Cape council continues to address issues on pay study

A divided Cape Girardeau City Council chose in recent meetings to move forward on implementing an employee pay study, promising it would continue to consider any questions or concerns.

Discussions at the annual council retreat Friday showed efforts have been made to live up to that promise.

City manager Scott Meyer offered an update on implementing recommendations from the study, performed by Cleveland-based CBIZ Human Capital Services Inc. The plan includes an increase in starting salaries for employees to increase competitiveness, a move Mayor Harry Rediger said was long overdue.

He was among those who supported moving forward with approving the plan when it first came to a council vote March 16.

Because police and fire departments had some remaining questions and concerns, other council members suggested delaying the vote at the time. It ultimately was approved, both at the first reading in March and the second and third readings April 6.

Based on the study recommendations, uniformed police and fire employees, as well as higher-ranking department members with seven or fewer years of experience would receive the same level of compensation. That's compared to four years' experience for nonuniformed employees. Employees from both departments have expressed concerns that the new structure would cause compression among entry-level positions and pay-scale leapfrogging.

Meyer said these concerns and other possible inequities are being considered. In some cases, solutions should be fairly easy, he said, but other instances may prove more difficult. The city plans to implement solutions to these inequities by July 1.

An appeals process also is available to employees, taken up for consideration by a committee that ultimately reports to the city manager's office. Meyer said the committee has reviewed about 80 percent of the appeals.

Councilmembers questioned just how many were reported to the committee, but quantifying the appeals can take different forms.

Staff cited 38 positions have been appealed, although some of those positions technically include more than one job, especially among the fire department. Fifty to 60 individual employer sheets have been turned in, but some appeals were reported by the police and fire chiefs.

During the appeals process, the city also has to consider any secondary effects further action may cause, Meyer said. That won't prevent the city from moving forward with the approval, but it's something staff members want to be cognizant of in their planning, he added.

Rediger said he recognized the process was not a simple one for the staff, but commended them for "working your way through it."

The pay study, along with the appeals, will be rolled out May 1. Discussions will continue as the city goes through budget planning for the 2015-2016 fiscal year, which begins July 1.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

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Cape Girardeau, Mo.