Oneida County shall maintain a current Compensation Plan for all nonrepresented employees. The objective of the County is to provide an appropriate salary structure in order to facilitate the recruitment and the retention of competent employees, and to provide appropriate pay incentives for heightened employee productivity.
(1) 
The Executive Committee or its designee shall be responsible for the development and administration of the Compensation Plan, through periodic reviews and comparative studies of pertinent factors affecting the levels of pay. The Executive Committee shall recommend necessary amendments to the County Board, when necessary, which shall become effective in accordance with the action of the County Board.
[Amended 2-20-2024 by Res. No. 32-2024, effective 4-16-2024]
(2) 
Such Compensation Plan is directly linked to, and shall be based upon, the principles of uniformity of pay for each classification; relative difficulty, complexity and responsibility of work; recruiting experience; prevailing rates of pay for similar jobs in public and private sector service; changes in cost-of-living indices; and financial policies of the County.
(3) 
Each position shall be analyzed by the Human Resources Director and the agent or designee evaluating position requests and changes to determine job value. Jobs of similar values shall be grouped in categories called grades. Salary grades will be established by the County Board for each position grade in accordance with applicable criteria. The Executive Committee will review the salary grades annually and recommend to the County Board any changes in the salary grades that appear necessary after consideration of the appropriate criteria. As applicable law requires, the Executive Committee may make adjustments in the hours of work, accrual and use of PTO and holiday time, and other fringe benefits and non-wage items applicable to nonrepresented employees.
[Amended 2-20-2024 by Res. No. 32-2024, effective 4-16-2024]
Employees covered under a bargaining contract shall move through the negotiated wage schedule pursuant to contract provisions. Nonrepresented employees shall move through the appropriate wage schedule as set forth by the applicable Compensation Plan.
[Amended 2-20-2024 by Res. No. 32-2024, effective 4-16-2024]
Occasionally, there may be a need to place an employee in a position of higher responsibility and pay for a temporary period of time. Where other provisions are not already in place, the practice for compensating these individuals will be to place them at the minimum of the position they are temporarily filling. When such placement results in a reduction or minimal increase in compensation, the Human Resources Director shall recommend the step within the Oneida County Classification and Compensation Plan that provides a minimum of 10% gain in compensation. Such compensation shall be referred to as out-of-class pay. A request for out-of-class pay may be requested by an employee but requires the approval of the department head or oversight committee. Such request should be presented to the Human Resources Director, who shall have authority to authorize temporary out-of-class pay for a period up to three months in duration. Out-of-class pay for periods longer than three months shall require Executive Committee approval. Should there be a disagreement between the requester and the Human Resources Director, the matter shall be decided by the Executive Committee.
[Amended 2-20-2024 by Res. No. 32-2024, effective 4-16-2024]
The Executive Committee shall conduct an annual wage and salary review and make specific recommendations for changes in pay rates, fringe benefits and other conditions of employment to the County Board. Any across-the-board adjustments to the Compensation Plan shall be provided to all employees, including those serving an introductory period, regardless of their performance level. All increase approvals shall, to the extent feasible, be on a timely basis in conjunction with the annual budget cycle.