The Idaho Division of Human Resources is recommending the Idaho Legislature approve salary increases of 4% or $1.25 per hour for all permanent state employees.

Idaho Division of Human Resources Administrator Janelle White made the recommendation Friday during a meeting of the Idaho Legislature’s Change in Employee Compensation Committee meeting at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise.

White recommended the 4% salary increase, along with flexibility to distribute the funds for recruitment and retention. She also recommended increasing the salary structure midpoints for positions including public safety and nursing and recommended a 5.5% market-based increase for the salary structure for IT and engineering positions.

White said the Division of Human Resources issued the recommendation after receiving testimony from more than 1,700 state employees.

“Across all pay ranges, employees consistently cite rising cost of living as a major concern with current wages failing to keep pace,” White said. “They are concerned about pay compression, which is where new or less experienced employees earn as much or more than more tenured employees. Turnover and vacant positions are leading to increased workloads and burnout.”

Pay and benefits are important for several reasons. The state is one of the largest employers in Idaho, and these decisions directly affect thousands of Idaho families.

Additionally, many state agencies struggle with retention because state employees in many fields make far less than their counterparts at private businesses and even at city and county jobs, White said. Last year’s turnover rate was 19.2%.
The situation is exacerbated because of inflation and surging increases in housing costs in Idaho.

“In the last decade, inflation has risen by more than 30% while the average base salary for state employees has only increased by 4.2%,” White said.

“As a result, employees are finding it harder to afford basic expenses such as housing, food, transportation, health care and other essential goods and services,” White added. “As Idahoans continue to rely on the contributions of these dedicated individuals, it is crucial to recognize and appreciate the invaluable role they play in our society and to ensure they can provide necessities for their families.”

Part-time Idaho legislators set to receive larger pay increase than state employees

Meanwhile, Idaho legislators are set to receive a much higher salary increase next year of 25%.

Idaho citizens committee approves legislative salary increases

Last month, a different committee – the Citizens Committee on Legislative Compensation – approved increasing the annual salary for Idaho legislators from $19,913 to $25,000, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported. Rather than a full time legislative body, the Idaho Legislature is a part-time, seasonal legislature that generally meets for about 80 to 90 days each year.

Some Republican legislators have vowed to fight their pay raise.  

Low pay for Idaho state employees can lead to high turnover

White told legislators there is a high cost to continually recruit and retrain new employees to replace the state employees who quit their jobs to make higher pay doing the same kind of work somewhere else. 

State employees make an average of $20,000 less per year than they would doing the same job for a different employer, White said. Over the course of a 30-year career, that would cost an average state employee $600,000 in lost wages to work for the state.

“When employees leave the state, it has a profound and lasting impact on the bottom line and our ability to deliver services,” White said. “The hidden cost of turnover is frequently overlooked, yet its consequences are very costly to the state. A general rule of thumb is that it costs an organization one to three times an employee’s annual salary to replace them.”
Nothing was settled Friday. 

The Change in Employee Compensation Committee is scheduled to meet again Jan. 7 and Jan. 9, and the Idaho Legislature will have the final say on pay and benefits for state employees during the upcoming 2025 legislative session.