PITTSBURGH -- After
Team 4's investigation exposed big pay raises for some Allegheny County employees and a possible gender gap in some positions, Chief Executive Dan Onorato said the county will update its master plan for wage and position classifications.
"This is going to tell us, is there a problem in the county anywhere? And if there is, we're going to fix it," Onorato said.
The investigation by Team 4's Jim Parsons discovered that the county still had job titles like sewing room supervisor and switchboard operator in 1979, the last time a plan had been put together with position descriptions and wage scales for every job.
On Monday, Onorato said the time had come for an update, acknowledging that the county's charter -- which took effect nine years ago -- required an updated wage and position classification.
"Should it have been done by now? I wish it was, but it wasn't," Onorato said.
Onorato is proposing legislation to come up with a wage master plan and to do a study every five years to see whether women and minorities who work for the county earn less than their white male counterparts.
He said he'll try to get local foundations to help pay for the study that will be conducted in 2010.
"This legislation will ensure some accountability," said County Councilwoman Amanda Green.
Team 4's investigation in March reported that an analysis of the county payroll showed seven job positions where men made more than women on average, even though the women had been in the job longer.
Four of those jobs are in the courts, outside of Onorato's control.
But three positions -- clerks in the real estate department, administrative assistants in the department of human services and custodial workers -- are in the executive branch. In all three, men make more than the women on average, even though they have fewer years of service.
"If our county and region wants to compete to recruit and retain the best talent imaginable, we need to be able to say that we provide fair and equal wages to all. Right now, we can't say that," said Women and Girls Foundation executive director Heather Arnet.
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