Study looks at town salary and ways to improve competitiveness

The Select Board accepted the results of a new Compensation and Classification study that looked at how, and recommended ways to fix, Dartmouth’s salary standards for town employees. This excluded school employees but included seasonal employees. 

The study looked at 18 communities similar to Dartmouth to see how Dartmouth’s pay compared and ensure the town is competitive in the job market. Currently, the town’s starting pay is 12.8% below comparable towns for town employees and has a maximum rate gap of 12.1%. 

Based on the study, Town Administrator Haddad and Human Resources Director Sue Cunningham decided that salaries will be determined based on 14 job factors, which include complexity, occupational risks, supervision and experience. 

They also analyzed their current plans compared to the other towns; the town is competitive with paid time off, below average in longevity pay, “well below” average for health maintenance organizations, moderate for high deductible health plan and average for dental and vision insurance. 

The Select Board also approved a new group insurance association, which saves costs for the town while allowing them to provide better insurance coverage. 

The town will be keeping Blue Cross, Blue Shield insurance for town employees. However, they are going to be buying the insurance through the Southeastern Massachusetts Health Group, which will allow the town to pay more of their employee’s health insurance and offer better high deductible plans and more retiree benefits. 

The town will now be able to cover 75% of employee’s insurance, rather than 70%. It will also slightly lower the deductible people have to pay.

Haddad stated that the town unions all agreed to this change as of Monday, March 30.