After five years and more than 50 layoffs, employees at the Athens County Department of Job and Family Services are receiving their first pay raise since March 2008.
On Thursday, Athens County commissioners approved a contract for workers at the department — an agreement that will raise wages by 3 percent on April 1 and again at the beginning of 2014 and 2015.
After workers received their last pay raise in 2008, their workloads increased as more county residents qualified for aid and employees were laid off, said Jack Frech, executive director of the department.
County Commissioner Charlie Adkins said department employees deserved a wage increase to account for their added workload.
“They haven’t received a wage increase in quite some time,” Adkins said. “In most cases, the people who have clients have doubled and tripled their caseloads to take care of people.”
Though Gov. John Kasich’s proposed 2014-15 budget would curb funds that the department uses to provide aid for impoverished families, Frech said the new contract will allow for wage increases while simultaneously giving the department more flexibility to offer financial aid.
“(The contract) increased some of the co-payments and the amount of out-of-pocket expenses,” Frech said. “The result was that it reduced the net payment.”
Gregg Oakley, deputy director of the Athens County Department of Job and Family Services, said the department will save more money under the new contract, because employees agreed to pay a percentage of their yearly health insurance premiums.
Of the department’s 83 employees, 58 are bargaining members of the Communication Workers of America union, Oakley said, adding the union members bargained for the new contract.
Every employee, including non-union employees, will adhere to the new contract, from accounting clerks with pay rates of $15.52 an hour, to Frech, who earns $43.45 an hour, Oakley said.
Frech said the raises will help to adjust these wages in conjunction with cost-of-living adjustments.
“Our folks haven’t had a pay raise in five years,” Frech said. “Cost of living has gone up considerably, so we’re just trying to offer employees a little bit of help.”
sh335311@ohiou.edu
