Title
FY2020 Compensation and Classification Plan.
Recommended Action
I move that Council approve the FY2020 Compensation and Classification Plan.
County Manager's Recommendation
The County Manager recommends that Council approve the FY2020 Compensation and
Classification Plan as requested.
Body
Tonight staff is requesting that Council approve the FY2020 Compensation and Classification
Plan (Attachment A). This document represents all of the County's job titles listed by their job
families. It reflects the salary grade assignment, the minimum, midpoint and maximum of the
grade, and the Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) designation of Exempt (EX) or Non-Exempt
(NE).
The other attached documents, such as the compensation policy, are administrative in nature.
As outlined in the Charter, the County Manager is responsible for their implementation.
However, in order to give Council a better understanding of how the Compensation and
Classification Plan is actually implemented, the staff report overview also includes the following:
Salary Grade Table (for regular and limited-term positions, excluding union and contract
positions; sorted by job class.) (Attachment B)
FY2020 Step Plan (Attachment C)
Compensation Administrative Policy (Attachment D)
The County Charter, County Code and the Personnel Rules and Regulations provide the basic
framework through which the job classification and compensation system is maintained and
administered. The establishment of new job classes and the abolishment of existing classes are
subject to approval by Council.
Summary Changes to the FY2020 Plan:
The FY2020 Compensation and Classification Plan has been updated to include the New
MUNIS Job Class Codes. With the implementation of the MUNIS software, job class codes went
from four digits to three digits. For transition purposes, both job classes were previously
included, however, the old codes have now been removed.
As part of the recent County Job Description review project required by Personnel Rule 201, it
was determined, there were seven (7) job descriptions throughout the County that should be
archived. The job descriptions are: Senior Network Engineer, Technical Services Manager,
Systems & Network Administrator, Golf Course Manager, Assistant Environmental Services
Superintendent, Water & Energy Conservation Coordinator and Environmental Compliance
Specialist.
Further it was determined there were three (3) new job descriptions to be added to the plan. The
new job descriptions will provide growth opportunities within Municipal Court and the Records
area within Police, and due to a restructure within Community Development which will better align
with County goals and objectives. The new job descriptions are: Senior Court Clerk, Senior
Records Specialist, and Chief Building Official .
Compensation Philosophy:
The purpose of Los Alamos County's compensation philosophy is to define a competitive, total
compensation approach that enables us to achieve our overall mission, vision and goals. The
County is committed to providing a compensation program that is market competitive, which
provides a good balance between compensation, benefits and rewards, and enables us to
recruit, retain and reward a high performing and motivated workforce that supports our
commitment to serve our citizens.
In developing a Compensation and Classification Plan, the County takes into account both the
external market value of benchmarked jobs and the internal value of non-benchmarked jobs with
an overall structure of job families. Drilling down further regarding market competitiveness, the
County considers peer employers of similar size, providing like services, and in comparable
industries. Different geographic labor markets are considered based on where we tend to
recruit from and are defines as follows: 1) Local/Statewide: Grades 101-124; b)
Statewide/Southwest Regional: Grades 125-132 and 201-214; and c) National: Grades 301 and
above. In order to ensure the County is competitive, the current Personnel Rules state the
Human Resources Manager is required to conduct a salary market survey for the pay plan every
four (4) years, the next salary market survey will occur in FY2020.
In looking at the market data, an organization usually will determine how it would like to position
itself against the competitors. Per Council's direction, as well as the recommendation of our
compensation consultants, an approach of applying a geographic cost of labor factor was
applied to our salary structure to ensure the County remains competitive. Cost of labor reflects
the supply and demand for employees, versus a cost of living which a demand for goods and
services. The ideal plan was to apply a cost of labor percentage to the Compensation and
Classification Plan each year in order to ensure salary ranges would keep pace with the market
and that the gap in between market studies would be minimal, due to the application of a cost of
labor factor to the structure each year. The FY2020 Salary Plan has been updated to account for
the cost of labor percentage that Council approved during the FY2020 budget hearings.
Council may recall the most recent market survey was completed in late calendar year 2015.
The County choose to conduct a total compensation market survey which reviewed both pay and
benefits. The HR staff worked with Senior Management to identify 13 peer employer groups to
seek both salary and benefit information from, as part of the market study. Out of the 231 total
County positions at that time, there were 109 positions identified to be reviewed for both the
general county and public safety areas. We had received response information for 97 of the
requested positions. For the most part, the market study showed the County pay ranges to be
market competitive. However, there were 48 positions identified by staff as a result of the
market study that needed potential grade movement and those changes were included in the
FY17 Compensation & Classification Plan that was adopted by Council.
Compensation Policy:
In 2015 the Human Resources Division worked with the County Manager, Senior Management
Team, and elected offices to develop a new Compensation Administration Policy. Previously,
the policy lacked a formal written structure, and there were many questions from employees and
managers regarding the placement of employees within the approved Salary Plan. On June 9,
2015, Council approved the FY16 Compensation & Classification Plan, and the County Manager
implemented the new Compensation Administration Policy, which brought more structure to the
County's pay system. The new policy seems to have answered many questions for recruitment
offers and has resulted in more employee satisfaction regarding internal promotions because of
the salary comparison of new hire placement or promotion, whichever is greater, for internal
employees.
The Compensation Administration Policy identifies the following parameters to the Salary Grade
Structure:
Grades are 5% apart at minimum.
The overall salary plan is comprised of three bands, which mirrors the areas from which we tend
to recruit from. The bands are defined as the 100 series for non-exempt (Local/Statewide), the
200 series for exempt (Statewide/Southwest Region), and the 300 series for executive positions
(National).
The progression through the salary range is determined by a step plan consisting of (40) one
percent steps.
Represented positions within Fire, Police and Utilities are not included in the Compensation and
Classification Plan due to collective bargaining agreements. In addition, the contract positions
(County Manager, County Utilities Manager and County Attorney) are not included in the
Compensation and Classification Plan since these are negotiated positions.
Alternatives
Council could choose not to approve the FY2020 Compensation and Classification Plan or could
approve the plan with amendments.
Fiscal and Staff Impact/Planned Item
The FY2020 Compensation and Classification Plan is in compliance with the FY2020 Budget.
Attachments
A - FY2020 Compensation & Classification Plan
B- FY2020 Salary Grade Table
C- FY2020 Step Plan
D- Compensation Administration Policy
E - Sr. Court Clerk Job Description
F - Sr. Records Specialist Job Description
G - Chief Building Official Job Description