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Brentwood City Commission Agenda

Meeting Date:	06/25/2018
Proposed Classification and Pay Plan for Fiscal Year 2019
Submitted by:	Mike Worsham, Human Resource
Department:	Human Resource

Information

Subject

Proposed Classification and Pay Plan for Fiscal Year 2019

Background

During the FY 2018 Operating Budget process, the Board of Commissioners approved the findings of a comprehensive salary and pay plan study performed by City staff in consultation with Burris, Thompson & Associates, a leading Tennessee based compensation consulting firm with extensive experience with governmental entities. The scope of the study focused on individual job review and analyses, plan design and structure, organizational comparisons in the labor market, and the City’s relative position to those comparisons.

As a result of implementing the recommendations from the salary study, significant modifications to the existing pay plan were adopted in FY 2018 including increasing the entire pay plan and all pay ranges by 8.7% to position the City’s pay range midpoints at approximately the 75th percentile of the labor market. In addition, 15 specific jobs identified as being significantly below market were moved to the next higher pay grade to more closely align pay range midpoints to the 75th percentile.

The FY 2018 study was a comprehensive review completed only periodically when needed based on market conditions. In other years, a review of the City’s current Classification and Pay Plan is conducted to ensure that it remains competitive, allowing the City to achieve its stated budget goal of being able to “attract and retain the best employees available through maintaining competitive pay and fringe benefit programs.” Earlier this year, staff compared benchmark positions in the City’s current pay plan with similar position from employers previously identified as representative of the competitive labor market.

The results of the pay plan review showed that Brentwood’s current salary structure remains strong in the identified labor market and overall, pay range midpoints (or minimums of Public Service recruits) are still at 98% of the 75th percentile.

However, it should be noted that the labor market in Middle Tennessee continues to be very competitive and pay rates are continually moving. Several area governments have or are implementing recent pay studies that have impacted the market. These include the City of Franklin, City of Lebanon, and Williamson County.

The City of Franklin reported that they are in the midst of adjusting their pay ranges by 10%. Public Safety pay grades were adjusted upwards by 10% in January other pay grades were adjusted 5% in January with a second 5% adjustment scheduled in July 2018. In addition, they expect to increase employee pay between 4% to 5% in the new fiscal year.

Also, for many years Metro Nashville’s pay plan has been significantly higher than surrounding governments and continues to increase, contributing to the rise in market averages.

To ensure the City’s Pay Plan remains in a competitive position within the defined labor market it is necessary to make adjustments to the entire pay structure on a regular basis and adjustment of positions within the pay plan as needed relative to market demands.

Staff Recommendation

Staff is recommending only minimal changes to the Classification and Pay Plan for FY 2019 as follows:

That the City’s Classification and Pay Plan and current pay rates of all employees as of June 30, 2018 be adjusted upward by 4% for FY 2019. This market adjustment would help maintain the competitiveness of the City’s pay plan within our labor market and help with recruitment efforts of qualified applicants for all job openings.
With the proposed 4% market adjustment, the entry pay rate in Group A will increase from $11.92 to $12.40 per hour. The estimated cost of this proposed market adjustment, including FICA and TCRS is $771,200. ($674,400 GF)
Other minor changes include title changes for select positions to more accurately reflect corresponding positions in other agencies (e.g.: Deputy Fire Chief and Division Chiefs). This also includes removing the outdated title of Secretary and replacing it with Administrative Assistant.

Attached for your review are the current FY 2018 Classification and Pay Plan and the proposed FY 2019 Classification and Pay Plan. If any questions, please contact the Human Resources Director.

Fiscal Impact

Attachments
Resolution 2018-47
Attachment A - Proposed FY 2019 Plan
Attachment B - Current FY 2018 Plan
Signed Resolution