Category: Local Government Projects

Evergreen Solutions was retained by the City of Dublin to conduct a Classification and Compensation Study. The purpose of the study was to address changes in City operations and staffing over the past decade, which might have affected the type, scope, and level of work being performed. The objectives of the study were to: attract and retain qualified employees; ensure positions performing similar work with essentially the same level of complexity, responsibility, and knowledge, skills, and abilities are classified together; provide salaries commensurate with assigned duties; outline promotional opportunities and provide recognizable compensation growth; provide justifiable pay differential between individual classes; and maintain a competitive position with other comparable government entities and private employers within the same geographic areas.

Evergreen Solutions was retained by the City of Fayetteville to conduct a Pay and Classification Study. The goal of the project was  to develop a classification and compensation plan that fairly and equitably recognized and rewarded current and future employees and attracted highly-qualified candidates for City positions. Evergreen performed the following tasks: reviewed all current job descriptions and analyzed same for knowledge, skills, abilities, education, experience, relevance, internal consistency, job definitions and summaries, distinguishing characteristics, supervision received and exercised, conformity with ADA relative to essential job functions (including physical demands), conformity with other applicable federal and state laws and regulations, and special requirements, including licensing and certifications; analyzed all existing job family classifications, pay grades, and salary ranges and recommended modifications as necessary; recommended new job titles/job descriptions as necessary; analyzed all FLSA classifications and recommended modifications as necessary; established appropriate benchmarking standards and conducted salary surveys as needed for similar positions with comparable other local governments; identified potential pay compression issues and provided alternative solutions and recommended appropriate salary range for each position based on the classification plan, the compensation survey results, and internal relationships and equity; and developed and provided a straightforward, easily understandable maintenance system that could be used to keep the classification system updated and equitable. Evergreen also reviewed relevant portions of the City’s Personnel Policies and Procedures and, when applicable, recommended and changes needed in relation to classification and compensation.

Evergreen Solutions was retained by the City of Melbourne to conduct a Job Classification and Compensation Study. Evergreen reviewed the City’s salary and benefit structure and assisted in updating information on essential job functions, responsibilities, required knowledge, skills and abilities, and physical demands of each position. Evergreen examined all job descriptions to include a review of position FLSA designations; essential functions; minimum qualifications, license requirements, working conditions, etc., provided recommended updates and/or changes, established criterion for the selection of survey participants with City staff members, prepared a survey to send to the participants, and prepared recommendations based on the results. Evergreen addressed compression/equity issues between pay grades and classifications and established an equitable classification methodology and salary ranges to provide for the recruitment and retention of qualified staff as well as the equitable relationships of one job to another within the organization. Recommendations were provided to classify/reclassify positions as appropriate. In addition, a recommendation was made for a new compensation plan that would be fair and equitable in order to attract, motivate, and retain a quality workforce. Evergreen provided three (3) separate proposed pay plan structures based on salary scales that are 90%, 100% and 110% of the surveyed labor market.

Evergreen Solutions was retained by the City of Westminster to provide Classification and Compensation Study Services. The scope of work included the review and updating of the City’s current job descriptions as well as providing technical assistance in the development of a comprehensive performance evaluation system to integrate with the new classification system. The primary study objectives for this study included: developing a formal compensation philosophy for adoption by the Mayor and Common Council; identifying comparable benchmark employers to guide the City’s future employee salary and benefit decisions to facilitate the attraction and retention of high performance staff members, while being financially sustainable; establishing a comprehensive job classification system using the approved job evaluation system that would accommodate the City’s needs for an internally and externally equitable, defensible, market sensitive, and easily administered system for all current and future positions within the City; training Human Resources staff to apply the adopted compensation philosophy to maintain the adopted classification and compensation system; and providing legally defensible classification specifications (ADA, FLSA, and any other applicable federal and state laws).

Evergreen Solutions was retained by James City County to conduct a Classification and Compensation Study. Evergreen evaluated market competitiveness and the compensation structure, as well as internal equity and classification accuracy applicable to all County employees. This study included a review of current compensation practices and the development of a compensation philosophy, defining the appropriate labor market to which James City County should be compared, evaluated the FLSA status of each position, made salary recommendations for various jobs based on market data collected, completed an assessment of total compensation, and the provision of recommendations to assist with implementation. Employees were given the opportunity to attend orientation sessions, employee focus groups and participate in the Job Assessment Tool process for classification valuation as a component of these analyses.

Evergreen Solutions was retained by the City of Broken Arrow to conduct a Classification and Compensation Study and Analysis to evaluate the present salary structure as compared to the specific job market for comparable positions in the public sectors. Evergreen performed the following: reviewed all current job classifications, confirmed and recommended changes to hierarchical order of jobs using the City’s evaluation system; established appropriate benchmarking standards and conducted salary surveys as needed for similar positions as required (prefer to assess duplicate benchmarks – both municipalities as well as local employers); identified potential pay compression issues and provided potential solutions; analyzed and recommended changes to the present compensation matrix and/or structure to meet the market analysis; and assessed potential impact of pending DOL changes.

Evergreen Solutions was retained by the City of Holly Hill to conduct a Compensation and Classification Study. Evergreen reviewed the City’s salary and benefit structure and assisted in updating information on essential job functions, responsibilities, required knowledge, skills and abilities, and physical demands of each position. Evergreen examined all job descriptions which included a review of position FLSA designations; essential functions; minimum qualifications, license requirements, working conditions, etc., provided recommended updates and/or changes, established criterion for the selection of survey participants with City staff members, prepared a survey to send to the participants, and prepared recommendations based on the results. Evergreen addressed compression/equity issues between pay grades and classifications and established an equitable classification methodology and salary ranges to provide for the recruitment and retention of qualified staff as well as the equitable relationships of one job to another within the organization. Recommendations were provided to classify/reclassify positions as appropriate. Evergreen also reviewed department staffing and organizational structures and made recommendations as needed.

Evergreen Solutions was retained by Union County to conduct a Compensation and Classification Study. The County desired the following tasks to be performed: a comprehensive evaluation of every classification within the County to determine relative worth within the organization (internal equity), placement in the organizational pay plan, and to establish pay bands; establish appropriate benchmarking standards and included should be a comparison and analysis of salaries and wages of like or similar jobs (external equity) in comparable government and private employers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia for which the County competed for a labor supply; create class/position descriptions that included required knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) for each position class in a standardized format; recommend needed changes to existing compensation and classification plan or propose a new plan that would achieve market rate structure and alleviate salary compression issues; provide a multi-year implementation plan to adjust compensation as identified in the analysis; provide a synopsis prepared for management review, covering the salient features of the proposal including overall costs and term of work; and provide a procedure manual and training for Human Resources employees enabling them to maintain the recommended classification and compensation plan.

Evergreen Solutions was retained by Pinellas County to conduct a Classification and Compensation Study that included recommendations and suggestions for an implementation and maintenance process that effectively provided the County with the resources and expertise to further enhance its classification and compensation program. A comprehensive job classification and pay study hadn’t been conducted since 2004 so the County believed it was important to invest in a study that would look at both internal and external equity. The objective of the study was to have a credible classification and compensation plan that: allowed positions performing similar work with similar levels of complexity, responsibility, and knowledge, skills and abilities to be classified appropriately; identified salaries for assigned duties; outlined promotional opportunities and possible compensation growth; identified pay differential between individual classifications; and identified relevant labor markets.

Evergreen Solutions was retained by the City of Bloomington to conduct a Salary Study. Evergreen examined the wages and benefits of the City’s employees (including transit) as compared to public and private sector entities in Indiana and surrounding areas to determine whether the City’s wages and benefits were competitive in the market.