Governor announces $102 million state employee pay plan

Average salaries would increase 9.8% for 14,539 state employees, or about two-thirds of cabinet agencies’ total workforce, under a $102 million state employee pay plan announced Tuesday (Nov. 12) by Gov. Sarah Sanders.

Average salaries across those 14,539 jobs would increase $4,578, from $53,784 to $58,362. The plan would cost $102 million per year if all the positions were filled. Nearly $60 million would come from state general revenues and the rest from salary savings that departments typically have, along with a state set-aside funds. No positions are being eliminated.

The raises are meant to bring state employee salaries up to private labor market rates and will target jobs that are facing employee shortages. It would go into effect in July 2025. It will be included in the governor’s budget, which she will present to state legislators later this month.

The state Office of Personnel Management reviewed job titles and labor market data for more than 22,000 employees. Salaries would not increase for the other third of those employees, whose salaries were deemed in line with labor market rates. The number of job titles would be reduced from 2,200 to about 800.

The plan also would expand the number of employee pay tables from four to six: law enforcement & safety, medical, information systems & technology, state general services, professionals, and executives. According to a press release from the governor’s office, the pay plan would offer state employees a clear career track. It would encourage them to train for additional skills and certifications by establishing skills-based career tracks rather than degree-based ones.

“This pay plan is exactly the type of transformational reform I promised when I ran for office,” Sanders said in the press release. “We took the existing pay plan down to its studs to rebuild a compensation system that rewards hard work and encourages Arkansans to apply to our most hard-to-fill positions. I look forward to working with the Legislature to pass this plan and deliver these long overdue reforms for our state employees.”

Under the plan, average Arkansas correctional officer salaries would increase 17.1%, from $50,461 to $59,100, while average entry-level salaries would increase by 35.3%, from $37,589 to $50,845. Entry level salaries for state police would increase by 19.8%, from $56,498 to $67,706, while average salaries would increase by 10.4%, from $73,318 to $80,930.

Entry-level nursing salaries would increase by 8.3%, from $51,032 to $54,661, while average salaries would increase by 9.6%, from $57,686 to $61,552. Average social services salaries would increase by 15.3%, from $48,733 to $55,364, while entry-level salaries would increase by 20.5%, from $44,172 to $52,442.

The new pay plan is part of the governor’s Arkansas Forward initiative, which is meant to improve state government efficiency and services with a focus on information technology, state procurement, real estate, personnel, organizational effectiveness and vehicle assets.

The pay plan is based on recommendations from a consultant, McKinsey & Company, with which the state signed a $5.5 million contract earlier this year to look for efficiencies and improvements. McKinsey recommended that employee salaries be brought to labor market rates to help with recruitment and retention.

Senate President Pro Tempore Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, expressed confidence that the pay plan would easily pass.

“I am very pleased with the pay plan,” he wrote in a text message. “I am happy for the hard working state employees who will be receiving deserved increases. The governor and her staff have worked with the Legislature on priorities, and it’s been a team effort. Because of the upfront team effort I do not see any issues getting the pay plan through the Legislature.”

Incoming Speaker of the House Brian Evans, R-Cabot, likewise expressed his expectation that the plan would pass.

“I am encouraged by the effort of the executive branch to address the inadequacies and imbalances of the compensation plans amongst our valued state employees,” he wrote in a text. “I appreciate the in-depth due diligence that has been put into this project using qualified market driven data to make Arkansas more competitive in workforce through aggressive recruitment and retention tools. I believe that my colleagues in the General Assembly will find favor in this as it champions putting Arkansas Forward.”

In the press release, Secretary of Transformation and Shared Services Leslie Fisken invited Arkansans to work for the state by applying at arcareers.arkansas.gov.