Effective Dec. 1, 75 county employees — such as county customer service representatives, nurses’ aides, library assistants and animal shelter attendants — will now earn $13.50 an hour, instead of the previous $11.08 an hour.
The Wake County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously about the decision Monday. County employees are now guaranteed to earn at least $28,080 a year. With the new wage, Wake is the fourth county in the state of North Carolina to adopt a wage ordinance.
The Universal Living Wage Organization developed a calculation in which Wake’s wage ordinance is based upon. The organization’s idea for the calculation is that an employee who works full-time should be able to afford a one-bedroom apartment and meet his or her basic needs, such as food and transportation.
Wake’s annual budget is $1.14 billion, and the wage increase adds $93,000 in expenses, possibly more in future years.
However, commissioners believe the higher pay will bring benefits like boosting the economy, improving worker performances and reducing employee turnover.
“Creating higher paying jobs will allow those employees to spend more money within our economy, supporting small businesses and their workers,” Commissioner Sig Hutchinson said to the News & Observer.
Nearly a year ago, Commissioner Matt Calabria advised county staff to review employee pay. One of the top priorities of the Commissioner Board is to address poverty. About 120,000 Wake residents currently live in poverty.
As of last year’s election, the board gained a Democratic majority.
The commissioners hope the pay increase will spark changes in the private sector.
Labor advocates also praised the board’s decision for the wage ordinance. Michael Gravinese, a vice president for the North Carolina State AFL-CIO, told the News & Observer that it suggests Wake County understands the difficulties of “have nots” during time of growing income inequality.
