When will California state employees see pay raises? Here’s why salary changes take so long
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Plenty of state workers are asking when they’ll see raises that unions won earlier this summer through contract bargaining.
The short answer? Soon, but not immediately.
When will I get my raise?
Workers should see larger paychecks starting in January 2024.
Most workers’ pay raises will be processed “before the end of the calendar year,” wrote spokesperson Camille Travis in an email.
What about retroactive pay?
The state will issue checks that include back pay for July through December “on a flow basis” throughout December, according to CalHR spokesperson Camille Travis.
She wouldn’t say whether retroactive checks would arrive before the Christmas holiday – a question on many workers’ minds. Instead, Travis deferred all questions about timing of payments and delays to the State Controller’s Office.
Controller spokesperson Monique Langer did not immediately respond to questions about when state workers would receive their retroactive pay checks.
Why are raises taking so long to process?
California’s payroll system, which hasn’t seen an update in decades, isn’t equipped for quick and nimble adjustments. Instead, implementing new raises requires precise coordination between CalHR, the State Controller’s Office and departmental HR teams.
Some changes, such as general salary increases for entire bargaining units or special salary adjustments for whole job classes, can be programmed en masse by the controller’s office. Others must be manually keyed by HR personnel.
The State Controller’s Office typically issues “personnel letters” to communicate larger changes, and CalHR issues its own instructions to departments through “pay letters.”
As of Tuesday, only four of the 14 bargaining units that penned new contracts this year have had their raises processed by the controller’s office. This includes the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, whose contract cost an estimated $1 billion and gives them an enhanced retirement benefit. The controller’s “personnel letter” indicates that CCPOA members were issued back pay on Nov. 29.
The controller’s office has yet to publish a letter with instructions for how to implement raises for the bargaining units represented by the largest union in state civil service, SEIU Local 1000, nor the other law enforcement union, the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association.
Reddit users cry foul, want interest on top of retroactive pay
The delay of game has prompted some state employees to turn to the trusty subreddit r/CAStateWorkers to voice frustrations and compare notes.
“I’m just putting it out there that with the delays in raises and the holiday season, my productivity is very low. It normally is much higher,” wrote one user. “I make no apologies.”
Another user posted, “I really thought they will have it out before Christmas for some kind of political movement.”
Yet another suggested that the state should pay interest on the back pay since workers wouldn’t be able to stash it in an interest-accruing savings account or invest it.
“Of course, that will never happen,” the Redditor acknowledged. “Just another gripe/expression of frustration over CalHR and the way the state ‘values’ their employees.”
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