The Legislature’s joint Change in Employee Compensation Committee has convened in the Lincoln Auditorium; you can watch live here. This afternoon’s agenda includes a presentation on the Office of Performance Evaluations 2013 study of state employee compensation and turnover; a review of the 2013 Hay Group total compensation study; and some Q-and-A with state Controller Brandon Woolf. Then, likely following a break, the committee is scheduled to consider motions on state employee pay for next year, likely starting around 3:30.

Co-Chairman Sen. John Tippets, R-Montpelier, noted that at the panel’s last meeting, there was some suggestion that today’s decision might be delayed. But, he said, “We have decided we feel like we’ve got the information we need, and we’re ready to move forward on motions” at the end of today’s meeting.

Bryon Welch, principal performance evaluator for the Office of Performance Evaluations, told the panel, “Not surprisingly, we found a very strong link between compensation and turnover.” Turnover rates have increased the last couple of years, he told the lawmakers. The OPE report noted that state law requires the state’s total compensation system to be competitive to attract qualified employees. “A discrepancy exists between the legislative intent of state compensation policies and their actual implementation,” the report concluded.

Lawmakers have funded only one 2 percent raise for state employees in the past five years, and imposed one 5 percent cut.