Gillette, Wyo.-based Campbell County Health has changed its pay policies as it looks to improve equity in workers' compensation.
The changes include adjustments to weekend pay, differentials and the health system's overall compensation structure to align with industry standards, CCH spokesperson Norberto Orellana told Becker's.
"We have consolidated nearly two dozen pay policies into one to enhance our transparency with our employees, improve pay equity, and eliminate confusion and any unfair practices," Mr. Orellana said. "The prior policies were implemented over many years and were not designed with the many other pay policies in mind resulting in inconsistency and the potential for inequity."
He added that in realizing this, health system leaders assembled a compensation committee to review pay practices.
CCH will also no longer use a "steps and grades" compensation system, and it moved to a market-based system "to ensure employees are paid according to regional market value and reward high performance," according to Mr. Orellana.
The changes come after the organization spent about $1.3 million last year in extra wages outside of standard policy, including more than $500,000 to departments with the adjusted incentives and $500,000 to employees who work on an as-needed basis, CCH CEO Matt Shahan told hospital board trustees Jan. 25, according to the Gillette News Record. He added that 178 system employees — 18% of the workforce — are above the 90th percentile in their respective pay scales.
"While some of these things are painful … through these differentials and through policy and utilizing all the policies available, we have had individuals more than doubling their hourly wage by picking up the right shifts," Mr. Shahan said, according to the newspaper. "They're following policy, but these are policies we can't continue to operate under."
The changes take effect immediately.