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Project Overview

Compensation & Pay Equity Project Overview

Harris County has launched a comprehensive Compensation and Pay Equity Project aimed at ensuring fairness, transparency, and market competitiveness in job classifications and employee compensation across all departments. This project is essential to aligning the county's workforce practices with modern standards, ensuring equitable pay, and enhancing our ability to attract, retain, and motivate top talent.

The project is being carried out in partnership with Gallagher Benefit, Inc., a firm with expertise in compensation analysis and labor market benchmarking. The project will focus on job classifications, compensation structures, and pay equity across all levels of county employment.

Key Objectives

Job Classification Standardization

  • Standardizing job classifications across departments to ensure roles are clearly defined, consistent, and aligned with county needs.
  • Creating a streamlined and transparent process for managing recruitment, performance evaluations, and promotions.

Pay Equity Review

  • Assessing and addressing any pay disparities across departments, ensuring fair compensation for all employees.
  • Aligning with state and federal regulations to prevent future inequities.

Market Competitiveness

  • Benchmarking county compensation against relevant labor markets to remain competitive in attracting and retaining talent.
  • Analyzing pay scales in relation to regional and national markets, as well as peer organizations.

Project Approach

Gallagher Benefit, Inc.'s approach includes data collection, job analysis, and statistical analysis of compensation trends. Their methodology adheres to best practices and guidelines from the U.S. Department of Labor and the Federal Trade Commission, ensuring a robust and compliant evaluation.

The process will involve:

  • Collecting and analyzing data

    from published surveys, custom surveys, and external labor market sources.

  • Benchmarking jobs

    representative of the county's workforce to assess market competitiveness and compensation fairness.

  • Conducting a pay equity assessment

    to identify any disparities based on protected class status, with recommendations for remedies and policies to ensure ongoing fairness.
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