Lawmaker seeks study of state employee salaries

Friday, February 25, 2011

State Rep. Mike Bernskoetter wants lawmakers to create a special committee to study ways to improve state employees’ salaries.

Bernskoetter, R-Jefferson City, recently filed a resolution asking the Legislature to form a 10-member “Joint Interim Committee on State Employee Wages.”

It would include three members each from the House and Senate, a representative from the governor’s office and another from the Personnel Advisory Board and two residents to “look at ways to increase pay for state employees, who currently have the lowest average annual pay in the nation,” Bernskoetter said in a news release.

“If we want to attract and retain a talented and dedicated workforce, we have to pay our state employees a competitive wage,” he said in the release, noting that the average Missouri government employee earns 26 percent less than the national average.

“The governor has cut the state workforce by 3,300 positions and that number could jump to more than 4,000 by the next fiscal year,” he added. “We’ve asked employees to do more with less and they have, but we must look at ways to provide them with fair compensation for the hard work they do.”

The committee would be charged with developing strategies for increasing Missouri state employees’ wages, so they no longer are ranked 50th among states.

Bernskoetter’s bill has not yet been assigned to any committee.

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JCLifer 2 years, 3 months ago

I thought there already was a state salary commission?

JCsleeper 2 years, 2 months ago

So what's to study? It's done in the appropriations process. Show 'em the money, already.

GodNGuns 2 years, 2 months ago

The" AVERAGE" state employee probably makes 18k to 25k.They aren't hurting with the cost of living going up every day. Everyone keeps bad mouthing them but would you like to live on their pay ?

MommaR 2 years, 2 months ago

I do

usmc00 2 years, 2 months ago

In my opinion that state can't afford any more at this time. If they don't like the pay then move on to another job and quit complaining. Why is it that they don't do this? I think its not quite as bad as they lead on with the special perks stateworkers have.

yonomo 2 years, 2 months ago

One of the perks they have is getting bad mouthed and talked down to by people on here. Must be great to rank in the bottom of all 50 states in pay, have 1 or 2 or those "perks" taken away or adjusted each year, having to wonder if your position is the next to be cut or know you'll be doing someone elses job if yours isn't cut, wonder which perk they'll be losing next fiscal year.......all the while being told constantly on here "If they don't like the pay then move on to another job and quit complaining. Why is it that they don't do this? I think its not quite as bad as they lead on with the special perks stateworkers have."

Sign me up!!!

gofish 2 years ago

What perk? The same salary as benefits go down the drain. The most recent health insurance "perk" has had a net effect of a $200/month PAY DECREASE. usmc00 your opinion couldn't be more misinformed.

TheRickster 2 years, 2 months ago

usmc00,,What and where are those perks you speak of? If you never worked for the state the shut the pie hole! The greatest perk was having a great place to park. Then they removed the bridge to our best place,,that's great. What I can tell you as a FACT,,there are way too many chiefs and not enough indians. Your they used to have one bureau head with secretary,,there are now 3-4 heads with a pool of secretaries. FACT

usmc00 2 years, 2 months ago

They have snack day all the time, get to adjust there hours of work if they like to suit their needs, get to work at any pace they would like, they get to leave work at then end of their shift if the job is done or not, more paid holidays then any other place, sick leave. Thats just a few to mention.

rmsberengaria 2 years, 2 months ago

Do agree with rickster on one point way too many chiefs and not enough Indians. I seen it.....Mini Department heads managing 6-12 people pulling down 55,000-65,000 for what......writing a memo that there is a meeting to discuss motivation and productivity or Sally's B-Day party. With a time-keeper, secretary, itinerary in 10 minute increments and Boss Bob is the Chair, oh and 5 are attending with snacks. Make 5 copies oops forgot the copier was set on 50, oh well just trash the extra's. Then be sure and send the memo to Gary to check for errors and imput and then re-print them. Then Bob feels he put in a full day writing a memo no one will read and all on the public dime and the public's 55,000 salary to accomplish NOTHING! Bob thinks...time to go home and design the new house plans and sign the contract for the new Tahoe.

JMO 2 years, 2 months ago

Lots of companies let their employees bring in snacks now and then. It's hardly all the time anyway. My job allows all of 1 hour of flex time, meaning you can set your day to start at the standard 8 or at 7 or at 9, but you still work a full 8-hour day, 40-hour week. We have deadlines like any other office and we have to have our work done by those deadlines. In any place of business, it's the same way. Unlike shift work, if we leave something at 5:00, it's waiting on our desk at 8:00 the next day, we don't get to push it off on someone else. Again, just like any other office job. My job is salaried, when I work overtime, I don't get paid a penny more. Non-salaried employees have to ask for overtime when there's too much work and if they aren't approved, they don't get paid for it. There are no bonuses for a job well done. We do get paid holidays and sick leave, but lots of bigger companies do. I don't think we're all that different than any other office job.

rmsberengaria 2 years, 2 months ago

Oh, yes that was tongue in cheek jib. Not intended for the rank and file worker that does his/her job. I understand that. It was meant to address/provoke thought on all the Chiefs-Bureaucrats who do in fact waste alot of time. I have seen it. You learn who actually does their work and then some and those are the ones that should be rewarded. A definite mindset among some workers, cocooned in offices and cubes, that they lose touch with reality of how real business's work and that by some mysterious magic a check comes two times a month. Of course not everyone can be responsible for paying salary, bills, etc. but a lot of State or gov. workers who have never worked in the private sector don't understand what it means to generate enough revenue to make a profit to pay the salaries. I understand that to, but to live it and have to lay awake at nights wondering if there will be enough money to cover all the expenses and make payroll takes a heavy toll on private sector owners, payroll managers. That type pressure just does not exist in Government.

JMO 2 years, 2 months ago

I was actually responding to usmc00. I don't know why my post popped up where it did. I agree, the bosses don't have the financial worries in government work that they do in the private sector.

yonomo 2 years, 2 months ago

No matter what the topic is, I find it funny when someone says "If they don't like the pay then move on to another job and quit complaining". Makes it sound like there are just so many jobs to choose from and they all pay better. I think I read this statement at least 3 times a week, regardless of the the article or topic.

jeffcitygirl 2 years, 2 months ago

We don't leave in search of better paying jobs for a few simple reasons. Most state workers tend to be long term employees, giving up 5 to 10 years of service to trade in for a job where you are low person on the pole is incredibly risky, even if the pay is better. I've worked jobs where the company went under and I not only lost my job, but coudln't get paid. The security of that bi-monthly paycheck, same amount and assurance you are definitely going to get paid and the check is definitely going to clear is valuable for peace of mind and stability. Most of us simply have too many years in to just pick up and start over somewhere new. SOme of us actually treat it as a career and not just a "job", I love what I do, and honestly there is no other place in this town I can do the type of work that I do. We don't have a lot of corporate level jobs as you may notice. Working for a small business, which is mostly all this town has, is risky in this economy.

JCLifer 2 years, 2 months ago

Good luck keeping younger people living in Jefferson City. Most of the young ones who work in state government live in Columbia. The few that do live in Jefferson City are at risk of being layed off due to lower seniority.

rmsberengaria 2 years, 2 months ago

They need to study the Ladder/Step system of advancement. It is a clandestine way of giving raises when the legislature does not authorize the non-Merit raises across the board. Same people doing the same job but getting a pay grade increase! Another thing to look into is this re-classification of job requirements all the time. Its a kin to taking a file clerk's job and a HS diploma into a IT tech 1 and requiring a degree and raising the wage from 25-30K into a 35-45K job doing the same darn thing. What a waste of a 22 year old college degree doing what a HS graduate can do. Who can't make a spreadsheet or keyboard or use adobe photo shop, even grade schoolers are taught that now!

rmsberengaria 2 years, 2 months ago

No not at all. but not by reclassifying a job and forcing people who have did there job for years out because some pin head decided to raise the qualifications so they could earn some brownie points with one of the other chiefs in the pecking order of Bureaucrats. How about the guy forced out who knows his job a whole lot better than some College kid who never worked a day in his life? Moving your way up from the bottom is the only way to learn all aspects of any business. Even Government. Plus, you learn to respect those below you because you know what it takes to do the job. Too many spoiled coddled children who feel entitled to everything.

newone 2 years, 2 months ago

I think all raises should be based on your performance appraisal; you don't do your work and get a bad review than you do not get a raise.

rmsberengaria 2 years, 2 months ago

I agree. the whole system should be based on merit. eliminate the whole step/ladder scheme, its all based on seniority and not merit just like a Union. It would be interesting to see what percent of these performance appraisals actually resulted in NO raise. Can almost guess, truth be known, most will get pluses and minuses on the review but overall "meets expectations or better" in 99% of the reviews. After all how many boss's working for the State really want a un happy camper in the office? After all the chiefs don't have to worry about paying the bills, so just like teachers passing on the kid that can't read, why rock the system just pass him/her on and hope they get better sometime.

JCLifer 2 years ago

I'd bet most of the $80,000 a year managers don't have any management training or experience, and they don't have the courage to discipline or fire the low-performing workers. So yeah, they just give good performance evaluations because the evaluation is pretty worthless- a good one doesn't result in a promotion or a raise, and a bad one doesn't result in any discipline action or termination.

Very poor leadership, and horrible management in most state agencies. It all starts from the top.

Daddy 2 years, 2 months ago

The sad fact is they are non union and will never get what they deserve until they organize!

johnsm2011 2 years ago

I've been with the state 18 years going on 19 and 10 years to go for retirement. After that long, close to retirement and with the bad job market it's almost impossible to change jobs now. There has been study after study done to try to improve the pay for state employees but very little if any of it gets implemented. Yes there are folks in career ladder jobs with the state and they get pay raises based on those but not when raises are not in the budget. There are a lot of employees with the state that are not in career ladder jobs, which is my case, and have to rely on the cost of living raises that are given out, but there hasn't been a cost of living raise since 2007/2008. Gas prices keep going up, electric rates keep going up, and grocery prices keep going up, but our pay keeps stagnant. The gas companies and electric companies and food companies raise prices but they don't have to ask the consumer for permission to for their prices. The state has to ask for tax increases, and every time most voters turn it down and tell the state to do the same or more work with what they have. The state provides a lot of services for the public that private business can't provide such as fixing the roads and educating kids. Yes we do have holidays but the governor keeps wanting to take away two of those and still not give us pay raises. Our life and health insurance is going up as well but we're not getting any more pay. As far as college degrees go, there are things that folks learn in college that can be applied to work where a high school diploma doesn't cut it. Believe it or not most college kids work while going to college. That's job experience, but unfortunately it's not the job experience that real employeers want and college grads get really robbed when they get out becasue their either over educated for the meanlngless jobs or not experiernced enough for jobs that their degree intends to get them into. Also IT folks don't work on spreadsheets and word documents for a living, they have to know how to and be able to fix/install hardware and software and show the folks that work on the spreadsheets how to work them, open them, save them, network computers, and whole bunch of other stuff. That's what I do for the state, and I don't have a degree in computer science I have a degree in another major where I learned how to work computers and learned all that suff, but a high school diploma doesn't teach that. With the way the layoffs are going around the low pay doesn't compensate for the potential loss of job security, that goes for state, county and city governments around the country. Most folks with the state don't make enough to save for a potential layoff because their bills are eating up too much of their paycheck. I want my pay raise that I work hard for and derserve.

johnsm2011 2 years ago

Oh, by the way, I don't want to be union, becasue unions caused half the problem with the cost of living being to high. Just look at the auto industry and the cost of employee benfits they've had to shell out over the years due unions gripping for money for folks that put bolts on a automobile. I wish I could make that kind of money, but the auto industry doesn't think I'm qualified because I went to college.

muleman 2 years ago

Raises (when you get them) are based on a percentage of your current salary. which in my way of thinking is discrimination. They call them "cost of living raises" Can someone explain to me why it costs more for a person to live that makes 50,000 a year then it does for someone making $25,000. This has never made any sense to me.

JMO 2 years ago

For years, I've said we ought to give straight across the board raises, not a % of current salary...and I'm paid pretty well, it would actually hurt me. But I think it's terribly unfair that I get a $1,000 raise at 2% COLA when my clerical gets $500. (And no, those aren't the real numbers.)

onlineidentity 2 years ago

Its because the raise is meant to keep their salary the same in "real dollars," basically its meant to keep the purchasing power the same for both employees. according to the numbers you posted your clerical should have a lifestyle which is supported at half the price of your own. If you follow your reasoning then there is no reason for you to make more in the first place, all employees should make the same salary regardless of position.

JMO 2 years ago

No. I hire in earning $25,000.00 more. So if we both get a $1,000 raise, I still earn $25,000.00 more.

onlineidentity 2 years ago

right, but the relative ability to purchase goods has a disparity when the increase is not based on percentage of prior income. The point of COLA adjustments is to keep incomes inline with prices. In essence it allows wages to keep up with incomes. 1000 dollars to you has a much lesser meaning that it does to someone making a much lower salary.

JMO 2 years ago

I suppose. But the whole argument is academic, since we all make less now than we did a few years ago, thanks to no COLA and higher payments for benefits. You know, the last COLA I got actually lowered my net income, because it put me in a higher tax bracket. lol Sad, really.

JCLifer 2 years ago

Apparently there is no understanding of time value of money, percentages, etc.If this is the best intelligence of state workers, maybe that is why they are so low paid.

3blindmice 2 years ago

here's a novel idea. Tie any pay increase for the legislature with a pay increase for state employees.

wcywing 2 years ago

fire them all, don't vote for a R or a D. better yet, make a petetion. have an option that you can vote for none of the above. remove voting straight R or D option and remove the R or D from a candidates name. voters are getting lazy, they just look at R or D. make politicians talk about the issues.

JCLifer 2 years ago

How much is this "study" going to cost?

The problem is already identified. Time to DO SOMETHING, not more studies and more consultants.

LIP SERVICE.

fitnessgrams 2 years ago

Please.......We already know why......raises are rare and small. Legislatures could have helped employees who wanted to step aside and retire by passing HB305, but that bill was left to die. The bill was set to save the state millions.
I'm going to retire anyway....tired of no raises, tired of having our health insurance benefits reduced, and really disappointed when the Governor felt he couldn't even give us the day after Thanksgiving off. I know I always considered our holidays as our "bonus" because there were no monetary bonuses. The lack of raises not only affects my retirement benefit but also has lowered my social security benefits.
Will our politicians Wake Up and stop forming committees when the answer is hitting them in the face.

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