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Milwaukee County HR presents compensation study progress; supervisors press for budget and wellness follow-up
Summary
Department of Human Resources said roughly 70% of staff classifications are complete in a countywide compensation effort, that most incumbents’ pay will remain the same, and that remaining changes will be covered within funds allocated in the 2025 budget; supervisors asked for follow-up on payroll impact and employee wellness supports.
Tony Mays, director of total rewards at the Department of Human Resources (DHR), told the Committee on Personnel on Jan. 14 that a countywide compensation transformation is underway and that the department has completed work for about 70% of county jobs. Mays said the report the committee received is lengthy because it includes required reporting for a large group of positions (RCOs); he said roughly 95% of reported positions will remain at their current pay and about 5% will see classification changes that could affect pay.
Mays said the work is being done to align employees into job families and to use market data to set classifications. He told supervisors the county has funding allocated for the current round of changes in the 2025 budget and that the department expects to absorb the payroll changes within that allocation. Margo Franklin, chief human resources officer, said a career-path program is in development to identify high-performing internal employees for lateral and ladder movements once compensation mapping is complete.
Supervisors asked several operational questions. Supervisor Martin asked whether classification changes would make the county more competitive for candidates; Mays said the study is designed to position county jobs within market data and that many positions were recently adjusted a year ago. Supervisor Martin also asked whether the county is tracking employees who take on additional work to monitor mental health and well-being. Franklin and Mays described employee assistance and wellness tools: an employee assistance program (administered by OptimaRx), monthly wellness communications, on-site sessions (Mays said professionals visited locations 14 times last year) and HR business partners who conduct outreach.
Supervisor Johnson Jr. moved to receive and place the compensation report on file; the committee approved the motion 4–0. Mays and Franklin said an additional compensation report covering the remaining ~30% of job families will come to the committee in the near term and that the department expects to complete the work by midyear 2025.
