The Austin School District has hired Fox Lawson & Associates, a Human Resource and Compensation Consulting Firm, to avoid paying $100 a day in fines for having an unequal pay scale for men and women.

Tuesday, July 10, 2001

The Austin School District has hired Fox Lawson & Associates, a Human Resource and Compensation Consulting Firm, to avoid paying $100 a day in fines for having an unequal pay scale for men and women.

Once the state notifies Austin that it’s not in compliance with the law, the district will have 90 days to fix the problem of pay inequality before the fines begin.

In the meantime, only 60 percent of Austin School District job classifications have equitable pay scales.

"Right now, there are a number of female dominated jobs that are paid below male dominated jobs," said Andrew Knutson, who works for Fox Lawson. "That’s what causing the lack of compliance."

One particular area of inequality is KSMQ, the school district’s public television station.

Board member Bev Nordby asked if the station, which receives some money from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, had to be included in the pay equity report, which is mandated by the state of Minnesota and has not been done in Austin since 1985.

"So far the information that I’ve gotten is that even though our funding is separate, they report directly to the superintendent," said Julie Jensen, who is the Human Resource Director for the Austin Public School District.

Board member Bruce Loveland argued that the KSMQ board did not operate as a separate entity, which meant that it had to follow state guidelines. Board member Kathy Green wondered if the school could get around the law if they restructured their relationship to the station.

Board President David Simonson, who thought that KSMQ’s unequal pay rate was comparable to other public television stations, insisted that the district was not at fault.

"The corporation of public broadcasting is notorious for underfunding stations," he said . "They just happen to be an employer that pays people at a lower rate."

The television station is not the only workplace out of compliance.

In fact, Jensen recommended the consulting company because the number of positions in compliance with state law has to rise by a third, to 80 percent. In a district with 750 people, that could mean legally mandated raises for dozens, or even hundreds of employees.

On the other hand, according to Knutson, reclassification could lead to wage cuts for those who are paid more than others in the same bracket.

With options and salary adjustments, the price of the equity report could rise to $50,000, which is what Jensen and district finance officer Lori Volz originally budgeted when they first realized they had to act.

The basic report, which includes the pay equity report, would cost the school district $26,000 and prevent the state from levying fines.

"We can train Julie as well as a core administrative committee on how to maintain that," said Knutson, who added that Fox Lawson could provide additional services as needed.

"The value added options will help to bring the employees bring the administration and the staff into a core administration committee and help to train them in job evaluation," said Knutson. Additional options might include a market study, which would study salaries in Austin as they relate to other school districts, and set them at a competitive rate.

"Your getting internal equity, but also external equity," he said.

The study will not be completed before December, partly because of the large number of employees on summer vacation.

"We’ll start in August with the administrators, and we’ll get them trained, and when all the staff’s back in September, it will take three more months," Jensen said.

In the past seven years, Fox Lawson has worked on 500 pay equity contracts, which look at every job description in the district, including those which are part of negotiated contracts, and include such characteristics as essential duties, knowledge and skills, decision making, and minimum qualifications such as education and experience.

The state of Minnesota requires that every school district be checked for pay equity once every three years.

Call Sam Garchik at 434-2233 or e-mail him at newsroom@austindailyherald.com.