Beaufort County to roll out merit‑pay program tied to anniversary‑date evaluations July 1

Beaufort County staff told the council at its March 10 workshop that a merit‑pay program tied to employee anniversary‑date evaluations will be implemented July 1, following committee and council approvals.

HR said the county already implemented a step pay scale to place employees on consistent steps and is now preparing policies and system configurations to award merit increases based on annual, anniversary‑date performance evaluations. Eligibility rules explained by HR: employees must have completed probation, have no disciplinary action or performance improvement plan in the previous 12 months, and have a current performance evaluation on file.

The merit system will use a standardized rating scale with "meeting standards" tied to roughly a one‑step (~2%) increase and "exceeding standards" tied to roughly a two‑step (~4%) increase or a lump‑sum for employees already at the top of their pay grade. HR said supervisors will undergo training, recommendations will be reviewed at multiple managerial levels and HR will perform equity checks to look for patterns of disparity in merit awards.

"Employees must have successfully completed their probationary period, not have received a disciplinary action or performance improvement plan within the preceding 12 months, and they have a current performance evaluation on file to be eligible for the annual merit increase," HR said during the presentation.

Staff will present a formal policy to the finance committee in April and to council in May to be effective July 1. Council members asked for quarterly updates on the program’s impact and HR offered to provide regular reporting.

Ending: the council supported the anniversary‑date approach to stagger evaluations and asked HR for ongoing updates on program impacts and equity checks.