Gwinnett Cops, Other Employees, Get Pay Raise

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — Gwinnett County employees, particularly law enforcement officers, will soon be seeing a bump in their paychecks.

The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved pay raises for county workers in what they said was an effort to bring salaries in line with the region's marketplace and help with worker recruitment and retention.

Police, sheriff's deputies, corrections officers and 911 communications officers will receive a 4 percent pay increase. On top of that, all eligible county employees — including those in law enforcement — will get a 3 percent "market adjustment."

Board of Commissioners Chair Charlotte Nash said it was high time for the salary adjustments.

"County employees went without a pay raise for four years during the recession," Nash said. "While this board was able to reinstate increases starting in 2014 with a market adjustment and each year thereafter with annual raises tied to performance, a further adjustment is needed to address hiring and retention issues.

"Our competitors are granting pay increases, too, and, frankly, we have to keep up or risk losing talented employees to other agencies." (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

Recently, the commission had approved adjustments to the county pay structure that included a new master officer rank for police officers, sheriff's deputies and corrections officers and a pay differential for specialized police units.

Those have helped, but more help was needed, said District 2 Commissioner Lynette Howard.

"I’m thrilled that we’re increasing the salaries of all our employees," Howard said. "These men and women work hard every day to provide a level of service our residents deserve and have come to expect."

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