Lagging behind

BOISE (AP) - A new Idaho study focused on salaries paid to state employees shows that a significant majority of the public workforce is paid less than a competitive market wage and that the low pay is a driving force in turnover in state jobs.

The Office of Performance Evaluation report, presented to lawmakers last week, also shows a widening gap between those at the top of the pay scale and those at the low end.

For some legislators, the findings are troubling and the notion of improving the system seems challenging.

"There's a great disparity between those at the upper end and those who are providing services on the ground," said Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, co-chairman of the budget writing committee.

"As a budget writer, I'm concerned we're running the risk of collapsing our entire pay system with this huge chasm between the highest paid and lowest. At some point we have to right this ship, and that's going to cost a lot of money."

OPE staff presented the survey results twice this week, initially to the Legislative Oversight Committee, then to the Joint Finance Appropriations Committee.

OPE staff reviewed state compensation policies and surveyed more than 17,000 employees, though public school workers and elected officials were not included. More than 11,500 employees responded to the survey, with nearly 25 percent of those respondents saying they intend to leave their state jobs within two years.

The report also shows 90 percent of state workers are paid less than the policy rate for their pay grade. The policy rate is intended to be competitive with hourly market rates for comparable public and private sector jobs. OPE staff also found Idaho state employee wages are nearly 11 percent below state employee wages in eight surrounding states.

When researchers compared pay grades, however, they found employees in the top six pay grades lagged the policy rate by less than 9 percent, on average, while those in all lower pay grades fell 16 percent below market.

In dollar terms, it means top earners were paid at least $4,936 more per year, on average, than they would have been had they trailed the market by the same 16 percent, according to the report.

The top 1 percent of employees were paid right at the policy rate, according to the OPE report. That difference was worth at least $15,847. The top six pay grades accounted for 7.5 percent of the state's 12,604 classified workers in 2012.

Despite some of the discrepancies, the report was not all bad news.

For example, survey results show the wage issues have not led to significant morale problems across state agencies. More than half of respondents say they plan to remain in their jobs until retirement, and 61 percent expressed satisfaction with their jobs.

The voluntary turnover rate for all state agencies in 2012 was 5.8 percent.

House Commerce and Human Resources Committee Chairman Stephen Hartgen, R-Twin Falls, said addressing the gaps in state employee compensation will take a concerted effort.

"A 3 percent (salary) increase for state employees will cost about $15 million," he said. "Add school teachers to that and the number roughly doubles. Last I checked, we don't have a spare $30 million sitting around. I believe we should try to do something here, and I've been pressing leadership about it, but it's still too early for a definitive answer."