Merit Raises Mark a Change for Wisconsin Public Employees

December 17, 2013

[Green Bay, Wisc…] Since Maria Lasecki’s start at the Brown County Child Support Agency in northeast Wisconsin 23 years ago, people had only received raises based on seniority, but that trend is starting to change. Merit pay–wage increases based on performance–may be commonplace in the private sector, but mark a new era for Wisconsin’s public sector.

This new shift towards merit pay in the public sector is due mostly in part to collective bargaining restrictions put in place by Act 10. The number of state workers that have received these pay hikes has doubled from 2012 (the first year it was offered) to 2013 alone, with this year’s percentage totaling to around 14%, according to the Gannet Wisconsin Media Investigative Team.

Lasecki spoke in support of merit raises saying, “We need to reward the people who help take us from ‘good’ to ‘great.'” Brown County and the city of Appleton will be offering these options to workers who aren’t part of bargaining units. Many workers will receive raises automatically, but merit pay can be offered in addition to that rate.

Read more about this story from Post Crescent here.