State workers’ pay raise kicks in

June 27--SANTA FE -- Roughly 5,300 New Mexico state government workers will see a bump in their paychecks today, as pay raises that were approved in 2008 but not fully implemented at the time are finally set to take effect.

However, top-ranking officials in Gov. Susa-na Martinez's administration said Thursday that most raises -- about 75 percent of those issued -- will be between 13 cents and 50 cents per hour. That equates to an increase of between $10.40 to $40 per two-week pay period, before deductions.

"There's going to be some people who get significant bumps, but there's also going to be a lot of people who get pretty nominal raises," said Darryl Ackley, secretary of the Department of Information Technology.

"We want people to have realistic expectations of what they'll be getting," said Risk Management Director A.J. Forte.

In addition, a small number of employees could actually see a dip in their take-home pay, because their salary increases will bump them into a higher pay bracket that requires workers to pay more money toward health premiums.

Those eligible for the pay raises are union-covered workers who were already employed with the state in 2008, when the raises were negotiated in collective bargaining agreements with the administration of former Gov. Bill Richardson.

Affected employees were to have received raises ranging from about 3 percent to 5.5 percent starting in mid-2008. Instead, they received raises of 2.9 percent.

The pay raises are the first part in a two-part approach to workers' back pay, which was ordered by the state Supreme Court in May 2013. Lump-sum back payments, totaling the amount of extra pay eligible employees should have received from 2008 through this year, will be the second part. Those payments are expected to be sent out this summer.

Several state agencies have spent months calculating the pay raises for union-covered workers, which will cost the state an estimated $2.1 million in annual funding.

Although Martinez administration officials said Thursday that they are confident the pay raise calculations are accurate, union leaders have raised concerns that computer errors could lead to some workers being shorted.

"We think the methodology is sound, but if you put the wrong numbers in, you get the wrong numbers out," said Miles Conway, a spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union in New Mexico,

He said he believes most affected employees will receive the correct raise, but he added that AFSCME is trying to persuade the State Personnel Office to set up an appeal process for those who think they should have received larger increases.

The agency has set up a website for employees to check whether they are eligible for the raises -- it's at www.spo. state.nm.us -- and submit a form if they think they should have received a raise and did not get one.

In all, last year's Supreme Court ruling held that about 10,000 state workers were owed back pay. Since 2008, more than 4,000 of those employees have retired or left their jobs for other reasons, according to the Martinez administration.

In addition to the raises reflected in employee paychecks starting today, most state workers will get an additional 3 percent pay hike starting July 1, the start of the state's new fiscal year. Those raises were included in a $6.2 billion budget that lawmakers approved earlier this year.

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(c)2014 the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.)

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