Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Compensation Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Kootenai County HR proposes broad revisions to compensation policy 120; commissioners ask to circulate to elected officials
Summary
Human resources proposed revisions to Compensation Policy 120 that standardize step anniversaries, hiring steps, longevity rules for sworn officers, shift differential and special-duty pay eligibility; commissioners asked HR to send the draft to elected officials for review and scheduled further discussion.
Human Resources Director Sylvia Proud presented proposed revisions to Kootenai County's Compensation Policy 120 at the March 6 HR meeting, outlining multiple changes intended to standardize pay administration across the county's five pay plans.
Proud told commissioners the cleaned and red-lined drafts define step anniversary dates (which reflect entry into a current position), longevity date for sworn peace officers, criteria for step anniversary increases, and hiring salary steps tied to years of relevant experience. Under the proposal, typical hiring steps were described as: step 1 for minimum qualifications, up to step 2 for up to one year of relevant experience, step 3 for two to three years, step 4 for four years, and step 5 for five or more years; hiring above step 5 would require board approval in open session.
Proud also proposed a rule that shift differential and special-duty pay not be granted unless the employee has actively worked for six consecutive months. "We've added matrices...we've reduced the number of steps in the Sheriff's Office pay plans..." Proud said while summarizing the changes.
Commissioners asked clarifying questions about what qualifies as a "distinct" shift for shift differential pay, whether special-duty pay stacks if an employee serves on multiple teams, and about the frequency of labor market/salary surveys. HR said elected officials had not yet reviewed the draft; commissioners directed HR to send the proposed policy to elected officials for review and suggested allowing about a month for feedback. The board discussed whether to set salary surveys every three or five years and ultimately left the policy flexible, with several commissioners endorsing a 3-to-5-year window and authority to conduct interim market reviews if recruiting problems arise.
No final vote on Policy 120 occurred at the meeting; HR was instructed to circulate the draft to elected officials and to return with edits following that review.
