Compensation and Benefits Study Services

The Vendor is required to provide compensation and salary study services for both civilian and non-civilian employees, including a review of existing policies. The study will benchmark data from both public and private sectors to ensure market alignment.
- Provide for an analysis of every job within the City to determine internal equity and conduct a detailed compression analysis to identify pay equity disparities, if any, and recommend solutions to address internal and external competitiveness.
- Conduct a market survey of salaries and benefits for similar roles in comparable organizations to provide recommendations based on findings to see if the City’s current salaries or hourly wages are competitive within their applicable job markets.
- Review regional labor markets that impact the City’s ability to remain competitive.
- Review all City positions and ensure that positions on the same pay plan are performing a similar amount of work with the same level of complexity.
- Conduct interviews and/or job audits with employees individually or as a group and update job descriptions based on the results.
- Recommend administrative procedures and best practice recommendations for promotions, demotions or career ladder movements.
- Conduct training sessions for key staff after the acceptance of the study.
- Provide implementation strategies the City can use to calculate the cost of implementing the plan, including short term and long-term costs.   Recommend competitive placement within the market for recruitment.
- Provide a compression analysis and recommendations to assist with placement of future employees on the most applicable pay plan, as well as determine if current employees should be placed on a different pay plan.
- Provide a minimum and maximum range for each grade, as well as provide analysis on what separates each grade and why positions should be placed in a particular grade.
- Recommend adjustments for market alignment.
- Provided pay differential between classes that is justifiable, and outline progression opportunities for increased compensation.
- Review and provide an analysis of the City’s organizational structure and career ladders. Identify any career ladders or promotional opportunities that are appropriate.
- Provide alternatives to step and grade plans and removal of any outdated or unnecessary steps or grades.
- Develop recommendations for performance-based step or merit increases, including possible alternatives to a traditional grade-step matrix, and provide a recommendation for City Council consideration.
- Develop a performance management process that incentivizes high producing employees while staying within the City’s compensation plan and overall budget.
- Provide a procedural plan for implementation, maintenance, and future adjustments.
- Evaluate health benefits and identify opportunities for competitiveness.
- Review supplemental benefits (e.g., maternity/paternity leave, bereavement, sick leave) and propose adjustments based on market and demographic factors.
- Develop step plans for civilian and non-civilian employees, including:
•Provide tools and recommendations for initial placement of current positions on the pay scale.
•Milestones for recommended increases.
•Policies for annual increases, promotions, demotions, and out-of-step adjustments.
•Plans for employees at the maximum step level.
- Provide tools and recommendations for adding new positions to the pay scale.
- Provide policies for reclassification requests of current or new positions.
- Propose a classification tool and define approval authority for new positions.
- Provide tools to address career ladders and promotional opportunities to provide recognizable paths for employee growth within the organization.
- Present benchmark cities for civilian and non-civilian positions to city council for approval.
- Provide at least two workshops and two meetings with the city council.
- Specify frequency and timing of additional presentations.
- Include recommendations for implementation, strengths/weaknesses, and ongoing maintenance using narratives, charts, and graphs to make recommendations easy to understand for city council and staff stakeholders.
- Provide detailed plans for both phased and immediate implementation for proposed recommendations including cost projections for various implementation scenarios.
- Develop and provide a robust communications plan to inform and educate employees and stakeholders about the purpose, progress, and results of the study.