the full county board to extend the county’s bilingual wage differential beyond Health and Human Services (HHS) to other departments where bilingual skills are relevant to job duties.

Committee members noted HHS currently provides a $0.75 per hour differential for bilingual staff where the language is relevant to job duties. The administrator and staff proposed applying that same differential countywide for positions where bilingual ability is necessary to perform regular duties (for example, dispatch, public health, veterans’ services and emergency medical services). Staff said language proficiency would be verified by an online test or other certification and that pay would be limited to positions where bilingual skills are job‑relevant (not general highway positions that rarely require translation).

Proponents said the change could reduce usage of third‑party language services (language line) and be cost‑effective if bilingual staff can handle routine needs. Committee members agreed staff would update handbooks and wage documentation to reflect the change and would ensure language testing and relevancy criteria were included. The resolution was forwarded to the full county board for approval.