September 23, 2021 — Submitted by PEF Civil Service Enforcement/Research Department
It is our pleasure to share the following updates regarding the Department of Civil Service’s ongoing Pay Equity Study, and Nurse Title Restructure. While the Nurse Title Restructure is an occupation-specific review, both initiatives are timely and effective efforts to address pay equity and salary grade allocation within the State Civil Service System.
Pay Equity Study
The Center for Women in Government and Civil Society (Center) is in the analysis phase of the survey results from the State portion of the Pay Equity Study. The Center is currently balancing its review of data from the State survey results while collecting surveys from NYC and local government entities for the local portion of the study. The results of the study will be released in December 2021, when the report is due to the Legislature.
The Pay Equity Study is a joint collaboration between the New York State Department of Civil Service Division of Classification & Compensation (Division) and the Center. The study is being carried out in response to 2019 pay equity legislation which included a provision that the Department of Civil Service conduct a pay equity study mandated by Chapter 403 of the Laws of 2018, as amended.
The study is designed to determine whether equivalent value of work is compensated at the same rate by the State, regardless of race or gender; and provide critical data for addressing any wage disparities in job titles dominated by women and racial minorities.
Nurse Title Restructure
The Nurse Title Restructure is a result of years of combined efforts by PEF nurses, PEF leadership, and agency representatives – all of whom have requested and recommended that the Department of Civil Service prioritize an occupational review for all State nursing titles.
The Interagency Nursing Committee, which consists of agency human resource representatives, nursing subject matter experts, and Division staff, has been charged with reviewing the nursing title structure in State service. The review has several aims, including:
- developing recommendations to reduce the overall number of nursing titles through consolidation;
- normalizing nomenclature;
- confirming that nursing titles are properly allocated; and
- assuring that minimum qualifications across nursing titles are coherent.
The Nurse Title Restructure will be informed, in part, by the results of the Pay Equity Study. The Division is working with the Center to review survey data and analyze the responses relevant to the Nurse Title Restructure.