APPENDIX D
FY2021 Salary Adjustment Narrative
Need identified: Challenges in hiring, low number of qualified applicants, frequent rejections of
job offers due to low salary.
Comparison communities: Began with a list of communities that the HR director used for a
salary study for Merit (unaffiliated) city employees and then added other communities in our
geographical area. The complete list of comparison communities:
Brookline, MA
Chelmsford, MA
Concord, NH
Derry, NH
Dover, NH
Haverhill, MA
Lowell, MA
Manchester, NH
Merrimack, NH
Portsmouth, NH
Salem, NH
Results of comparison: Salary data for the libraries in the communities on this list was gathered
from state reports for FY2019. There are some exceptions to highlight:
There was insufficient comparable library data for Grade 2 so salary data from Nashua
Community College and Nashua Police Department was included.
A city position (TECH SPEC II NET SUPPORT) was identified which closely matches
the position of IT Coordinator atthe library, anew grade was established for that single
position using the associated salary figure.
Establishing adjusted salary range: The proposed new hiring ranges were calculated by
establishing the median low and high salaries for the comparison communities and then
increasing those figures by 2% to adjust for the age of the salary data.
Placing staff into the newranges: Salary grades were renumbered to incorporate the new
grade for the IT coordinator and to eliminate the previous grade 2, which was no longer being
used. The grades referred to below reflect this renumbering. With the exception of the new
Grade 6, existing employees were placed into the new hiring range for each grade based on their
adjusted years of service (ADJ YOS) at their current grade. The new salary was calculated by
multiplying the minimum salary of the newrange by the percentage increase indicated on
the table below, compounded annually for the individuals adjusted years of service.
e Adjusted years of service (ADJ YOS): YOS were capped at 10 for those employees
with less than 30 total YOS, and at 20 for those employees with more than 30 YOS
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