Committee OKs merit pay plan

[Cranbury Press]

CRANBURY: Committee OKs merit pay plan
Thursday, April 1, 2010 5:47 PM EDT
By Maria Prato-Gaines, Staff Writer


CRANBURY — The township is creating a merit-based raise system for full-time municipal employees.

The township will draw from a pool of about $14,000, or about 2 percent of the total pay for employees not represented by a collective bargaining contract, to give employees with good evaluations merit raises, said Committeeman Jay Taylor, a member of the Personnel Subcommittee.

”We’re trying to show every employee that they are valued,” Mr. Taylor said. “By doing this on a merit-based program, we’re hoping that employees recognize that their efforts will be rewarded.”

Twenty-two Cranbury employees are eligible for the raises, which would be based on annual evaluations conducted by Township Administrator Christine Smeltzer and the various department heads in February.

Employees who would be eligible range from the Construction Department, to the clerical areas, to Public Works Department. The
Township Committee decided on raises after studying surveys from three compensation consulting firms on what is happening in the private sector.

”We analyzed available survey data from the top compensation firms and found that the majority of employers were providing 2 percent salary raises in 2010,” he said.

By setting up a pool from which raises can be paid each year, the township can avoid problems if negotiations with contractual employees have to go before an arbitrator. The merit-raise plan will allow the township to provide a history on which the arbitrator could rule, Mr. Taylor said.

Ms. Smeltzer and Denise Marabello, the township’s chief financial officer, will recommend employees who have high enough performance marks to merit a raise. Mr. Taylor and Mayor David Stout, also a member of the Personnel Subcommittee, will review those recommendations and bring them to the Township Committee.

The committee will then have to approve the raises.

Municipal employees covered under a collective bargaining agreement, like police, are not eligible for the merit increases, Mr. Taylor said.

Elected officials will not be eligible for the raise. Therefore the Township Committee members, all of whom opted to take a 10 percent pay cut in salary for the coming year, will also be exempt.

”I think for the people who work hard and dedicate themselves, they should be rewarded,” Mr. Taylor said. “If it’s all in one department then it’s all in one department; if it’s spread out, then great.”

http://www.centraljersey.com/articles/2010/04/02/cranbury_press/news/doc4bb5134a2d515806196408.txt

[Guest]

I wonder how they will evaluate Public Works? The grass in Village Park is brown, no merit raise. What about the cops(since they are the contractual employees that would go to arbitration). How would Mr. Taylor propose to an arbitrator that they be evaluated? Ticket quotas?(unethical) Not everything in the private sector can be applied to government particularly when it comes to public safety, like police, fire, and EMS.

[Guest]

Think BIG picture here...

"the township can avoid problems if negotiations with contractual employees have to go before an arbitrator."


This is a good thing.

[Guest]

[Guest]

[Guest]

[Guest 2]

Township of Cranbury is not equal to Cranbury Board of Education. They are two different entities.

The police and municipal employees are paid by the TC. Teachers and support personnel are paid by the BOE.

It's like working for Apple or Windows -- two totally different employers.

[Guest]

[Guest]

In my opinion the merit pay may save a little money but it is horrible for employee morale. Two workers could do the same amount of hard, quality work. One worker may get upset because they did not get the same amount raise or no raise at all while a better liked worker gets a raise.
A happy worker is a better worker. I think that if there is a worker who is not doing a good job then they should be fired and hire one of the thousands out there looking for a job. I think this merit pay is a mistake. It will only make the workers that do not get raises or a small raise upset and they will do less work.

[Guest]

Merit pay is a wonderful idea. However, it is very hard to use 2% to differentiate a wonderful performance from a good performance. I presume if you don't give an employee a raise it is a signal that he or she should look for another job. So good employees need some sort of raise to show that they are valued. So you give them a one percent raise. One percent of say fifty thousand is $500. Great, now you have an employee who has performed above and beyond the call of duty. They get 2 percent or a thousand dollars. I am sure they would like the money, who wouldn't, but I am not sure how much of an incentive this really is.

[Guest]

There is no incentive as far as I can see. Fire the ones not doing their job if any of them fall into that category.
Happy employees perform much much better.

[Guest]

I want to work at your companies. My company does merit pay and it works great and yes, one year I was not rewarded with raise. If someone doesn't perform we should tell them and they should be happy to keep a job in this economy. Those that do perform well should be rewarded for their efforts. The idea that everyone deserves something is wrong in my opinion. This is a very good step.

[Guest]