PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Soon after Thanksgiving, Governor Chafee's director of administration, Richard A. Licht, will brief legislative leaders on the recommendations produced by a $195,000 study of Rhode Island's infamously convoluted structure for hiring, firing and compensating state employees.
The Segal Company was hired to review compensation, merit pay, career advancement opportunities, job classifications, salary ranges, step increases and educational incentives, along with the state's "civil-service examination/merit selection process.''
SEIU Local 580 President Philip Keefe is hopeful the effort will result in "a fair system of compensation... that will attract qualified folks into state service and [provide] some motivation for them to stay in state service."
"You know, we've been hit pretty hard over the last several years," he said, "between pay reduction days, increased contributions to our medical insurance, the decimation of our pension system, the elimination of our longevity [bonuses] ... I mean, what's the incentive now for state employees?"