Title
Body
MEMORANDUM
TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Carol J. Huchingson, County Administrative Officer
DATE: February 6, 2018
SUBJECT: Consideration of Classification, Compensation, Recruitment and Retention Committee (CCRR) Plans for 2018, and Direction regarding RFP for Classification and Compensation Study, and development of Compensation Philosophy statement.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
As you are aware, a 2010 Board Policy (Chapter 11, Section 5, 11-2 and 11-3) authorizes the CAO to establish a Classification and Compensation Committee to assist in determining appropriate classification and associated salaries for new and existing County positions and making corresponding recommendations to your Board. In 2016, due to a spiraling employee vacancy rate, I expanded the committee's priorities to include Recruitment and Retention.
Typically, the CAO has issued a memo each November, inviting requests for the consideration of the Committee which, if approved, would become effective the following July 1. In recent years, such requests have been mostly linked to the need to increase salaries. Prior to this past cycle, when limited adjustments were warranted, our employee associations approved them through the meet and confer process. However, in 2017, they declined to do so.
As your Board is aware, employee recruitment efforts have become largely ineffective. Early this decade, 90% of recruitments led to a successful hire. That rate has dropped to around 50%, and your Board is aware we are carrying a continuous staff vacancy rate of about 25%. Intense competition from neighboring counties and other public agencies, compaction in our salary ranges and some aspects of our twelve-step salary schedule have led to significant challenges retaining quality staff and filling key positions.
We last conducted a comprehensive Classification and Compensation study in 2003. Two years after the study was completed, it was determined that our positions would be paid 85% of...
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