Newton City Council’s Finance Committee approved the use of grant funding for a study into Newton’s public employment system at its meeting Monday.
Newton’s human resources department won a state grant to complete a classification study, a report to compare how public employees are paid relative to their responsibilities and other workers with similar jobs, according to Michelle Pizzi O’Brien, the director of human resources for the City of Newton.
The measure to disburse the $50,000 of funding to the Department of Human Resources passed 7–0
This study is aimed at making sure that each worker is paid fairly for his or her responsibilities in comparison to other workers employed by the city, O’Brien said.
“We do that in order to ensure equitable compensation for similar work,” O’Brien said.
Newton’s Department of Human Resources will also use the study to determine how the city’s pay compares to that of comparable local governments. O’Brien said this is useful in determining how to make Newton pay competitive and fair.
“We look at [other] communities to have equity amongst our competitors and also be ahead of the market where we can be, in order to recruit and retain talent,” O’Brien said.
In addition, greater clarity about pay will help both employees and the city accurately judge when a worker deserves a raise, according to O’Brien.
“It’s clear and it’s transparent,” O’Brien said. “It makes it easier to say, ‘Yes, absolutely, we’re seeing changes within your job description.’ And it also makes it easy to say no when it’s appropriate to say no.”
The state grant will pay for $50,000 of the study, which is estimated to cost between $80,000 and $100,000 when completed, O’Brien said.
The Department of Human Resources won’t start work with a consultant until at least January, and even after that, the project may be delayed if it turns out that it will require additional funding, according to O’Brien.
“We haven’t started this right now,” O’Brien said. “We’re just looking to accept the grant funds and get started on the process.”
O’Brien said it’s unclear when Newton last assessed its jobs with a classification study because city records on this topic are not exact, but she guessed that it was last done in the 1990s.
“We do use the grade Hay, and Hay Associates is a group that was really active in the HR circles in the 1990s, so I think maybe that’s when we did it last,” O’Brien said. “I would be wrong to say that’s certain.”
For context, the neighboring town of Needham finished its most recent study in 2021.
“It sounds like we’re due to upgrade and update our structure,” said Ward 1 Councilor Maria Scibelli Greenberg.
