New Pay Scale Possible for Employees in Wood County

Wood County, much like other counties in the Wisconsin area, is hoping that they will be able to join in on the employee study. According to many officials, the study will be able to help create a wage structure that is completely far and, in the meantime, save taxpayers a lot of money.

As of recently, Wood County has seven different wage scales which took place via negotiation that were made with the county and county unions. However, the county is expecting to lose about five of those seven unions and now, the county officials are hoping to create just one wage scale for all employees instead of having so many different wage scales.

Governor Scott Walker introduced the budget repair bill just a year ago, which stated that many state laws had changed, including the state law that had to do with unions representing public employees. With the new changes in tact, limitations have been set on what the union can negotiate about, which includes wages. Unions in the county will not be able to bargain or negotiate for a certain amount of working hours or specific working conditions anymore. The only unions that do not have to follow the new change are public safety unions, including law enforcement.

Because of the different bargains being made, there were some employees who were being paid entirely different wages yet doing work that was basically the same as other employees. A partner at Carlson Dettmann Consulting, Charlie Carlson, says this agency wants to work with the county so that all wages are fair to the different employees. Carlson believes in being fair. If the study is approved by county officials, Carlson Dettmann Consulting will be asking all of the county employees to participate in a survey. The survey will pertain to the specific duties they are responsible of at work, within their position. After the surveys are administered and filled out, Carlson will then look over the surveys with a supervisor, and make sure the information is completely accurate.

In the past, Carlson Dettmann was responsible for a study, which took place in Oshkosh City. The study proved that employees within the area made up to $10,000 more than other employees who were doing similar work within the private sector.

Some of the employees in Wood County are concerned that after the study is released, they will end up dealing with pay cuts. However, Carlson assures that he does not want to create a plan for Wood County which would make employees suffer from pay cuts. Carlson, instead, assures that some employees’ wages would remain the same while other employees would see an increase in their wages. Overall ,it would be a good thing for the county, not a bad thing.