Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 17, 1993 TAG: 9312170136
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Their paychecks included separate bonus checks that ranged up to $4,900.
"This is a one-time payment and is provided to you because of your dedicated service to the commonwealth and your commitment to excellence," Wilder wrote to the employees.
About 120 agency heads received the bonus checks amounting to 4.55 percent of their salary, said Secretary of Administration Ruby Martin.
Cabinet secretaries, deputy secretaries and the governor did not get the bonus because their $100,000-range salaries are already among the highest in the state work force, she said.
All 100,000 state employees got a 2 percent raise Dec. 1 and most also received incentive pay boosts of 4.5 percent or 6 percent, Martin said.
The governor decided to give agency heads a one-time bonus instead of incentive pay because their salaries already are high, she said. The bonuses ranged from $1,800 for agency heads earning $45,000 a year to $4,900 for one or two who make more than $100,000, she said. The average bonus was $2,600.
Martin said the bonus pay was in the works long before Allen sent letters to 450 state employees last week demanding their resignations when he takes office Jan. 15. Wilder has told state workers to ignore Allen's request.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hunter Andrews and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Ball wrote Wilder several weeks ago urging that agency heads get incentive pay along with other state workers, she said.
This is the first time state employees have received incentive pay or bonuses during the Wilder administration. For most of his four-year term, they got no raises because he was struggling to balance the budget.
by CNB