Primary Department: Human Resources and Talent
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Andrea Coughlin Rowley, Chief People Officer
Secondary Department: N/A
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official: N/A
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Discussion Item
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A - Not a grant item
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request for approval to temporarily freeze the following activities related to civilian employees and positions: moves, changes, reclassifications and base salary increases, until after the implementation of the Commissioners Court-approved project recommendations. The recommendations will be implemented on May 2, 2026, and the freeze will expire the following pay period, May 16, 2026.
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Background and Discussion:
To accurately implement the Compensation and Pay Equity Project results by the May 2, 2026, pay period, it will be necessary to freeze the activities described in the Agenda Caption. The Court-approved project recommendations were based on the status of employees and positions as of June 2025. Since that time, salary increases, position changes, new hires, and reclassifications have occurred. Therefore, it will be necessary to reconcile the June 2025 file with the current employee and position status to properly apply the Court-approved recommendations implemented on May 2, 2026, to be reflected on the May 22, 2026, paychecks.
Expected Impact:
The temporary freeze described in Background and Discussion will reduce the volume and time required to investigate changes that have occurred since June 2025. Additionally, it will allow for a true-up of the total cost of the approved salary increases by capturing the impact of changes that have occurred since June 2025, as well as changes identified by departments during the presentation of their results.
Alternative Options: N/A
County Strategic Plan Goal: 3. Make our economy more inclusive.
County Strategic Plan Objective: L: Foster more living-wage jobs that ensure worker safety, benefits, and stability across all educational levels.
Justice/Safety Initiative (Goal 1): N/A
Infrastructure Initiative (Goal 2): N/A
Economy Initiative (Goal 3): L1: Design a set of policies for Harris County to set dynamic living wage rates and ensure essential worker protections and high-quality benefits for all Harris County contracts, employees, and economic agreements.
Health Initiative (Goal 4): N/A
Climate/Resilience Initiative (Goal 5): N/A
Housing Initiative (Goal 6): N/A
Additional notes related to the Strategic Plan:
Prior Court Action (if any):
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Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
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02/26/2026 |
229 |
Commissioners Court accepted the update presented by Human Resources and Talent (HRT) on the implementation of the Compensation and Pay Equity Project. |
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02/12/2026 |
267 |
Commissioners Court accepted the update presented by Human Resources and Talent (HRT) on the implementation of the Compensation and Pay Equity Project. |
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01/29/2026 |
14 |
Commissioner’s Court approved motions for: 1) HRT to process pay adjustments resulting from the Compensation and Pay Equity Project effective February 7, 2026, after Gallagher returns with amended final recommendations based on feedback by all departments. 2) OMB to transfer funds to any department for salary increases related to the Project after that department and HRT have approved the proposed changes and transmit transfers to Commissioners Court. 3) HRT to end the current temporary hold on position changes and to authorize a temporary hold on position changes effective during the two pay periods prior to the revised implementation date for any department, with such implementation to be made no later than the first full pay period in May 2026. 4) HRT to provide regular updates on the implementation for each department to Commissioners Court members and to present an update at each regular meeting of Commissioners Court until implementation is complete. |
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01/08/2026 |
10 |
Court approved the proposed Compensation Philosophy. |
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12/11/2025 |
18 |
Directed Human Resources and Talent (HRT) to return to Court on January 8, 2026, with a final draft of the compensation philosophy for the Court’s consideration. |
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10/30/2025 |
266 |
Gallagher Benefit Services, Inc presented the results of the Compensation and Pay Equity Project and Commissioners Court approved the implementation recommendations. |
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10/16/2025 |
366 |
Court approved a 1-year renewal option with Gallagher Benefit Services Inc. for compensation and pay equity study for Human Resources and Talent for the period of November 1, 2025 - October 31, 2026, at a cost of $1,257,500 (230485), MWBE Contracted Goal: 13.0%, MWBE Current Participation: 52.01% |
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03/27/2025 |
51 |
Gallagher Benefit Services Inc. presented the second quarterly status of the Compensation and Pay Equity Project to Commissioners Court. |
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08/27/2024 |
285 |
Commissioners Court approved the request of an award on the basis of best proposal meeting requirements and that the County Judge execute an agreement with Gallagher Benefit Services Inc. for the Compensation and Pay Equity Project for Human Resources & Risk Management for the period of August 27, 2024 - August 26, 2025 with four (4) one year renewal options (230485), MWDBE Contracted Goal:13%. |
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11/12/2024 |
36 |
Gallagher Benefit Services Inc. presented the first quarterly status of the Compensation and Pay Equity Project to Commissioners Court. |
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04/04/2023 |
378 |
Direct Human Resources and Risk Management to develop a proposal to submit to the appropriate ARPA Focus Area Team to address standardization of employee position classification and compensation. HRRM should also develop a plan with milestones to analyze and identify any pay disparities based on race, ethnicity, and gender, and to remedy any disparities that are found, and return to Commissioners Court to present the plan by June 27, 2023. |
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08/02/2022 |
308 |
Direct the Office of Management and Budget to investigate potential pay disparities and include in the proposed budget going forward adequate resources to address any identified pay disparities. Direct Human Resources and Risk Management to prepare a plan to implement the recommendations of the compensation study. This plan should include, but not be limited to 1.) more standardized job descriptions; 2.) a simpler, fairer pay structure; 3.) a roadmap for implementation, providing sufficient time to departments; 4.) flexibility for high performers and employers with extra duties. This plan will come back to Commissioners Court |
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08/24/2021 |
331 |
Approval of an award and agreement with PayFactors Group, LLC for a compensation study. |
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Location:
Address (if applicable): N/A
Precinct(s): Countywide
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Anticipated Court Date: 3/19/2026
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): 4/4/2026
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or ARPA related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Amanda Porter, Director, Compensation, Human Resources and Talent
Attachments (if applicable): N/A