County Working On New Pay Grid Plan

If an early leave incentive to trim the county workforce doesn't pan out, the next step could be an adjustment in pay for some 750 government employees.

The county's Human Resources Department is working on a revised pay grid plan that will hit Hernando County commissioners' desks in March or April.

It's all part of the continuing efforts to streamline government and face realities in a cash-strapped economy, County Administrator David Hamilton said.

No specifics have been released. However, the plan may sort employees in different pay ranges and lead to a "recalibration," Hamilton said.

Hamilton said the voluntary leave plan is the start of the process. If that doesn't get the county where it needs to be, then other, "less gentle approaches" would have to be implemented.

He wouldn't elaborate.

Hamilton stressed any pay adjustments would be limited to the board of county commissioner employees who are paid out of the general fund. For uniformity's sake, he is hoping constitutional officers would follow suit.

In an earlier interview, Hamilton said a new pay grid system would recommend future salary raises be based on employee performance.

He is not in favor of the current across-the-board pay raise system, especially for managers.

Hamilton also advocates a pay system that is more manageable and provides uniformity across departments.

For example, the county currently has about 455 different pay class codes.

The current pay grid system, based in large part on an employee classification and compensation study by the Mercer consulting firm, does not provide a detailed plan the county needs to plan a budget over a period of years, according to Hamilton.

Hamilton said the county is moving "systematically and methodically" as it shifts its way downward to a leaner workforce.

And it makes sense, he said, to start with the higher-paid upper management at the top of the organization before impacting the front-line workers.

Commissioners this Tuesday are expected to approve an early leave plan to be offered to employees who make $50,000 or more and have completed at least six years of service by May 15.

That amounts to about 116 employees, mostly supervisors and managers.

If even 10 percent of the eligible participants opt to take the plan, the county estimates it will save $500,000 in the 2009-10 budget.

Hamilton said the restructuring of county government is under way. Now comes the refiguring of management ranks, he said.

Still to be determined is the role various department managers will play in that realignment, especially with the formation of eight division leadership teams.

For example, Deputy County Administrator Larry Jennings is overseeing the administrative services team, which encompasses the budget, purchasing and technology departments.

The managers of those three departments, George Zoettlein, James Gantt and Garry Allen respectively, will presumably supply information to Jennings for dissemination to the team and will still be involved in the day-to-day operations of their individual departments.

But given Hamilton's philosophy of "less managers, better management," a shifting of duties remains a possibility, he said.