OCR Text |
Show State Employees to Receive Salary Increase on July J State employees will receive cost-of-living increases averaging aver-aging 9 per cent on July 1. In addition, some employees also will be eligible for a 3Vi per cent merit step increase. In a few instances the increases' could be even greater. These facts were pointed out by Utah Foundation, the private research organization in their analysis of a new pay plan scheduled to go into - effect for state employees on July 1. The study points out that all state employees in Utah will receive a minimum 8 per cent cost-of-living salary boost this year. If the increase results in a figure between steps or below the first step on the new salary schedule, the amount is to be raised to the next higher step on the schedule. Since the step adjustments are equal to 3li per cent, the total cost-of-living increase will range between 8 per cent and 11 Vj per cent and will average about 9 per cent for most state employees. Foundation analysts point out that new salary schedules were adopted for use begin-. begin-. ning July 1, 1975. Both the present and the new pay plan are based on a 40-grade pay schedule. Most state positions are classified and assigned to one of these pay grades. The new pay schedules are based on a state salary study conducted by the Utah State Personnel Office last year. Under Utah law, such a study is to be made every other year in order "to achieve comparable compar-able rates to those paid by private enterprise and other public employement for similar simi-lar work." In general, the 1974 state salary survey disclosed that the slaary scale for many subprofessional positions in Utah state government was relatively high in comparison with similar positions in private industry and other governmental units. The pay scale for many of the professional profes-sional and higher paid positions posi-tions in state government, on the other hand, was relatively low by these comparisons. Because of these disclosures, disclo-sures, the new pay schedules which will become effective on July 1 provide for larger percentage increases in most of the higher pay grades than it does in the lower pay grades. For example, increases in-creases of more than 18 per cent were provided for pay grades 30 through 35, while increases of only 2.5 per cent were made in pay grades 4 and 9. The Utah Foundation study emphasizes, however, that employees currently filling the various positions in state government will receive only the basic 8 per cent plus next-stcp-up increase even though the salary range for the i particular pay grade was ! changed a greater or lesser f amount. In addition to these salary J increases, the 1975 Utah i Legislature also provided 5 greatly expanded retirement fi benefits for state and public jj school employees. Included in j the new retirement law is (1) jj an increase of 60 per cent in Y benefits for service after July (1 1, 1975; (2) an increase from fi 1 'j percent to 4 per cent in the J annual cost of living allowance I for all retired members of the ' system and all those who retire ( in the future; (3) full retire- ( merit benefits for all rctirants ( with 30 or more years of ( service rcRnrdlcss of age; and I (4) a scaling down in the I pcnnlly provisions for oilier v individuals seeking early re- j tircmcnt. i |