Despite small raise, Idaho state workers lose ground on pay

BOISE – Though Idaho lawmakers agreed to raise state employee pay this year by an average of 3 percent, state worker salaries have fallen even further behind market rates.

An annual state report shows that Idaho classified state employee pay now lags 22.6 percent below market rates, compared to 19.87 percent at this point last year. Idaho also lags compared to surrounding states, with state employees paid more in Washington, Oregon, Utah, Montana and Wyoming, the report found, a gap that’s also widened since last year.

This came even as Idaho’s average salary for all classified state employees rose to $42,744 in October, up from $41,308 a year earlier.

The state’s largest agency, the Department of Health and Welfare, saw turnover rates rise to 15.2 percent in fiscal year 2015, which ended July 1; that’s up from 13.6 percent the previous year and 11.5 percent the year before that.

“Pay is the main reason,” said department spokesman Tom Shanahan, according to exit interviews with departing employees.

“We asked employees who were going to other jobs what their pay increase would be. It averaged about a 26 percent increase,” he said.

Though Idaho law requires the state to provide competitive pay and benefits to state workers, state pay has lagged for years and fell further behind when state lawmakers zero-funded raises for state workers in fiscal years 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014. Raises averaging 2 percent were funded in 2013, 1 percent plus a 1 percent bonus in fiscal year 2015, and 3 percent this year, but the actual amount any employee receives varies based on merit.

Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, co-chair of the Legislature’s joint budget committee, said, “We need to address that. … Why should they work for less than any of the rest of us are willing to work for? I think we need to try to get to the market.”

Sen. Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow, who served on a joint legislative committee last year that held hearings to hear state workers’ stories and concerns about their salaries, said, “Idaho is a low-wage state – I want people in Idaho to be making more money.” He said that issue extends far beyond state employees, “but they’re a big part of the picture.”

Last year, Schmidt proposed boosting every state worker’s pay to at least $9.50 an hour, to help those at the lowest levels. His motion failed. According to the Division of Human Resources, as of this month, four permanent state employees still earn less than $9.50 an hour.

The joint committee on state employee compensation is scheduled to meet again on Jan. 7. It didn’t meet at all from 2009 to 2014. During that time, in addition to the no-raise years, state employees saw a 5 percent pay cut during the height of the recession.

According to the state report, Idaho employees have an average of 10.2 years of state service, a figure that’s been gradually falling since 2010, when it was 11 years.

The Idaho Division of Human Resources report, required by law, recommends another 3 percent merit increase next year, at a cost of $17.3 million to the general fund and $38.1 million from all funds, and keeping benefits the same.

In the past year, the average age of a worker who left state employment was 46.6.

House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, said: “We treat our employees the way we treat the rest of state government, whether it’s buildings or funding programs we have to do. I think it’s unfortunate, especially in those positions that are competitive. We end up being a training ground, and we end up losing those that we want to keep.”

The state report concludes, “In order for the State of Idaho to recruit and retain highly qualified and dedicated employees, it is necessary to have a competitive total compensation package. As the economy continues to recover, it is imperative that strategies are developed to improve compensation in order to recruit and retain valuable employees while remaining fiscally responsible.”