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Public Safety Letter
Public Safety Letter
Public Safety Letter
the system will resolve compression and inversion over time, and that solving the problem will create
more and larger issues. We contend the issue can and should be corrected. Our members brought this to
the attention of Human Resources two years ago and have since put effort into avoiding this condition
only to see their concerns and evidence dismissed.
This situation is simply, but significantly, attached to the perception of how our members
perceive they are valued by their employer. They have pursued, through great effort, to better
themselves and the organization through the added responsibilities that come with promotion. This
pursuit should not diminish their advance in salary relative to their members. However, these promoted
members have been adversely impacted through the execution of the Decompression and Pay for
Performance Plan.
Our public servants are committed to providing the highest level of service. We request that all
our members be considered fairly and be fully recognized for performance and tenure. We humbly
petition for a transparent and collaborative opportunity, with all stakeholders represented, to resolve
this situation.
The following numbers represent actual employees and are meant to serve as a few
examples of an across-the-board problem for every employee who was promoted prior to July 1,
2014. We acknowledge that compression and inversion may be an issue for other city
departments; however the issue is most pronounced and recognizable in public safety due to the
para-military rank structure.
Officer
Cpl
Sgt
total
years
service
21
21
21
years in
current
grade
21
8
5
Salary
effective
7/1/14
$ 47,962.21
$ 45,459.81
$ 47,907.39
Understand from the above example that the Sergeant held the rank of Corporal for five years
prior to being promoted to Sergeant. Imagine now if the Officer gets promoted and receives a
10% raise. They will be making over $52,000.00-substantially more than their peer/supervisor.
total years
service
Employee A
10
Employee B
9
Employee C
Captain
Lieutenant
total
years
service
24
24
years in
current
grade
6
0
Percentage
through current
pay grade
23%
29%
Percentage of
years in decompression
grade
received
4
6%
18
27%
This employee is making less than their subordinates who have 15 years in grade as a Lieutenant.
Even though, the Captain had more tenure and time in grade as Lieutenant prior to being
promoted.
It is mathematically impossible for any pay-for-performance raise to work out the
compression issues. The only way for pay-for-performance to work is for compression to be
addressed first in its totality. Higher performance raises will not fix the problem. Every
subsequent promotion will only make compression worse. These are three examples
representative of the disparity experienced by every individual who was promoted before July 1,
2014.