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FAQ's & Commentary - Pay Plan

jbridges06

We have received many questions and comments on our Facebook page regarding the newly proposed pay plan. We will do our best to answer these and provide some insight.


How To Calculate Your New Salary. We have been told that your new proposed salary would be the GREATER of either:

  1. Multiplying your current salary by the Seniority Adjustment percentage. (See Attachment)

OR

2. Moving to the new minimum base in your pay

grade


It Looks like Employees Below My Grade Will Receive A Larger Increase. If you calculate someone moving from the old minimum scale to the new proposed minimum, yes it is a large increase. Remember that a large majority of state employees have received five years worth of performance pay percentage increases and are now somewhere in the middle of the grid. The Seniority Adjustment allows for the more tenured employees a maximum of a 10% increase.


The Positives Of Increasing The Maximum In Each Grade. We applaud this move. We have heard from many tenured employees that were "maxed" out and all increases and incentives were received in the form of a lump sum. Increasing the maximum range, allows near term pay increases in your check and increases future retirement benefits.


What About The Agencies Who Could Not Afford to Increase Grades GS01-GS05 Earlier This Year? If this plan passes, those agencies would now have the funds to increase grades GS01- GS05 along with the rest of the pay grid (i.e. our friends at OCSE).


What About The Agencies Not Under Executive Control? Agencies such as Game and Fish, Highway Department, and Higher Education Institutions do not have to follow Executive Branch directives. Historically, ASEA has openly urged these agencies to adopt new pay plans as they are adopted for other state employees and we will continue to do the same with this plan.


There Would Still Be Issues Within My Organization, Such As Supervisors Making Almost The Same As Those They Supervise. This is definitely an issue that spans across most agencies as we hear this often from our members. We will advocate for this change and work with agencies to request this change and others that would increase morale and spark productivity.


What Else Are We Hearing At The Capitol? There might be a "Law Enforcement" grid in the works. The Department of Corrections may be looking for additional ways to increase employee retention. Several legislators echoed Representative Jim Wooten's (Beebe) statement that they should be adjusting the pay plan every session. No one in last week's meeting spoke against a new state employee pay plan.


What Happens Next & How Can I Help? What we saw last week were the routine pre-budget hearings presented ahead of the 2023 legislative session. The session will start in January. Depending on the issues and the number of bills filed, it could go late into the spring. When will the pay plan begin? It is too early to tell. We do know that if it passes it will go into effect in July 2023.


You can certainly reach out to us anytime so we can look up your elected official’s email in order for you to write them about how much this new pay plan means to state employees. We most assuredly need every member’s help when the voting nears, so be sure and sign up for our ASEA Email Alerts located on the Member’s only landing page.


Contact us if you have any questions. Thank you for being a member.


John Bridges, Director

ASEA

jbridges@aseaar.org or 501-378-0187 ext. 402.












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