Winter 2022 • Volume 40, Issue 2
THE
REPORTER
State Employees Association of North Carolina
SEANC secures pay raises, bonuses for employees and retirees Legislators and Gov. Roy Cooper agreed on a budget in November that included much-needed raises and bonuses for state employees and a supplement for retirees. SEANC members' hard work paid off in this budget. Just before it was released, the lead House budget writer Rep. Jason Saine told the media that he had been "bombarded" with calls and emails from state employees and retirees who wanted the budget passed as soon as possible. SEANC successfully lobbied to get raises for all state employees, including those university and community college employees who had not seen a pay increase in three years. We were also able to extend the $15 per hour minimum wage we won for most state employees in 2018 to community college and non-certified school personnel. We also fought for retirees to get the respect they deserved this session, and those efforts paid off with a supplement that is MUCH higher than any of the three original proposals. The budget also includes huge changes for correctional employees. It creates a pay plan for correctional officers and probation and parole officers — a move we have pushed for years — as well as the creation of a new cabinet-level agency for corrections. And we cannot overstate that returning funds used for COVID to the State Health Plan and fully funding it for another year is a huge win. We never want to see a situation where raises get eaten up by increases in health care costs, and this move prevents that. The raises are retroactive to July 1, 2021, and employees will be paid for the extra salary missed because of the delay in the budget. Most of the bonuses were paid in the December paychecks. Thank you for your membership in SEANC. As you can see, it matters.
A BIG WIN for SEANC! 2021 Legislative Victories » 5% pay increase over the biennium for most state employees (paid retroactively to July 1, 2021), including: • University and community college employees. • Non-certified public school employees. » Minimum wage increase for non-certified school employees to $13 per hour in 2021 and $15 per hour in 2022. » 5% one-time supplement over the biennium for retirees (2% in 2021 and 3% in 2022). » One time $1,000 bonus for all state employees and local education employees. » Additional $500 bonus for: • Employees earning less than $75,000. • All law enforcement officers. • Workers in the Department of Public Safety, Correction, and Juvenile Justice with job duties requiring frequent in-person contact. • Department of Health and Human Services workers in 24-hour residential or treatment facilities. » The creation of a separate cabinet-level agency for adult and community corrections. » An experience-based step pay plan for correctional officers that would result in an average raise of 7%. » An experience-based pay plan for probation and parole officers that would result in an average raise of 17%. » $5.2 million earmarked specifically to address wage compression issues for Department of Public Safety employees not included in the new step pay plans. » 16.38% employer funding for retirement and other related benefits in 2021 and 17.07% in 2022. » Reimbursement of COVID related expenses the State Health Plan incurred between March 2020 and March 2021. » No State Health Plan premium increase for the fourth consecutive year.