In This Issue |
| Statewide Pay Action Summary Report |
Policy Guide |
| Update on School Assistance and Volunteer Service Leave |
Employment & Careers |
| RMS Update - New Online Job Posting and Employment Site Under Development |
| The Benefits of Membership in Professional Organizations |
Compensation Perspectives |
| 2005 Salary Survey Summary |
| Northern Virginia Salaries |
COMPENSATION PERSPECTIVES
In 2000, the report of the Commission on Reform of the Classified Compensation Plan recommended that DHRM should provide the General Assembly and the Governor with annual data indicating projected market movement of the entire pay structure.
Prior to 2000, an annual survey was conducted; the 1999 survey found that, on average, salaries paid by the Commonwealth were 11.41% below comparable salaries paid by private firms in Virginia. Total compensation, including salaries and benefits, was found to be 3.84% below the total compensation of private firms in the state. The anticipated deviations on July 1, 2000 were 9.88% for salaries and 2.52% for total compensation.
Detailed surveys have not been conducted since 1999. Instead, indicators of market movement, as reflected in performance increase budgets, have been gathered. In theory, an employer can maintain its competitive position by increasing its salaries the same percentage as other employers are increasing theirs. Many employers use this method to maintain their competitiveness.
DHRM gathered projections of average 2005-2006 salary increases from national compensation consulting firms, because they provide consistent, reliable results by surveying large numbers of employers each year. This year, findings of IOMA, Mercer Human Resource Consulting, WorldatWork® , Compensation Resources, and Hewitt and Associates were used to measure salary increase trends. Other sources were used to confirm these surveys, including the BLS Employment Cost Index (ECI), the 2005 Southeastern States Salary Conference survey and the 2005 Richmond Compensation Association (RCA) survey of Richmond area firms.
The national compensation-consulting firms anticipate average performance increase budgets of 3.60% for calendar year 2006. The average for the additional sources is 3.10%, while the combined average for all sources is 3.41%.
Since November 2000, including the 4.4% average salary increase effective November 25, 2005, classified state employees' salaries have increased by approximately 12.43%, while employers throughout the nation have funded average performance increases of 19.83% over the same period. By the end of calendar year 2006, cumulative salary increases for other employers since November 2000, are expected to total 23.92%. Unless an increase is funded for state employees in calendar year 2006, other employers' salaries will have increased by 10.22% more than Virginia classified employees' salaries between November 2000 and December 2006.DHRM also compared the average salaries of Virginia state employees with salaries paid by other employers for comparable jobs. Watson Wyatt data for the Southeastern United States region was compared with average Virginia state salaries as of September 1, 2005. Twenty-five occupations were selected for the comparison based on the expectation of finding data for them in the Watson Wyatt reports and on their being representative of the array of state occupations. The comparison with Watson Wyatt data for the 25 occupations indicated a current average salary deviation of 17.36%, a somewhat smaller deviation than indicated by the market movement estimates (22.7%).
Northern Virginia Salaries
2005 Salary Survey Report
Washington-Baltimore Region including Northern Virginia
The Human Resource Association of the National Capital Area publishes a salary planning survey for the Washington-Baltimore region, which includes northern Virginia. The 2005 survey's 191 participants projected average salary increases of 4.15% in calendar year 2006. This figure is .74% higher than the 3.41% overall estimate indicated by the DHRM survey, and .25% above the 3.9% average increase anticipated by Richmond area firms in a comparable survey conducted by the Richmond Compensation Association.
