“We have to start over”
Shoshone County Commissioners Jeff Zimmerman, Dave Dose, and Tracy Casady discuss their options for a wage study after it was announced that the study they had approved in June would not be completed.
JOSH McDONALD
WALLACE –– It’s back to square one for Shoshone County and their eagerly anticipated wage study.
Last week, Shoshone County Commissioner Tracy Casady was informed by third party administration firm AmeriBen that they wouldn’t not have Shoshone County’s wage study completed by their September 30 deadline and that they were doing away with the human resources consulting sector of their business.
“We have to start over,” Casady said.
While the setback may be disheartening for the county officials, they remained steadfast in acknowledging their desire to see the study completed.
AmeriBen was awarded the contract to complete the study in June of this year, beating out several companies based on cost and convenience.
“It was hard to find anyone to begin with that did not want you to purchase their software,” Casady said.
AmeriBen had submitted a $26,000 bid to complete the study, but told the commissioners that the price could go down by almost 50% if the county could complete some of the information gathering in-house. According to Casady, the county did receive other bids for the project, but those companies were asked that the county spend upwards of $2,000 per month on software that had to be downloaded onto the county’s computer system in addition to the cost of completing the study.
One silver lining to the situation is that the county had not paid AmeriBen for the completed services and, reportedly, will not be charged due to the job not being finished.
The reason behind the study is rooted in recent frustrations over the county’s various pay scales and a disparity among them. The desired study will consider base wages, each position’s scope of responsibility, employee skill levels, working conditions, benefits, and longevity.
The commissioners’ hope is that the study will help the county ensure they are in line with other like-sized counties throughout the state in terms of compensation for their employees.
The previous board had allowed departments to create their own pay scales, including amounts and frequencies for raises – but they had to be approved by the board.
The county roads department and the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office were two of the departments that completed this process – but with several departments unable to accomplish this, it led to further disparity in pay among the various departments.
The board will, once again, begin the process of gathering bids to complete their wage study.