Several weeks ago an article was published in The Arizona Republic which referenced state employees getting less pay even after the 1.75 percent pay raise provided by the Legislature last session. The 1.75 percent was supposed to offset the cost increase in contributions to the Arizona State Retirement System.

In addition, the article touched on an employee being placed in covered positions versus uncovered positions and how unfair uncovered positions are to state employees. However, to understand the arguments on both sides to this debate everyone needs to understand the differences between the two.

Covered Employee:

A covered employee is covered by the civil service rules.

Pay raises can only be determined by the Legislature and not by the individual agency heads.

Any increase in pay can only be given if you are promoted, if your position is reclassified, or if you get a merit increase provided the Legislature first authorizes it.

Uncovered/Exempt Employee:

Contractual employee, another name for an at-will employee, serves at the “pleasure” of the director or agency head.

Pay can be increased or decreased at the discretion of the agency director with approval from the Arizona Department of Administration (ADOA).

The employee gives up any and all merit system protection.

Employees caught in the dilemma of staying covered (for job protection) or going uncovered (for pay) causes a lot of dissention and anger amongst employees.

I believe the intent of the Legislative was to keep covered employees covered under the merit system rules. I also believe the intent of the Legislature and the ADOA was to only uncover positions such as directors, deputy directors, upper divisional management (supervisor II and above) and those positions that have a direct “confidential relationship” with the agency head. (A.R.S. 41-771 & A.R.S. 41-772, exemption standards.)

It is my understanding that a department or agency administrator cannot offer additional salary to covered positions nor can he or she offer a promotion for additional salary within the same classification without ADOA or legislative approval.

The “act” of reclassification or making a covered position “uncovered” is an administrative function, not an “act” initiated by a department head for the purposes of promotion or salary increase.

Placing covered employees into uncovered (exempt) positions within a state agency is considered a “transfer.” Under Department of Administration rules, an employee who transfers from one position to another within the same class is not subject to a pay increase. However, this is regularly being done within state agencies and is causing serious morale problems.

As an example, some select employees within state agencies are given the opportunity to get an increase in pay however, the only way the agency would allow the increase in pay was if the employee gave up all rights to be covered by civil service, in other words serve at the pleasure of the agency heads.

Several select employees were allowed to go into this “uncovered” position with substantial pay increases. Soon after some of these employees were given pay increases and now in “uncovered” positions they were threatened by supervisors with possible loss of job for not totally complying with the supervisor’s orders.

In other cases some employees are given promotions and the only way to get a pay increase, even with a promotion, was to go into an uncovered position and again serve at the pleasure of the agency heads. Otherwise you could be promoted and choose to stay in a covered position with no additional pay.

Some long tenure covered employees have asked to go into an uncovered position when it was first offered to others so they could get a much needed raise and were told by agency heads they could not do so. Thus, those employees, some with less than three years on the job, that were allowed to go “uncovered,” are making close to or more than employees that have been with the agency for more than 10 years.

This carrot on a stick method of getting employees to give up their merit board protections is perpetuating the low morale currently found among state employees. The idea of getting a pay raise in the future is very enticing to some, but I worry that our employees are working on the old English “never, never” system. All that is bred with this current practice is animosity between intra-agency employees.

Danny R. Thomas

Arizona Liquor Police Officer’s Association