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County consultant recommends 25-grade midpoint pay structure in wage study
Summary
A consultant told commissioners the county’s wage study of 73 job classifications covering 143 employees supports a 25-grade midpoint-based pay structure, corrections to FLSA classifications, and two implementation options totaling roughly a 2.11% or 3.82% payroll increase.
Catherine Thorp, the consultant who conducted Houghton County’s wage study, presented recommendations to county leadership on May 11, urging adoption of a 25-grade midpoint-based pay structure to align jobs with market pay. Thorp said the review covered 73 jobs representing 143 employees, with two employees reclassified under the Fair Labor Standards Act and 12 positions recorded as vacant or missing salary data.
Thorp recommended setting pay floors at $18 per hour for non‑exempt positions and $20.52 per hour for exempt positions and offered two implementation-cost scenarios: an Option 1 increase of about 2.11% and Option 2 of about 3.82%. She advised the county to correct any misclassified positions for FLSA compliance, to document manager training on classification decisions, and to maintain annual adjustments to the pay structure with a full study every three to five years depending on market fluctuation.
Administrator Rheault will receive Thorp’s classification recommendations and, as Thorp noted, would implement them if the budget permits either now or in a later cycle. Chairman Tom Tikkanen asked about implementation timing; Thorp reiterated the county could phase the changes subject to budget availability.
The work session record does not include a formal vote or committee action on the wage-study recommendations; next steps will depend on whether the Board chooses to fund the changes during its regular meeting and budget process.
