‘A fourth of CUC employees do not meet educational requirements’

Some 87 personnel—or 25 percent—of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. workforce, including those in the management level, do not meet their positions’ educational requirement.

At the same time, 42 employees are found to be “overpaid” as their salary exceeds the maximum of their position’s salary range.

Yet all these employees continue to get their salaries despite the CUC’s implementation of a new compensation and reclassification policy at the utility corporation.

This was stressed yesterday by CUC board personnel committee members in response to concerns raised by Rep. Timothy Villagomez over the alleged salary reduction of some CUC employees due to the implementation of the new policy.

Villagomez, a former CUC executive director himself, reportedly said that CUC employees were “upset over the lack of notice on the implementation of the new salary schedule contained in the study that has resulted in a decrease in their [pay].”

Villagomez said CUC board members and the executive director should hold a series of meetings with the entire CUC workforce to explain the justification for the compensation study and the reason for implementing the salary schedule.

“He is misinformed,” said board personnel committee chair Velma Ann Palacios in an interview yesterday.

Palacios, members Joseph Torres and Rufina Miles noted that it was the board’s position from the very beginning that no salary reduction would be made, although some employees are receiving salaries beyond the maximum range.

Further, the committee members noted that the new policy originated from the CUC management, which had pushed for an even earlier date of implementation.

They cited that the board approved the new policy on Jan. 16, 2004. The management, they said, wanted to implement it after 30 days, but the board favored a longer time, which was April 4 “to allow ample time for consultation and preparation.”

“We were the ones who said, ‘Provide a longer period for the transition.’ You see, the management has been working on this study for over a year now [with a private consultant]. The management provided all comments in the study. And this gives us now the framework on how to go about our personnel’s compensation and classification, a matter that should have been fixed years ago. In fact, it was his [Villagomez] time when this personnel issue came out,” Torres said.

“The thing here is that employees are getting paid the same amount, although some of them do not qualify,” Miles said.

CUC board chairman Herman P. Sablan said Villagomez should have consulted with CUC first before issuing “incorrect statements.”

The board’s personnel committee said that CUC needs the plan to ensure a fair and just compensation and reclassification process.

The study was conducted for CUC by Fox Lawson. It provides a salary range for all positions at CUC and was designed after a survey of other utility agencies in the region and the mainland U.S.

The committee said the study has shown that many employees were highly compensated, while others were below the required compensation.

“Previously a person was hired and the compensation did not match the person’s qualifications. We all know that there’s a disparity between the salary ranges of management and the rank and file as pointed out by the Office of the Public Auditor early on. It’s not a perfect plan but it’s a start to provide fairness and consistency in the hiring practices of CUC,” the committee said.

Palacios said CUC’s compensation now “is not based on whom you know but whether or not you meet the qualifications that the position is requiring.”

Based on the study, 123 employees out of the 350 filled FTEs at CUC are below their position’s salary range. These employees received a salary increase effective April 4.

The study found that 90 employees are within their position’s salary range so their salary remained the same

The salaries of 137 employees, however, have been frozen because they are either compensated above their range or they do not meet the educational requirements for their positions.

CUC said that of the 137, 42 have met the requirements of the positions but they are overpaid; eight employees have met the educational requirements but do not meet the positions’ required experience; 87 do not meet the position’s educational requirement.

Of the 87 personnel, 27, including deputy director Bernard Villagomez and some other managers, need to obtain a bachelors’ degree; 30 require an associate degree; and 30 require a high school diploma.

CUC said 24 employees who do not meet the education requirement are at the management level; 26 are at the professional level (assistant managers, section supervisors, accountants, lab specialists); and 41 employees are at the support staff level.

Of the 87 employees who do not meet their positions’ educational requirements, 81 have met the required experience and six do not meet the required experience.

Palacios said the personnel committee is working with the management to recommend to the board on how to address the education issue. She said that one option being looked at is to give the employees a certain time to acquire the educational requirement while working at CUC.

In fact, she said that CUC is currently allowing those who do not have high school diplomas to take up classes, with CUC paying for their books.

“We are looking at ways to help the existing employees meet the qualifications. No one is being grandfathered from the position requirements. But for new employees, we expect the management to hire the most qualified individuals for the positions,” she said.