Yuma County employees to see pay increase

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - The Yuma County Board of Supervisors approved a wage increase that will affect 1,000 employees.

“This is an excellent opportunity to define Yuma County as an employer of choice within our community," said Jessica Rodriguez, Chief Human Resources Officer.

A Chief Human Resources Officer was able to explain which employees will see the increase in pay.

“Primarily we use time and position so we were able to calculate the time that an employee has been in the current position that they’re in now and use that to determine how far within their pay range they should be placed,” said Rodriguez.

The increase runs anywhere from 2% to 6%.

It'll cost the county just over $5 million annually. 

A member of the board explained why the decision was unanimous.

“We feel that our employees are the most important element that we have, we’re a service organization so keeping them happy, keeping them at a level they can they don’t have to look at another place to go to work or do something else,” said Tony Reyes, a member on the Yuma County Board of Supervisors.

The county also shared some words of encouragement and appreciation for its employees.

“The board and our county administration cares about the people who work for the county so much so that we want to ensure that everybody is properly paid fairly paid equally paid for the positions that they’re working in,” said Rodriguez.

The wage increase went into effect this week.