Some Henrico educators confused by smaller-than-expected pay increases

Henrico educators celebrated when news broke earlier this spring that they’d be receiving significant pay increases, but last week some were feeling confused and frustrated because their first paychecks as part of the new pay structure showed only small raises instead of the much larger ones they had been expecting.

But, according to county and Henrico County Public Schools officials, the employees are receiving the money exactly as intended and will receive the full amounts they were promised on the schedule intended all along.

The confusion among school system employees seemed to stem from the fact that many mistakenly believed that they would retroactively be paid a full year’s worth of pay raises (reflecting a 2% standard raise and 4.9% market adjustment) between April 30 and the end of their current annual contracts this summer, when actually they will receive a pro-rated amount during that time period instead.

“[T]he money is correct, the calculations are correct, and we’ll continue to work directly with our employees to help understand the nuances of pay depending on 10-month, 11-month and 12-month contracts,” Henrico Schools spokesman Andy Jenks told the Citizen in an email Friday. “Our payroll team has been in touch since [Thursday] with individuals seeking further explanation, and at the moment, their inbox has been cleared.”

Many teachers and other educators expected their Friday paychecks to include raises of hundreds of dollars or more, but instead, most saw raises of less than $100 per pay period, and they weren’t sure why.

The situation became more confusing when (in an attempt to clarify the issue) the school system’s new chief financial officer, John Wack, emailed employees late Thursday afternoon. His initial email included an explanation of the raises they should expect to see – and a sample chart that largely reflected the higher amounts many educators thought they’d be getting – but a subsequent email Thursday night contained identical wording but a different chart showing much lower pay amounts.

The pay-raise plan for educators, part of a $54-million pay raise for all eligible county employees proposed in February by Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas and approved last month by the Henrico Board of Supervisors, called for as many as three separate increases (from among four possibilities) for most educators:

• a 2% raise effective April 30;
• either a 4.9% market adjustment for specifically targeted jobs, effective April 30, or a one-step (or 2.37%) increase in merit-based pay for eligible employees, effective in June;
• a longevity raise for eligible employees, which will take effect between October and December (2.37% for those with between 10-14.99 years of service; 4.8% for those with 15-19.99 years; 7.2% for those with 20-24.99 years; and 9.8% for those with 25 or more years).

Employees who receive a market adjustment cannot receive a merit-based one-step pay increase, but those who don’t receive the market adjustment will receive the one-step bump, according to the plan’s structure.

Pro-rated amounts cause confusion
Confusion among school employees was worsened by Wack’s initial email Thursday, which provided an example of the 6.9% raise an employee making $50,000 a year could expect during the course of a full fiscal year – $3,450 – but failed to make evident that employees wouldn’t see that entire amount until the new fiscal year.

Instead, employees making that theoretical salary will receive the pro-rated amount of $718.75 during their current annual contracts.

Complicating matters further is that educators work on 10-month, 11-month or 12-month contracts depending upon their positions. Most teachers are 10-month employees, while some building administrative officials are 11-month employees and Central Office staff members are 12-month employees.

Ten-month employees will receive their pro-rated raise during a longer period of time (nine paychecks, through August) than will 12-month employees (five paychecks, through June) because 10-month contracts run through August, while 12-month contracts run with the fiscal year (July 1 through June 30).

That means that a teacher making $50,000 annually will receive an extra $79.86 for each of the next nine paychecks, while a 12-month employee making the same amount will receive $143.75 for each of the next five paychecks.

But many teachers were banking on receiving pay bumps of at least $383.33 per paycheck through the end of their annual contracts this year (the amount Wack’s first email Thursday indicated a $50,000-per-year employee could expect during each of the next nine paychecks).

“The issue is that we were misled in February,” one employee wrote on a Facebook message group. “The math works perfectly once you know the pay increase was prorated. We are all shocked and angry because we were never told it would be prorated.”

Vithoulkas’s proposal never included plans for retroactive pay raises, and county government officials never suggested that such back-pay would included. But individual salary projection sheets made available to employees, one of which was provided to the Citizen, perhaps left room for some confusion.

Those sheets showed separate sections for the market adjustment, wage adjustment and longevity increases and included lines within each section that showed the salary “amount increase” resulting from each during a full contract year but didn't indicate that those amounts would be pro-rated during the current contract year.

Most-tenured educators will receive ‘unheard of’ raises by fall
On Monday, Vithoulkas told the Citizen that his proposal was meant to reward teachers and other school system employees who have served loyally for a decade or more, while also making jobs within the system more appealing to new employees.

“We want to ensure that the Henrico County schools are the best in the state,” he said. “When I said [in February] that this is [a] generational [pay raise], it was intended to be. I hope we continue to be that beacon for young teachers, but we also want to say thank you to teachers who have meant so much to so many.

The school system sent a four-page frequently asked questions document to all employees in February, and Wack attached it again to his emails Thursday. It indicated correctly that the market adjustment increase of 4.9% and pay raise of 2% would become effective April 30 and paid to 10-month employees during their remaining nine paychecks (beginning Friday and continuing into August), while 11-month employees would receive it for their next 7 paychecks between now and July, and 12-month employees would receive it as part of their next five paychecks, between now and June.

But it didn't indicate in specific terms that the current contract year's raises would be pro-rated.

Employees could view their exact pay raise amounts through the county’s online system, though a number reported that the system was not available last week.

“Whatever they did, they aren’t good at explaining it and it isn’t logical,” one employee wrote in a Facebook group. “I have tried several permutations to reach the numbers and can’t get there.”

The next pay increase that will be implemented is a 2.37% bump in June for school system employees who didn’t receive a market adjustment Friday. Then, beginning in October, the longevity increases will take effect.

By the time the latter increase takes effect, a teacher with 25 or more years of service in Henrico will be earning nearly 17% more annually than he or she was last month.

“That is unheard of,” Vithoulkas said. “In my tenure in local government. . . I’ve never heard of that anywhere.”