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Commissioners press HRT, Gallagher and departments for rigorous pay-equity rollout and retroactive effective date
Summary
After months of meetings and contested department-level reviews, the court directed Human Resources & Talent to implement Gallagher's pay-equity recommendations with an effective date of Feb. 7, 2026, but required final departmental sign-offs, payroll testing and regular court updates to avoid pay errors.
Commissioners pressed Human Resources & Talent (HRT), consultant Gallagher and county departments to make the countywide pay-equity implementation accurate before employees see new pay. On Jan. 29 the court approved a set of motions directing HRT to process pay-equity recommendations after Gallagher returns amended final recommendations and to make any approved adjustments effective Feb. 7, 2026. The court also instructed HRT and departmental leaders to sign off on proposed changes before OM B transfers funds and to pause some position changes while implementation is finalized.
The policy debate revolved around data quality and payroll testing. County officials said they are running end-to-end tests and a mock payroll for PeopleSoft to reduce the risk of pay errors. Commissioner Briones stressed the need to honor employees financially on Feb. 7 while ensuring the underlying classifications and job codes are correct; county attorneys worked with staff to craft language that treats the Feb. 7 date as an effective date for payments once final calculations are validated.
County Clerk and other elected office representatives had earlier raised concerns about errors in the datasets affecting staff classifications and implementation timing. HRT said about 30 of 70 affected departments had submitted final spreadsheets as of that morning, and officials signaled they would keep the court updated at regular meetings until implementation is complete.
What this means for employees: The court'approved language directs HRT to implement final recommendations after department feedback; approved increases will be effective Feb. 7, and the county will aim to make employees whole for that date once final calculations are completed and payroll testing is successful. Departments may still opt to delay processing until issues are resolved, and the court authorized mechanisms for limited retroactive payments where technically feasible.
Speakers quoted: County HR and department representatives, plus commissioners; analysts flagged testing risks and recommended a phased approach to avoid payroll disruption.
