Sebelius proposes state employee salary increases
KU faculty, staff not part of system
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' proposed budget includes a salary increase for all state classified employees. However, KU faculty and staff are no longer part of the State Civil Service System and would not receive these benefits.
Tuesday, April 10th, 2007
All classified state employees would receive a 2 percent base-salary raise and an $860 bonus under a budget proposed to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. 1,533 employees being paid below market value would receive an additional 5 percent base-salary raise.
An annual longevity bonus would also increase from $40 to $50 per year employed. The longevity bonus is for those who have been employed for 10 years or longer.
The raise would not apply to faculty and staff at the University of Kansas. The University is no longer part of the State Civil Service System, so its employees are not considered classified.
The raise would not apply to faculty and staff at the University of Kansas. The University is no longer part of the State Civil Service System, so its employees are not considered classified.
Ola Faucher, director of human resources at the University, said that the University left the State Civil Service System to have greater control and flexibility in employee pay and assignment of job titles. A pay raise is being considered.
“We’re formulating those plans now,” Faucher said of the University raise. “Final approval is dependant on Kansas Board of Regents authorization.”
State Rep. Sharon Schwartz (R-Washington), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said that increasing employee pay to offer competitive jobs was a deciding factor in giving the raise.
“We train people and then they go into the private sector,” Schwartz said. “We need to retain those people, they’re good workers.”
Schwartz said that one of the problems with the state raise was that it was proportional to the salary, so those who made more got bigger raises.
“It just continues to widen the disparity,” Schwartz said. “But it’s really a positive move in the right direction.”
Gov. Sebelius had previously proposed a 4 percent raise for state employees.
Kansan staff writer Joe Hunt can be contacted at jhunt@kansan.com.
— Edited by Joe Caponio
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