Excerpts from theChicagoTribune.com:
In a bid to stay competitive in hiring and retaining firefighters, Tinley Park officials plan to overhaul how most fire department personnel are paid. For the largely part-time force, a 10-step pay structure would be implemented with the start of the next village fiscal year on May 1. The pay plan would offer 2 percent pay hikes for each step.
Currently, according to the village, firefighters have limited opportunities for pay hikes, which the new plan is intended to correct. Right now, personnel see pay increases once they complete their one-year probationary period or upon promotion, or through village board action in approving annual market wage adjustments.
The base rate for assistant chief, now at $25.96 per hour, would be boosted to $28.16, while the base hourly rate for deputy chief, now at $38.37, would go up to $42.47. Both are part-time positions. After that, assistant and deputy chief positions wouldn’t be on the step increase schedule, but would be eligible for annual merit-based increases that would need village board approval.
Over four years, the revised pay structure is expected to cost the village a bit more than $513,000.
