MEA Testimony: Improving Workforce Retention in the Civil Service

On January 27, the New York City Council’s Committee on Civil Service and Labor held a hearing on 3 new legislative items: 

  • Int 671 (De La Rosa) – This bill would authorize the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) to waive the civil service examination fee for first time applicants and for high school students
  • Res 333 (Public Advocate Williams) – Resolution calling on the New York State Legislature to pass, and the New York State Governor to sign, S. 1828 /A. 3103, which would eliminate the subminimum wage for employees based on their disability or age.
  • Res 598 (De La Rosa) – Resolution calling on New York City health care institutions to contract with industrial laundry companies that respect workers’ legal rights and adhere to area standards for wages and benefits.

Good afternoon, Madame Chair Carmen De La Rosa, Committee Members and all attendees.

I am Darrell L. Sims, President of the New York City Managerial Employees Association (MEA) and Alice Wong, the Executive Director of the MEA. We would like to thank the Committee for providing us with the opportunity to testify on behalf of the over 15,600 New York City managerial and original jurisdiction municipal employees (managers), and MEA members.

After a 39-year career working at HPD, I retired on January 1, 2020. Elected as MEA President, I commenced my second three-year term on January 1, 2025. Based on my experience and from information expressed to me by the MEA Executive Board and our members, there are various reasons as to why it has become difficult and challenging to maintain the municipal workforce especially during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic. At the top of the list were pay raises and hybrid work options. The Administration approved pay raises in February of 2024 and a two-year hybrid work pilot for managers in October of 2023. Notwithstanding these proactive initiatives to address employee morale, retention and recruitment by the Administration, there remains a need for more incentives to retain the existing workforce and to attract applicants to public service employment.

In recognition of dedicated civil service and as an incentive for career managers to remain in public service, MEA strongly advocates for longevity pay compensation to be added to the base salaries of qualified managers. A longevity pay plan for managers would provide parity in compensation with non-managerial civil service employees. District Council 37 in conjunction with the Administration enacted longevity pay compensation for its members in the 1986 Collective Bargaining Agreement. We strongly support parity in the structure of employee longevity pay compensation for managers. The longevity pay should not be based on specific managerial civil service titles or managerial levels. It is proposed that longevity compensation be awarded to managers who have maintained at least a satisfactory rating on their performance evaluations and that these pay increases be made at specific milestones of their civil service careers.

Developing and implementing a longevity pay plan can assist the Administration in maintaining a skilled, knowledgeable, experienced, and committed managerial workforce. Longevity compensation can be a method to encourage continued employment, reduce hiring and training costs, promote career growth, and assist in maintaining favorable reputations for agencies by assuring consistency and stability in program operations and procedures. Additionally, the recognition of employee tenure through financial incentives can positively impact morale and job satisfaction.

Longevity pay is structured as a step increase in the salary scale that is added to the base pay upon reaching specific five-year intervals of service. The following is a conceptual synopsis of how eligible New York City managers would receive longevity pay compensation relative to the amount of time spent in a managerial title or titles:

  • At the end of five years of service in a civil service managerial title(s), each manager, shall receive fifteen hundred dollars ($1,500), based on three hundred dollars ($300) per year of service – added to the base salary.
  • At the end of ten years of service in a civil service managerial title(s), each manager, shall receive an additional fifteen hundred dollars ($1,500) longevity pay compensation – added to the base salary.
  • At the end of fifteen years of service in a civil service managerial title(s), each manager, shall receive an additional fifteen hundred dollars ($1,500) longevity pay compensation – added to the base salary.

Longevity pay compensation will continue to be received when additional milestones are met. It is recommended that longevity pay compensation become pensionable after it is earned for twelve months. For example, at the end of fifteen years of managerial service forty-five hundred dollars ($4,500) shall be added to a manager’s base salary and included in the calculation of pension benefits.

To assist in addressing the high number of job vacancies among municipal agencies will require both expeditious and effective recruitment as well as meaningful efforts to retain the existing municipal workforce.  Recruitment and retention must be addressed simultaneously to prevent a counterproductive cyclic trend of hirings and resignations.

Thank you for your time and attention to this very important matter.

Very truly yours,

Darrell L. Sims                                   Alice Wong
President                                          Executive Director

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