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(Posted Nov. 18, 2009)
A final report on the classification and compensation study for non-represented employees is now available.
On Dec. 16, 2008, the Tacoma City Council approved a new pay plan that allows the City to implement the results of the Classification and Total Compensation Study for non-represented employees. The new pay plan went into effect on Jan. 5, 2009. (New pay plan link)
Work is currently underway to begin the transition of non-represented employees to the new pay structure, including employee meetings in early January. The next steps include:
January 2009 - Work with managers and supervisors to ensure placement of employees in appropriate classifications.
Feb. 16, 2009 - Each non-represented employee will receive a letter from Human Resources notifying them of their classification and placement in the pay structure, as well as a reminder of the employee's anniversary date that is used for step increases.
March 2009 - First pay checks are issued under the new pay plan for non-represented employees, including any retroactive pay required to implement the new pay rates dated back to the effective date of Jan. 5, 2009.
A further explanation of the next steps was provided to managers and employees at a series of meetings in January.
Over the past two years, the City of Tacoma has undergone a classification and total compensation study to ensure that City employees are paid fairly and the City is competitive for recruiting and retaining employees. Tonight the City Council’s Government Performance and Finance Committee received the preliminary survey results for 257 non-represented classifications.
Oct. 27, 2008
During the Oct. 21, 2008 study session, the City Council heard a presentation of a proposed pay structure for non-represented employees as well as a compensation philosophy related to the ongoing Classification and Compensation Study. The Council is scheduled to consider a resolution regarding these items at the Oct. 28, 2008 Council meeting.
June 19, 2008
The City’s classification and compensation study remains on schedule for completion late this summer. There are currently two tracks of work underway.
Track one: Salary Survey
On one track of work, management team members city-wide are evaluating current published salary survey data from Milliman consultants to determine which jobs may not have comparable market information and will need to be included in a custom salary survey to be conducted by Milliman. Union leaders are also assessing the published salary surveys. Another round of workgroup meetings will be scheduled in July before General Government and TPU’s senior leadership members make final decisions about which jobs will be included in the custom salary survey.
The custom salary survey will include about 110 City jobs to be sent to targeted organizations requesting salary information. The custom survey will also collect information about benefit packages for comparison with the City’s medical plans. Data about comparable salaries in the market for those City jobs not chosen for the custom salary survey will be obtained from current, published survey reports. The existing salary information from Milliman is current, accurate data that will serve the same purpose and meet the same needs as the custom surveys. The survey results are planned to be returned to Milliman and reports presented to us at the end of September.
Track two: Classification Structure - Individual Position Description Forms and Revised Classification Specifications
In the second track of work, the City’s current 500-plus job classification descriptions have been organized into 26 job family groupings, and revisions are being made to the descriptions based on input from employee workgroups, union leaders and managers, and by referring to the individual position description forms that City employees completed last December. Another draft of this work will be shared city-wide before the Human Resource Department, with assistance from the Fox Lawson and Associates consulting firm, takes the information and revises the City’s classification specifications.
In related work, the Tacoma Police Department’s commissioned staff has begun work to complete their position description forms, and the Tacoma Fire Department’s commissioned staff will begin similar work in the near future.
Once the draft classification specifications are completed, individual employees’ position descriptions will be reviewed by employees, unions and supervisors. Once finalized, they will be allocated to the appropriate classification by the staff in the Human Resources Department, and a new classification system will be in place.
City Council – Compensation Philosophy
The City Council, through the Government Performance and Finance Committee (GPFC), has defined important elements of the City’s compensation philosophy statement, including the definition of the market for City of Tacoma jobs, the place we want to be in the market in terms of competitiveness and how the compensation plan should be designed. The GPFC is continuing discussion on the topics of pay structure flexibility and whether there should be a pay-for-performance component in the City’s compensation plan.
More detailed information about this ongoing work can be found on the HR Department intranet site (http://cityweb/Departments/HR/Pages/HR%20Home.aspx) and on the City’s Web site (www.cityoftacoma.org/ClassandComp).
Thank you for all of your hard work and diligence on behalf of the City of Tacoma.
Joy M. St. Germain
Human Resources Director
New Class and Comp documents posted
June 12, 2008
A handful of new documents related to the Classification and Total Compensation Study are posted below.
Classification Q&A posted along with draft job groups
April 16, 2008
Take a moment to read a new question-and-answer document about the City's efforts underway right now to revise our classification system. This information should be useful for all employees who are curious about the classification revisions that are underway. In addition, please check the links below if you would like to see where your job falls within the job groupings that are being considered for the new classification structure.
Job groupings
Posted April 17, 2008
Note: The content of these job groupings could be revised through the work group process that is currently underway.
Administrative Support | Maintenance and Trades | Information Technology | Permits-Inspection-Compliance | Engineering | Legal | Television Production | Planning and Economic Development | Courts | Utilities | Finance-Accounting | Police Non-Commissioned | Human Resources | Management | Programs and Sciences | Public Relations-Marketing | Rail | Health and Safety | Warehouse | Public Facilities | Graphics | Interns-Departmental Aides
Classification work group meetings now underway
April 11, 2008
Employees who participated in the Classification and Compensation Workgroup meetings last November are invited to workgroup meetings that have been scheduled to gather additional feedback on these draft job family groupings. Please check the following links for information about the meetings:
A message to City of Tacoma employees
Feb. 19, 2008
The City’s Classification and Total Compensation Study is moving forward and we are anticipating that the salary survey results and analyses will be completed this summer, as planned. The timely completion of your position description forms in December and January helped keep us on schedule, and we appreciate your efforts. Those forms will help the Human Resources Department rebuild the City’s entire classification system, which is a necessary step to ensure we have the best possible information to use when collecting data for the compensation portion of the study.
Later this month, Human Resources will schedule meetings for the work groups that assembled last fall to provide feedback on proposed new job categories or groupings as part of the classification portion of the study. Those meetings will take place in March. Managers, supervisors and Class and Comp work group members will receive information regarding meeting dates and times in the near future. Work group members will receive information about the proposed classification changes in advance to they have enough time to adequately review them. Information on the work groups’ efforts will be posted on the City’s Web site.
Policy decisions
Recently, the City Council accepted a “market” definition that Tacoma will use for compensation comparisons. The Council decided that the City’s positions will be compared to either public-sector employers, private-sector employers or a mix of public- and private-sector employers, depending on the position and scope of the job, with consideration of the City’s actual recruitment and retention experience.
The City Council also considered that our “position in market” will range from the 65th to 75th percentile, which means that – if compared to 100 other organizations, for example – the compensation for most of our jobs will rank higher than 65 to 75 of them. It’s important to remember that percentile is a measurement of rank, not pay. Further discussion will occur at the City Council’s Government Performance and Finance Committee.
More detailed information about “market” and “position in market” can be found by scrolling down on this page.
In the coming weeks, the Government Performance and Finance Committee will consider decisions regarding pay flexibility and performance-based pay compensation systems. Information about those topics will be posted on the Web site following each meeting.
As you know, the goal of all of this work is to ensure our ability to attract and retain qualified and skilled employees to accomplish the City’s strategic plan, do our best work and serve our customers’ needs.
Respectfully,
Eric Anderson and Bill Gaines
Classification and Total Compensation Study update
Jan. 30, 2008
This is a quick summary of the progress to date on the Classification and Total Compensation Study. While everyone has been filling out work description forms, the Steering Committee has continued work with the City Council's Government Performance and Finance Committee (GPFC) on four main points that need determined before the compensation study takes place later this year:
- Market definition
- Position in market
- Pay flexibility
- Pay for performance
Market definition
The definition of the market has been completed and supported by the GPFC. Please click here to view the definition of "market" that the City of Tacoma will use in the course of its Classification and Total Compensation Study.
This work will ensure that the City keeps on track with its original plan to have compensation survey results complete by the end of May 2008 and the Classification and Total Compensation Study complete by the end of August 2008.
Action on Classification and Total Compensation Study
Oct. 23, 2007
TPU and General Government employees,
As you may already know, the work groups assigned to review classifications for the classification and total compensation study met for the first time over the last two weeks. The goal of the work groups is to help strengthen our classification system by providing feedback on specific jobs before we send out a salary survey.
After the first round of meetings, we received a lot of feedback from the participants. Some were excited to be part of the process. Others shared concern that the work groups do not have the necessary data and resources to effectively review the City’s classifications and make recommendations for change.
As a result of the feedback, we have modified the process for the first phase of the study so we can conduct a comprehensive review of each classification. Within the next 60 days, Human Resources will ask each of you to complete a position description form with your supervisors. Human Resources will use the information you provide to review and update all classifications before the work groups meet again. Doing so will provide work groups with the information they need to do their job right.
This is not a step backward, but rather an important step to ensure that the study is credible and includes accurate information for every position. Although this will initially push the schedule back a few months, we fully expect completion of the classification and compensation study by the original deadline of August 2008.
We look forward to your cooperation and hope you understand that taking this step will improve the classification and total compensation study.
If you have questions, please contact Rob McNair-Huff, General Government Community Relations at (253) 591-5054 or robert.mcnair-huff@cityoftacoma.org, or Chris Gleason, TPU Community and Media Services at (253) 502-8222 or cgleason@cityoftacoma.org.
Sincerely,
Eric and Bill
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