What are your 2003 Salary Increases?

Caroliso · November 2002

Anybody willing to share what percent raises you are giving in 2003, whether this is an increase, decrease or same as last year, and your state?

We gave 4.5% overall last year, and I'm in Mass. Still deliberating on next year.

Thanks in advance.

Paul in Cannon Beach · November 2002

All our employees receive a 2.5 percent salary increase annually plus another 2.5 % bonus if the organizational meets our budget goals.

Having said that, we are a non-profit religious organization so pay is not a main motivation for being here. In fact we avoid any type of motivation that is tied into financial compensation.

Paul

sonny · November 2002

We are a municipality in FL. Commission usually approves a "general increase" that equates to cost of living increase for our area. This year, since that was a negative number, they were kind enough to not ask for money back and there was an across the board 1.5%. In addition, employees were eligible for an additional 1.6 or 3.2% merit increase based on performanc evaluations.

lrenoll · November 2002

we are actually not getting an increase for the second year in a row. In PA. x:'(

hrbanker · November 2002

We had a 4% merit pool last year and are budgeting that again this year. Actual increase depends on the employee's performance and where they fall on the salary scale. (Ohio)

england · November 2002

We will be giving the same as last year for our hourly workforce, which is approximately 3.3% (Wisconsin).

SandiF · November 2002

We are fortuneate in that we are in the medical field and have not been affected by our poor economy. Washington State has the second highest unemployment rate in the country, last I heard. We give merit increases up to 5% and make salary adjustments based on demand.

San Francisco · November 2002

Depending upon performance up to 4 1/2%

Rockie · November 2002

SandiF: Since you are in the medical field, have you not been affected by the decrease in Medicare reimbursements?

SandiF · November 2002

>SandiF: Since you are in the medical field, have you not been affected
>by the decrease in Medicare reimbursements?

Rockie,

Yes, we've been affected by it, but because we are an out-patient diagnostic radiology practice, Medicare patients do not make up the majority of patients we see.

Sandi

Kai · November 2002

The City of Dothan, Alabama gave a 2% general wage increase, across the board. We are in the midst of a comprehensive organization, classification and compensation study and look for phase one implementation to begin in May-June, 2003.

Kai

Don D · November 2002

We are giving 15% raises again this year, but money is not a motivator here at all either. Just wanted to see if you were paying attention! Probably we will still shoot for our traditional 4% Bell Curve scenario with about 3% of the ees in the 1-2% range and another 3-5% of our workforce in the 4.5-5% range, the remainder hitting about 4%. Don't know how long we can continue to give bonuses, good raises, pay everybody's family coverage and give away turkeys.

Miriam George · November 2002

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 11-20-02 AT 02:49PM (CST)[/font][p]We gave an average of 4% raise - some got 2%, others got as much as 5% dependent on what quartile they were in of their pay range. Raises were not based on performance.

marcial · November 2002

We are scheduling 3% again this year. We are needing the economy to spring back. I don't know how long we can continue to give increases with medical benefits continuing to spiral out of control, and give turkeys away at Thanksgiving.

valentine · November 2002

We are a non-profit life care community and our raises depend upon performance review and go from 3% to the top of 4% at the discretion of the Department Director. We do not give away turkeys :-( However, our residents take up a collection and give the staff a nice bonus each Christmas.

Heather89 · November 2002

We are a non-profit hospital in Texas and give up to 4% merit increases for the past 2 years, based on performance.

NaeNae55 · November 2002

This year, as last year, we budgeted 3.5% overall with a few exceptions noted below. For budget purposes we called it a cost-of-living increase (for Kansas). When they were handed out they were called merit increases. Each department was allowed to determine how the department increase was to be divided. As far as I know, no one got less than their 3.5%. A few positions received extra (as much as 10-11%) as they were below market. I was one of them, but I can't tell you if it made me happy or not. It's great to get a nice raise, but not so great to know all year you've been making below market. :-?

Good luck!

mets · November 2002

We are a county government in NY- our largest union will receive 2% in '03;3% in '04;and 3% in '05.

Frenchie · November 2002

We budgeted 5% for 2002. Increases are based on merit, with 5% being the maximum they can earn. We are still working on 2003. I will post when it's decided. We're in Ohio.

Petard · November 2002

We had a 4% budget for 2002 and went into budget planning for 2003 with the same figure. However, since it looks as though we will be a non-profit organization for 2002 (not by design, you understand), we've been informed that the 2003 budget has been sliced to 2%. The debate now is whether to grant across-the-board increases or to allow higher-rated employees to receive increases while others are frozen.

Note to Christy Reeder: I come from the old school and am happy to help my professional counterparts do their jobs and exchange this kind of forward-looking information. Nevertheless, in light of Todd v. Exxon and the consent decree reached with Salt Lake City health-care providers a few years ago, are we treading on thin ice here? Please say that--since we represent multiple industries and since we reside in many locations--we can safely discuss our plans for the coming year. Since so many of the "club surveys" have become so conservative and tight-lipped, the ability to exchange this information in the Employers' Forum would be a value-added feature of membership!

awilliams · November 2002

Thanks for your concern, Petard, but I beleive that since the employers on this forum represent such varied industries and locations, that we are fine with sharing general salary information. There is a great article in the Kansas Employment Law Letter on this topic, here is an excerpt:

It's important to note that most information-exchange arrangements between competitors don't violate antitrust laws. Communication between competitors doesn't raise antitrust implications unless the communication bespeaks collusion.

There are a number of factors courts weigh in determining whether collusion exists. First, they consider the composition of the relevant market. If the market is highly concentrated (i.e., dominated by a few large companies), courts are more likely to suspect collusive activity. Second, courts consider the nature of the product. If the products are fungible (i.e., interchangeable), they are more susceptible to market manipulation. In this case, (Todd v. Exxon) the court noted that the oil companies, in effect, increased the fungibility of their human capital market through sophisticated categorizations of the information they compiled. Third, courts consider the nature of the information exchanged. The more current and detailed the compilation, the more suspicious courts become.

Finally, courts consider the channels of dissemination. In this case, the court seemed particularly concerned about the companies' monopolistic control over the information it compiled. Even considering all of the factors that tended to show collusion, the court said the companies could have mitigated the anticompetitive effects of the information exchange by making the information available to employees.

The Second Circuit in Todd v. Exxon sent a clear message. Companies may engage in intraindustry salary surveys and may use those surveys to assist them in determining employee compensation. Companies in highly concentrated industries, however, should exercise caution. Courts are increasingly suspicious of companies that band together to create secret dossiers on industry salaries.

I hope this helps!

Anne Williams
Attorney Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers, LLC

Charlie Brown · November 2002

I am a public sector employer in Arkansas. Because for many years in Arkansas municipal governments have lagged the private sector. In an effort to be more competitive and help reduce turnover we increased salaries in 2002 a max of 7.9%. For the coming year we want to do the same. But, being a public sector employer we are limited by funds. My compensation committee this year has made a recommendation to go 8% depending on the City's ability to pay.

Crout · November 2002

Union and non-union alike got 3% across the board. It paid for the increase in my healthcare co-pay.

What are your 2003 Salary Increases?

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