Over half of JEA employees will see a wage increase as early as Oct. 1 due to freshly ratified union contracts, while as much as $9.7 million in annual bonuses will be distributed to up to 2,000 employees.
The utility will also pay 60% of a dependent’s health coverage where it previously paid 50%. Two union representatives will additionally attend quarterly benefits meetings.
“These are large increases, but unfortunately warranted given what’s going on in the economy and a shortage of employees and the toughness of getting them,” John Baker, board member, said in response to the numbers. CEO Jay Stowe assured the board that the increases would only affect the first year’s budget by about 1.5% meaning the budget could absorb the extra cost without affecting customer bills.
The board also lauded efforts to increase benefits given to non-union represented workers, but no specifics were mentioned as to what they could expect. Prior to approving the new union contracts, the board also authorized a maximum of $9.7 million for the 2023 fiscal year’s Pay for Performance program – informally recognized as the utility’ yearly bonus program. The allocated funds for the bonuses come from the utility’s saved funds, so they also cannot influence customer payments.
Bonuses will be distributed depending on the completion of various performance benchmarks and could affect up to 2,016 employees, including the 20 senior officials. Amounts range depending on the employee’s status in the company and whether the department meets or exceeds expectations.
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