Proposal unanimously approved by Civil Service Commission
Following through on a commitment that he announced during his budget address to the City Council last fall, Mayor C. Ray Nagin has proposed pay raises for City employees in nearly every position classification to increase their compensation rate to the Southern regional average. The raises for many employees will take effect as early as July.
The increases follow a comprehensive review of every job's qualifications, responsibilities and pay. This is the first time the City of New Orleans has undertaken this type of comprehensive review, which is a part of Mayor Nagin's performance budgeting criteria implemented last fall. The review resulted in a new compensation structure designed to ensure competitive, equitable pay throughout City government. Employees who currently earn less than the Southern regional average will see their salaries increased to that level. Employees who are currently paid above the regional average will not receive increases.
"Implementing a performance-based budget was a key priority to continue transparency and accountability," said Mayor Nagin. "It is also critical because we have an opportunity to review and improve practices in city government, such as this review of classified and unclassified positions, to ensure equity and fairness."
Under the new compensation structure, the minimum paid to any City employee will be $9.10 per hour, a substantial increase over the current minimum of $7.50 hourly and far above the federal minimum wage of $6.15 hourly. Classified employees also will be able, for the first time, to earn merit pay increases based on outstanding job performance.
The proposal was unanimously approved today by the Civil Service Commission. It is expected to go to the City Council Budget Committee on June 26, then to the full City Council for final approval.
"In a post-Katrina environment in which we had to cut thousands of positions in order to stabilize our government, we have employees performing the jobs of two or three people and we must ensure that they are paid competitively with their counterparts in this region," said Dr. Brenda Hatfield, Chief Administrative Officer.
The raises will be implemented on a staggered basis, beginning July 1 for classified employees in the Clerical, Finance, Health, EMS and Recreation areas. Employees in positions categorizes as "Professional" will receive increases beginning in November and will be the final group of classified employees to have their increases implemented.
Pay increases for unclassified employees - those who serve at the pleasure of the Mayor - will also be implemented on a staggered basis from August 1 through the start of November. Mayor Nagin's compensation proposal regarding unclassified employees is expected to be presented to the City Council within the next few weeks.
Mayor Nagin has given raises to all employees for five of the six years he has been in office. He is the first Mayor in New Orleans history to provide pay increases on such a consistent basis.
The pay increases will cost just over $2 million for the remainder of 2008.
Members of the New Orleans Police Department are not included in the new pay structure because they have already received pay increases to raise their compensation to the Southern regional average and to make them the highest paid department in Louisiana. The New Orleans Fire Department is not included due to the ongoing lawsuit.