Message from: Cindy Corwin [email protected]
Good Morning
Following our meeting yesterday, I received this email from the Governor’s Office. The Chancellor and Vice Chancellor Burnett indicated yesterday that as revenues increase the Governor and the General Assembly will work toward addressing compensation and other issues important to state employees.
Supervisors, if your classified staff do not have access or check their email frequently, please print this and share it with them. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
May 30, 2012
Dear State Employees,
Well, we have finished the long legislative session, although in the end it did seem to fly by. We want to take a moment to update you on four important changes approved during the legislative session that affect the State workforce.
First, employees have been very concerned about the cost of health care. Working in concert with the Joint Budget Committee, we achieved two monumental achievements for the State: fully funding the State’s contribution to medical and dental insurance so it now matches prevailing market contributions; and achieving a reduction in the medical plan premiums you will pay in FY 2012-13. Regardless of which health insurance plan or tier you have selected, no employee will see an increase in his or her share of medical plan premiums in the coming fiscal year.
Second, we proposed the sunsetting of a 2.5 percent PERA swap. The financial responsibility for that 2.5 percent has now shifted back to the State and it will no longer be paid by employees. So for the first time in two years, you will see that 2.5 percent back in your net paycheck.
Third, we were pleased to see legislation approved this spring that reverses the payday shift for biweekly-paid employees, whose checks were delayed by about two weeks each June. Beginning in 2013, biweekly-paid employees will receive their final June paycheck in June as regularly scheduled and not July. While we made progress in helping those most severely impacted, we were not able to fund the additional $86 million necessary at this time to reverse the payday shift for monthly-paid employees. We will continue to work toward that goal in coming years.
Finally, you will begin to see in coming months the results of changes to the State’s 92-year-old personnel system – improvements we refer to as “the Talent Agenda.” To continue to attract top talent to the State workforce, we must modernize a personnel system that has not seen significant change since the advent of commercial radio and mass production of the Ford Model-T. The Talent Agenda focuses on increasing flexibility in hiring processes, changes to employee compensation and moving the workforce environment into the 21st century.
HB12-1321, which we will sign next week, creates a new merit pay system based upon employees’ performance and placement within the salary range. In addition to monies appropriated for merit pay by the General Assembly, reversions from specified line items at the close of each fiscal year will provide additional merit pay funding.
We will also phase out the disruptive practice known as “bumping,” except for any employee who is within five years of retirement. This practice is bad for both the organization and the employee, leading to non-optimal staffing assignments that are ineffective and often result in turnover. Instead, the Talent Agenda will allow for employees who are separated from service due to lack of work, lack of funds or reorganization to receive severance pay/post employment compensation or other benefits (health benefits, tuition or educational training vouchers, placement on a reemployment list or a hiring preference).
Some of these obsolete provisions related to personnel management are part of the Colorado Constitution and cannot be changed without a vote of the people. As a result, HCR 1001 was referred by the General Assembly to the November ballot.
The Talent Agenda will allow for additional flexibility in hiring some Senior Executive Service (SES) and other specified employees (not to exceed 1 percent of the classified personnel system), while grandfathering in those currently in these select positions so they retain their classified status. It also enables the State to more meaningfully acknowledge our country’s veterans for their commitment by expanding the use of “preference points” on their applications.
As you can see, there are lots of changes coming that will make the State workforce even stronger than it already is. We are consistently impressed with your continued efforts to help the people of Colorado with effective and efficient service.
Sincerely,
John
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