State's compensation study delayed

Missouri government employees may have to wait until August to learn details from the most recent salary and benefits study.

St. Louis-based CBIZ Human Capital Services won an up to $300,000 contract in December for a comprehensive analysis of state employee salaries and benefit packages, with a June 15 deadline for submitting its report.

Office of Administration spokeswoman Ryan Burns said the contract was extended through July 31, because extra time was required for both the state and the contractor to finalize the full scope of work.

Lawmakers budgeted $300,000 in the 2015-16 state budget year to pay for the study, which was requested several years ago by the Legislature's Interim Committee on State Employee Pay - comprised of lawmakers, state officials and business representatives from around the state.

They asked for the salary and benefits comparisons after determining several years ago that Missouri government's average salaries were last among the nation's 50 states.

The committee recommended the study after some people argued that, when benefits like health care and retirement are included, Missouri's "total compensation" for employees ranks better than last in national comparisons.

"There is some belief that while the pay for state employees is low, the benefits are outstanding. There is no data that the Division of Personnel has readily available that either validates or disputes the value attributed to Missouri state employee benefits," the state's request for proposals (RFP) explained to potential contractors.

Missouri also has a large number of pay classifications and pay scales - an issue the joint committee members acknowledged during their salaries-only discussions several years ago.

Bidders were reminded the state's Uniform Classification and Pay System (UCP) includes 887 job classes covering more than 35,000 employees. The state has a total of 3,013 job title codes with 785 classified in the UCP system, 155 unclassified and exempt and 2,073 listed outside the UCP.

While Burns said she couldn't comment on details of the contract extension, she acknowledged both CBIZ Human Capital Services and the state people they've been working with determined more time was needed to analyze details and make the final report understandable.

The amended contract noted there's no additional funding for the extra 6 weeks allowed by the extension.

Burns noted July 31 is the last day of the contract extension, and nothing prohibits the contractor from submitting its report earlier.

The original contract required CBIZ to consider impacts of recent changes to existing laws, and the consequences to recruitment, retention and the appropriate number of state employees due to these changes, including:

The Legislature's 2011 pension changes.

Requiring 10 years for state employment to be fully vested in the pension plan, rather than the previous five-year requirement.

Requiring new employees to contribute a percentage of their income to the retirement plan, when the state previously had paid the full amount - and still pays the full amount for those hired before 2011.

Replacing the "80-and-out" formula for retirement (age plus number of years of service equals 80 or more) with a "90-and-out" policy.

The RFP also required the final report to provide:

Recommendations for salary structure redesigns.

A comprehensive work plan for redesign implementation.

A financial impact analysis for each recommendation and/or redesign that is recommended.

Also, the final report is to include recommended "pay plan revisions for all classes," while showing separate comparisons between the state and comparable public sector employers and Missouri private sector employers.

The final report is to "evaluate the competitiveness of the state benefits package to include, but not limited to, health insurance (including the employee assistance program, vision and dental), retirement, long-term disability, leave and other paid time off, life insurance, etc., (and) consideration should be given for impact, if any, for continued flat insurance premium for the past five plus years to state employees."