Jackson County Raises Minimum Pay to $15

     The Jackson County Legislature authorized the implementation of a compensation study during its February 10th meeting, increasing the minimum salary for any county staff member to $15/hour by 2022.
     In addition to increasing entry-level wages, the study also reviewed all county positions to determine if current salary ranges were competitive with the market.  In the end, the report recommended changes to salary ranges that will provide an immediate pay raise averaging 16.9% or an average annual salary increase of $5,485 for more than 500 staff members, almost half of the county’s current full-time workforce.  
     The study also provides changes to various salary ranges that will be implemented over the next two years to ensure the County does not fall behind the market again.   
     “After being elected to the County Legislature, I quickly learned that the County was simply not taking care of its Associates in the manner they deserved,” Jackson County Executive Frank White, Jr. said.
     “As County Executive, I have seen each of our departments struggling to fill vacancies in essential roles simply because we refused to acknowledge that we were not compensating our staff appropriately for the work they were doing.”
     “I am so excited to have the long anticipated Final Report on the Classification and Compensation Study for Jackson County by Evergreen Solutions, LLC,” Jackson County Legislative Chairman Theresa Cass Galvin, who represents the 6th District, said.
     “This is something that has been extremely important to me since I took office five years ago. It was made even more special by working in collaboration with the County Executive’s team to achieve such a rewarding common goal. I am confident that having a competitive compensation and classification system will encourage strong recruitment and retention in Jackson County.”
     The County’s lowest entry-level hourly wage will be as follows for three years:
     2020 – $12.50/hour
     2021 – $13.75/hour
     2022 – $15.00/hour
In March 2019, the County awarded a competitively-bid contract to Evergreen Solutions, LLC to perform a classification and compensation study relating to all County associates. The independent study analyzed pay, benefits, job descriptions, salary schedules and market data to reach its 10 recommendations.