July 18, 2025 — The state’s outdated compensation plan and its lack of competitiveness with the private sector continue to lead to severe recruitment and retention issues in New York. PEF members see the impact every day with chronic understaffing, increased burnout, and a steady stream of the workforce leaving public service.
In response, PEF repeatedly called for an overhaul of the Civil Service compensation structure, and in March 2025, New York contracted with Deloitte to initiate a total compensation analysis.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s FY 2024 budget included $2.2 million to analyze and improve the equity of the current pay structure. The analysis will assess 976 titles, which the state Department of Civil Service (DCS) believes are representative of the nearly 3,000 titles in the entire Civil Service workforce.
Deloitte was tasked with reviewing base salaries, various salary add-ons and leave, health and retirement benefits; comparing salary surveys, industries, employer size, duties, required education and work experience, working conditions and geography with the private sector; in addition to looking at tangible and intangible benefits, such as telework, paid family leave, and advancement opportunities; and analyzing turnover rates.
A survey was sent to about 40,000 randomly selected State employees last month, with a due date of June 27. Deloitte expects to complete its study sometime in October, but the state is not bound to accept or implement the recommendations.
“The goal of the survey was to collect opinions from civil servants about the state’s total compensation package, e.g., base pay, health insurance, retirement, and more,” said PEF Director of Civil Service Enforcement/Research Veronica Foley. “People were asked to rank their benefits from most important to least important. It will be interesting to see the results of the study and ultimately what Deloitte proposes to fix what we believe to be the problem, which is low salaries when compared to the private sector.”
PEF is closely monitoring the process, including reviewing the Request for Proposals that was sent out, and submitting a Freedom of Information Law request for the final contract between the state and Deloitte to assure the RFP and the contract are in line with the goals of the study.
The study promises to recommend modifications to the current Civil Service structure, which could reduce the state’s reliance on salary differentials to meet market pressures and ensure pay equity for positions with similar job duties.
“We are optimistic that this study will validate what we have been saying all along – the state’s compensation package is not competitive with the private sector and that is exacerbating recruitment and retention issues,” said President Wayne Spence. “When we talk to our members, salaries are often what concerns people most.”
President Spence said union activism got the ball rolling on the study and the results could be useful in planning out how best to organize and meet the needs of PEF members.
DCS has temporarily paused review of previously submitted reallocation and salary differential request while the study is ongoing, but PEF’s position is that if you are interested in pursuing either, continue to organize and research the basis for a request.
“We know that the state is not obligated to implement any or the recommendations that Deloitte makes in its final deliverables, and we should be prepared to continue our activism,” said Foley.
The union is not able to negotiate salary grades, but PEF created a toolkit to assist members, available here: How to Advocate for Increased Pay Using Civil Service Law. Interested members can also watch a recent webinar that was held about the toolkit, here.