Arkansas Blog

When they make the same or less than those paying their salaries, then they will need a raise.

U.S. Department of Commerce ranks Arkansas 49th in personal income per capita at $28,444.

The Census bureau ranks Arkansas 51st (includes DC) in average state and local government annual pay at $34,455.

We need to raise both figures.

boost the overall range for classified state employees, which now starts at $13,243 for entry level employees at the lowest grade<<
Baxter Bulletin

I saw no mention of how much training expense is lost due to pathetically low pay rate. Seems many departments would need a constant training program for entry level personnel.

And the guy who mows our yard makes more than Ark entry level pay.

The average wage for a full time year-round employee in Arkansas is about $35,000 according to the Department of Workforce Services.

Of the 26 grades of pay for state workers 22 start below that level, 12 do not reach that level for even the most highly experience long-term workers (and few ever get beyond the middle levels of a pay grade).

I wonder why they never fill the positions that require a Masters degree but only pay 30K?

By all means, raise the pay of state employees. At last report, Arkansas (at $42,800) ranked 32nd among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., in the average salary paid to public school teachers. I'd like to see us get to at least 25th highest, since improved teacher pay should eventually result in higher credentialed, more experienced teachers and higher student achievement. It stands to reason that similar rewards in productivity can be reaped if we increase our investment in state employees.

"When they make the same or less than those paying their salaries, then they will need a raise."

Just curious; But why? Why do they need a raise? Have they earned it?

I think they need a raise. If your local hospital started paying nurses $8.00/hr, do you think that hospital would be staffed with the best and brightest nurses?

I have another view on this...I think a lot of people don't want to pay them more because working for the State is seen as some sort of welfare program.

Come July the bottom two grades will be below the Federal minimum wage. One year later the first 9 grades will be below the minimum wage.

Let's say you are a low level employee with a few years and you are making $7.21 an hour, the new hire you help train is making $6.37 an hour. Your experience makes you worth almost 15% more. Come July 2009 by law you go from $7.21 an hour to $7.25 which also happens to be what new hires are going to come at.

Looking at the state web site, the top pay for a registered nurse within the state system looks to be around $48,000 starting out. Salary wiz says that puts you in the bottom 10% of Arkansas nurses. So do you really want grandma being cared for by someone who can't take a job or won't take a job paying $10,000 more?

What the state payroll needs is a reduction in force (fewer on the payroll). Cut about 20% off the payroll in the first year & use half the savings to boost paylevels of those remaining. Do this for several years in a row until it gets manageable.

If it makes y'all feel any better, nobody (faculty, staff, administrators) at the state university where I work is getting a pay increase this year. Even though we already have the lowest pay of any four-year university in the state. Which has the lowest average pay for professors of all but four states (Montana, Idaho, South Dakota, and North Dakota--get that? Mississippi is ahead of us). But, hey, it doesn't matter, right? No problem attracting talent here...

Citizen Archaeopteryx, First allow me to say thanks for hanging in there! Would you mind telling us, why you and others stick with the low pay program?

i was astonished when I saw that UALR staff hold a food drive every Fall to assemble gift baskets to help other UALR staff make ends meet over the holidays.

Those employees of the state's institutions of Higher Ed are not part of the pay plan administered by the Depart of Finance and Administration. Most people when they hear "State Employee" think of the clerks in the Revenue Offices since they are the ones that deal with the public on a regular basis and that is what they base their perception of State Employees on. However there are state employees that are lawyers, cpa's, computer programmers, network specialists, nurses, etc and if you see the requirements to get some of these jobs and then look at the pay you will understand why the pay plan needs adjusting.

I don't mind telling you, Eureka. I love what I do. I make less money now than I did working retail, and I went through (mumblemumble) years of graduate school to get where I am. And, I could make more money in another state, but I love Arkansas. And, I know it sounds sappy, but I love having a job where I make a difference in kids' lives.

I love what I do, and because of that, I work for cheap. But I still have to buy food and gas.

My two cents for what it's not worth..
I heard money was spent on a survey to prove that State Employees need more money. Just how much money was spent?? I can only imagine. Hell the ex Gov Huckabee spent more dollars on one painting than what I make in a year. I know.. I know it was donated funds. Donated at what cost??
In my mind I ask why the money wasn't spent on raising the wages in the first place. It shouldn't be rocket science to realize this day and time people need more money. More money is needed to pay for gas, food, etc. Basic living expenses have increased by what percentage??
I ask myself everyday why I keep driving the 150 mile commute each day.
My uncle always told me that I should earn a degree and work for the state. State jobs are the best. The best in benefits (insurance, leave time, retirement plans) the best in atmosphere, the best in job security, the best place for advancement.
I know people who have worked for the state for more than 20yrs. They cannot afford to retire. They are the same grade they were 20yrs ago. Did they not seek advancement? Is it more comfortable to stay in the same position doing the same thing over and over? I also know people who have retired and have returned to work. Is retirement boring?? Are the retirement checks not meeting the monthly expenses??
I also remember reading about employees receiving enormous increase in salary along with job title simply because of their relationship to another state employee. (this one really griped me, fresh outta college with a degree I could not find a job)
Different folks, different reasons. Seems as though common sense is ignored many times.

We are overrun with too many government employees. Cut the jobs out and save the tax payers money.
Not only that we have to many politicians who are worthless and should not be drawing any pay. Like Jimmy Jeffress and others .

Who gets more paid time off than a State Employee?

Name ANY industry that gets half as much fringe as you guys.

Jobs with pensions are vanishing in the Real World.

Suck it up and go back to work.

I'm still walking sideways from my $3,000 fed+state tax bill April 15.

And my $2000 real estate tax.

STFU & GBTW!!

Our current state government is the epitome of a bloated bureaucracy. In a nutshell, weed out the deadbeats and start paying the folks who are working hard what they deserve. Do this and see how efficient and effective state government can be.

Our current state government is the epitome of a bloated bureaucracy. In a nutshell, weed out the deadbeats and start paying the folks who are working hard what they deserve. Do this and see how efficient and effective state government can be.

Even the bible teaches (I know this is going to offend some) If a man don't work, He (or she) don't eat.

Too many ticks will kill a dog.

I am a state employee and I have worked for the state for 16 years. Now that the minimum wage has gone up, people working for McDonald's make more than I do. Do state employees need a raise....YES! Every year the teacher strike and get a raise, when we get a raise, it's a whopping 2% which by the time the raise kicks in, our insurance premiums go up and we end up making less than before the raise. As far as the fringe benefits and paid holidays....the insurance is high and we don't get any more holidays than people who work in banks. These people on these blogs who think the state employees don't need a raise because we get holidays and fringe benefits needs to come to work one day and walk in our shoes before they start spouting the state employees have it so good. I sometimes wonder if I wouldn't be better off working for McDonald's. Maybe if they cut some of the pay of those getting the grade 99's they could afford to pay the employee's who do most of the work