Page 61 - Personnel Policy and Procedures Manual

Pay programs are intended to be competitive at a minimum with the average pay of benchmark
organizations in the primary labor market. The primary labor market is currently defined as those counties
or city governments that are of comparable size in terms of revenue, number of full time employees, etc. in
the southern part of the U.S where Augusta, Georgia competes for talent acquisition. A list of such
comparable organizations in the labor market shall be maintained in Human Resources.

a. As deemed necessary, the Human Resources Director may recommend that other comparators
should be used where information from the primary labor market is considered insufficient to attract
and retain specific positions or classes.

b. Augusta, Georgia shall adopt a pay for performance policy. The pay for performance policy is
designed to recognize job performance and requires annual approval by Augusta, Georgia’s Board
of Commissioners. The decision to provide employees a performance increase is contingent upon
an overall performance appraisal rating and availability of funds.

c. Nothing in this compensation philosophy statement should be construed as a required benefit in the
event that Augusta, Georgia experiences a decline in revenue or a revenue growth lower than the
projected increase in expenses.

d. As part of Augusta, Georgia’s Compensation strategy, the salaries of representative benchmark
classes for all occupational groups shall be compared to the minimum and maximum salaries, with
a focus on the mid-point, of the benchmark jurisdictions.

e. The benchmark matches are also reviewed and validated annually by the participating jurisdictions.
This will allow the Compensation Administration team to capture on-going evolutionary changes
occurring within these occupations and provide a meaningful basis to make market rate
comparisons.

f. The remaining job classifications that were not selected as a benchmark job shall be “linked” to one
of the selected benchmark classes. This process will allow HR to affect both the benchmark class
and any classes “linked” to a benchmark class when survey results indicate a pay adjustment is
necessary.

g. In determining the appropriate linkages, input will be obtained from Department Directors within
the organization. The list of benchmark classes and linked classes shall be reviewed and updated as
new classes are established or abolished in order to maintain accurate and timely data.

h. When determining Augusta, Georgia’s market competitiveness, a market ratio (comp-a-ratio) shall
be utilized. Augusta, Georgia’s relationship to the market is shown as the market ratio that falls
below or rises above 100%. Job classes with a market ratio of less than 90% are considered to be
below the market. If an adjustment is authorized based upon the survey results, the grade for the
benchmark class(es) plus the linked class(es) would be adjusted to minimally place the class(es)
within the acceptable threshold of ninety to one hundred and ten percent (90-110%).

i. In all instances, for benchmark jobs, information for an assessment of pay competitiveness will be
ascertained through reliably current published compensation survey data.

All Rights Reserved – As approved by the Commission on 05-07-2019 61 | P a g e