Leonardtown, MD — St. Mary’s County government salaries are not competitive with neighboring counties. That’s the conclusion of a Classification and /Compensation Study commissioned by the Commissioners of St. Mary’s County that was released Feb. 9.
The pay study covers county government employees as well as deputies and correctional officers and compares St. Mary’s to Charles and Calvert counties.
According to the study county government employee salaries are nine percent behind. The study also shows considerable variance for deputies and correctional officers, with those at top salaries the most behind, at 9 and 11.3 percent respectively. At starting salary there’s a 5.4 percent gap for deputies and 5.8 percent lag for correctional officers. At mid-point, deputies fall behind by 7.7 percent and correctional officers by 9 percent.
Commissioner John O’Connor [R; 3rd] said during the presentation that an even better comparison for the sheriff’s office employees would be Prince George’s County and the Maryland State Police. Sheriff Tim Cameron (shown) told The Bay Net that his officers do lag behind the Maryland State Police.
Commissioner Mike Hewitt [R; 2nd] asked why the salaries for police officers were higher than correctional officers, since they also face danger in jail every day. Consultant Dr. Michael Frank of the Frank and Wheeler Group, LLC said it’s because of the hazards of the job and level of training required. He said there was “more adversity, More uncertainty” in being a deputy.
The study also recommends a reclassification system that incorporates 10 job evaluation point factors instead of the current four. Currently considered are:
• Education, training and experience
• Complexity and problem solving
• Contribution and Impact
• ‘Communication
The new criteria would be:
• Job knowledge
• Job complexity
• Purpose and scope
• Resources
• Work controls
• Contacts
• Physical effort
• Hazards
• Unusual demands
• Leadership
According to the report the new evaluation factors are “better representation of work done in St. Mary’s County Government and industry in general.” The sheriff’s department has their own promotional criteria.
The current classification system has been in effect since 2000 and was done as the result of the last classification/compensation study done for the county. The report says the current system “has become outdated as the work in county government has changed (i.e. technology, hazards, etc.).
The presentation of the study to the commissioners was led by Director of Human Resources Sue Sabo, with the consultants by her side.
The commissioners made no decisions on the reclassification system and pay scales during the presentation, but instead will address the issues during budget deliberations.
Contact Dick Myers at news@thebaynet.com