Northampton County is spending $115 thousand for a salary study on its 2,000 person workforce. It is widely agreed that, once this is done, nearly everyone who works for the county will be making more money.As a first step, a questionnaire was sent to the workforce with a due date of December 28.
Amazingly, the personnel committee today learned that the administration has had to set a new deadline - February 28 - because some workers have no time for these forms. As a result, the salary study is now delayed by two months. And that means any raises will be delayed by two months.
Memo to county workers: Are you out of your frickin' minds??? Fill out the damn forms and get them in. Forge if necessary. Ask me to fill them out. But if you like a living wage, get them in.
25 comments:
I heard the raise would be for everyone except title searchers ;-)
Most employees realize this is just a PR stunt. They will give us what they want. This HR group is a lot of show. Frankly, no one is buying this as a serious request for info.
Most employees realize this is just a PR stunt.
Really? Last time an employee study was done by the Barton (sp?) goup, the result was significant pay raises for county employees. Any employee who fails to take this seriously is hurting everyone who works for the county.
BO, I think they are saying the County survey is BS not the idea of a professional study.
BS or not, the Hay group will not start its professional study until it has them. County employees have set themselves back two months.
HA HA HA!
I can hear the thoughts in people's heads now. They won't do paperwork even if directly benefits them. How do we get them to do their job for us?
ha ha ha ha!
O_o
Hey Bernie,
thanks for the blog on this situation. First of all I overheard that some offices will not let the employees take any time during work to work on them. Uh, hello?? Second of all, as for our department (the department sinking fastest of them all--the tax department) even when we did have any time to fill it out, it took days because of all the "job descriptions" we needed to list on the form (think I'm lying??--my word list was 7 pages long and still not finished--which I did mention as such)......thankfully ours were handed in, it sucks that others are being so lax in theirs because if any dept wants, needs, a desk audit its ours---HELP!! The turnover here is preposterous, and human resources will not be able to start bringing in new hires for interviews until late March (we are in our busiest season by the way as well, and short staffed by 4 and counting) So, whether this Hay Group study is bull like we have all heard the rumors here, hey if its not then as Bernie says, we are only hurting ourselves, and each other. Any more information about this group study and its progression is greatly appreciated.
Anon 12:23,
1) Any supervisor who does not permit and encourage employees to finish these on county time should be reported immediately to the cabinet member who supervises him or her. There is no reason why one pwerson can't do his or her questionnaire while others are working, and so on.
2) I am very aware of the heavy burden and many tasks performed in your office.
3) The Hay group is very real and is not BS. The last time a pay study weas done, it resulted in significant raises for rank and file. It was supposed to be done under Reibman, but he ignored the Administrative Code. So you are way overdue.
4) The Hay group cannot begin until it gets those questionnaires. County employees have now cost themselves two months. If you know anyone who is not filling it out, encourage him or her to do so.
5) I will keep tabs.
Bernie O. - If you are being straight up and truly going to keep tabs, then you need to check on EVERYONE - some key admin people didn't hand theirs in! Who's pulling who's leg here? Is this a scam by administration to smoke screen their own BS and are you helping??? And yes, HR could have and should have done the job. The new controller needs to examine JS's head - how the hell do you save money with stupid crap like studying why windows leak and outsourcing a job that should be done internally. The appointed head hatchet too busy screwing up the blue book? Or does JS have a friend at windows r us, the Haygroup as well as Abe Atiyeh? Don’t think people aren’t talking about his campaign contributor and the “new prison site.” If you have as set, you won’t delete this!!!
Bernie,
I’m not sure who you obtained your information from, but I let me enlighten you: One department didn’t receive their salary study until they received a phone call from the HR Department, to ask why the study was not submitted. The office replied that they didn't know they were to complete a study nor did they receive the study. The office was unaware of this, since it was not emailed or posted. The forms were delivered by means of the inner office mail. The HR Department waited 2 months before contacting the office, who dropped the ball, it seems that HR and Administration droped the ball. The study was due Dec 28, and they didn’t call the office until approximately Feb 13. This department is short staffed, and they are always busy, I’m sure they it will be hard for them to rush to complete the survey.
Anomyous 6:44pm
I heard the same the person who didn’t complete it is on the high end of County Administration, and is making a hefty salary. Maybe that person is not concerned with an increase, or may not need an increase, since that person receives a robust salary already.
Let me ask, why is the delay two months? Why didn’t Administration tell the HR Department to submit what they had to the Hay Group? This would have been a start and none of the workers would have been penalized the two months,the ones that came in late would be the last studies to be reviewed. Why are all the workers penalized for something that they had no control over?
Again, it is the county way.
Anon 6:44 & 9:03 PM,
1) I’m not sure who you obtained your information from, but I let me enlighten you:
Did you read this blog? I explained where I got my information - it was during a county council committee meeting. Several members questioned the progress of the Hay study, and Connie Sutton-Falk from HR explained it could not be started because the questionnaires were not yet completed. She said the original due date wqas 12/28, but that several offices had not completed them and a new date of 2/28 had to be set.
2)some key admin people didn't hand theirs in!. Instead of making a vague anonymous claim, identify the culprits. Do you honestly think the Hay group would delay a pay study bc just a few questionnaires were missing? Don't be silly. It was widespread.
3) One department didn’t receive their salary study until they received a phone call from the HR Department, Name this department and I'll check it out. If this is true, HR takes the hit on that one. If it is just one department, that would not stop a pay study. It was certainly more widespread. And how could you not know? I don't work for the county, and I knew all about this in December from other employees.
4)how the hell do you save money with stupid crap like studying why windows leak and outsourcing a job that should be done internally. Over the past fifteen years, those windows have leaked and whatever the county tried internally had failed. The custodial staff is very good, but can only dop so much. Senior citizens are in that home and should not be exposed to the elements like that. Stoffa did the right thing by bringing in an expert, and council supported him. Even for an outside engineer, this has turned out to be a complicated job. But it's finally getting fixed.
5) Or does JS have a friend at windows r us, the Haygroup as well as Abe Atiyeh? Don’t think people aren’t talking about his campaign contributor and the “new prison site.” This is another one of those completely baseless allegations. Stoffa has never received a dime from Atiyeh. Stoffa, in fact, tried to avoid this pay to play developer when Atiyeh's donees began to lobby for a site in West Easton. The problem the admin has experienced is that no one wants a prison in their back yard. Unfortunately, the only place that is zoned right and available is one in Beth Tp where Atiyeh has an interest. And if the county does ink a deal w/ Atiyeh, I can guarantee you that Stoffa will never accept a nickel from him.
6) Anon 6:44, You talk about me having a set? I don't delete the attacks at Stoffa, even when they are slime from an anonymous source. If you had a set, you'd name names.
7) I will ask to meet with Connie Sutton-Falk to find out exactly what has happened.
BO, it is obvious more than one person is blogging and no No Co. employee is going to give their name or name a top official.
You have become the great Stoffa apologist and atttack anyone with a beef, as slime. You say everything wrong is STILL Reibman's fault. Facts are facts we are in year three of the STOFFA Admin and the windows still leak, HR screwed up the pay surveys, Human Services is bleeding money and a 'frost' is a 'freeze' meaning the policy is exactly the same as a few years ago and if JS knew who was blogging this he would take us out. You have a crush on the guy but many of us have known him or about him for years. The snow isn't all white.
The straight talking express he is not.
Anon 10:32, Bullshit. You can post anonymously all you want, but anonymopus attacks have little credibility. Someone anonymously tells me I won't delete a post if I have a pair. It is more than fair to point out that the anonymous attacker doesn't even have the courage to identify himself. And what really kills me is you claim "certain" people have not filled out reports but won't name them. How much courage does it take to do that? It just makes my job a little easier. I will have a nice talk w/ Connie SDitton-Falk tomorrow or early next weekand relay all these concerns and will post her answer once I can talk to her.
It seems to me that a lot of folks were misled into believing the questionnaire was BS and ended up screwing themselves. But if it is HR, I will post that, too.
Bernie O, you keep digging yourself deeper into their sights of being a suck up. Get back to what you set out to do and get the truth bud. You also need to relax and stop being so defensive, people have a right to their opinion - just like you. Blogging goes both ways babe! HR leaked - check the filing date of JC for starters then work around and down. Good luck with hatchet.
people have a right to their opinion - just like you.
Certainly, but people most definitely do not have the right to lie. Some of the remarks made about Stoffa last night connecting him to Atiyeh were completely false.
In addition, It is absurd to believe no one knew they had to fill out questionnaires when I heard it myself, from many employees, back in December. As you know, there are no secrets in NC.
I have already forwarded these comments to HR, and am scheduled to meet with three people from that office on Monday to go over these accusations. Your latest comment will be added.
NC has only ever had one true hatchet man, and that is Jim Hickey, who should be awarded an honorary hatchet sometime. I miss him.
Every single question will be answered. If you want to make sure, stop by the cafeteria at 12:30 PM.
And I judge people by my own interactions with them, not on the basis of what someone anonymously tells me and refuses to back up. You'll have to understand that I will attach more credibility to what someone tells me in person than to what to some anonymous statement.
I was a little surprised that Ms. Sutton-Falk responded to me so quickly. She has already told me they have the dates that each department received the questionnaires and the follow ups that ensued.
Instead of vague rumors, I'd like to get the facts out there. I believe county employees have been mislead into believing this pay study is bogus. As you probably know, the admin code requres these, and Reibman failed to conduct one, resulting in pay inequity. That, combined with wage freezes and layoffs, led to bad morale. Some people are beyond hope.
I think Stoffa is doing the right thing by the employees in getting this thing under way. It's sad that some employees havew been conned by sour grapes into believing this is bogus. They have only hurt themselves.
Did you know that the rank and file employees were told that if the Hay Group comes back with their findings and says that certain jobs need to be upgraded and have pay increases the county DOES NOT have to abide by their findings? So even after paying out all that money for a job study the county has the right to not upgrade salaries! We completed our paperwork and handed it in BEFORE the deadline. We took it very seriously.
Funny how you made the comment that any supervisor who doesn't let their employees fill out their paperwork should be reported. In one of the very offices you do your work out of, the supervisor did that very thing.
the county DOES NOT have to abide by their findings? Of cvourse it does not have to abide by it just like it was not required to abide by the previous study. But it will probably follow most recommendations, like it followed mosty of them last time. It's a serious undertaking that should be performed regularly.
the supervisor did that very thing. If so, that supervisor should be reported.
Connie Sutton-Falk is running the whole show irregardless there is a steering committee set up. A lengthy survey sent was to employees she choose, not the committee, no explanation they can do the difficult survey on work time. As usual, no cooperation from the H.R.Dept. She is totally disregarding the union committee.So I agree it is a joke and I am on the "steering committee".
Falk was another Republican hack hired by Stoffa. He seems to be indebted to the NoCo Republicans who helped get him nominated than pushed him past Nyce. I agree with the other employee, Falk is a disaster. She will be happy to sit and talk to you Bernie. All these guys know they can smile and say anything and you will believe it.
The county workers thought that it was bad when Reibman was in office, I guess that they were wrong. I hear people like you Bernie, saying good things about Stoffa, but you are on the outside looking in. The workers would know, they are the ones closest, with the inside contact, they see and know what goes on. Administration will give you the interview, but will it be the truth? People will only tell you what they want they want you to know.
Anon 10:05, 7:56 & 7:25,
1) Anyone who uses the word "irregardless" should be immediately taken out and shot. When someone uses that word, it's like taking your fingernails and scraping them along a blackboard. Sorry.
2) I am very aware of the complete animosity most employees have concerning Ms. Sutton-Falk. She was nominally a R, but changed her registration so that Dertinger, partisan that he is, would not go crazy. Too late!
3) Frankly, I wonder whether a lot of the animosity against Sutton-Falk comes from the fact that she is female.
4) Some very serious accusations have been made without naming names or departments, except for the tax department. I shall be certain to get answers to every question.
5) Prior to Reibman, there were virtually no unions. Remember who froze your wages? Remember who laid people off? Remember who refused to conduct the pay study required by the admin code?
Thanks to Reibman, you now a county workforce with 11 unions, and that leaves the HR department little time to do anything.
The relationship has become far too adversarial, and that is only going to get worse. And there are always going to be a few who won't like anything done for anyone.
Some serious charges have been made. I promised to get answers. HR agreed to meet me, an outsider, with just one day's notice.
I won't be looking at what they tell me through your eyes or the admin eyes. I'll be using my own. I thought Stoffa was seriously mistaken his first year when he failed to negotiate those contracts very promptly, and said so. But any employee who dismisses questionnaires or the Hay study as bogus is hurting not only himself, but fellow workers.
Just so we understand, where in the administrative code does it say you must conduct a private pay study, as opposed to county desk audits. Also Brackbill never did a pay study so can Stoffa blame him as well as Reibman?
I will say this for Reibman he gave us a great healthcare plan at a great price. Now we pay more for less.
The career service regulations, adopted by reference in the Admin Code, require the periodic pay study. The last county exec to do so was Seyfried. It is he who showed me the regulation. I will try to find the precise reference tomorrow. I believe it must be done every 5 years. Had Brackbill been elected to a second term, he would have been required to conduct one. Reibman failed to do so in either of his two terms.
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