Primary Department: County Administration
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Jesse Dickerman, Interim County Administrator
Secondary Department: N/A
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official: N/A
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Policy
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 of amendments to the Harris County Employee Minimum Wage Policy.
end
Background and Discussion:
Adopted on March 27, 2025, the Employee Minimum Wage Policy sets a new wage floor of $20/hour for all employees paid directly by Harris County-including full-time, part-time, and temporary staff, regardless of funding source. Future adjustments shall be recommended by the Office of Management and Budget and informed by the MIT Living Wage Calculator.
The Office of County Administration requests approval of the following amendments to the Employee Minimum Wage Policy:
1. Clarify that intern positions are considered short-term, educational positions and are not included in this Policy’s definition of a County Employee, AND
2. Authorize case-by-case exemptions in limited circumstances, when approved by the Human Resources & Talent Department and the Office of Management and Budget. Examples of when exemptions may be requested include cases where higher wages could impact participation in a program with income-based eligibility.
Expected Impact:
The proposed amendments to the policy will provide clarity on which positions are included in the definition of a County employee and allow for exemptions in limited circumstances.
Alternative Options:
Commissioners Court could choose to leave the policy as is.
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:
N/A
Prior Court Action (if any):
|
Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
|
3/27/25 |
462 |
To adopt the circulated amended Harris County Employee Minimum Wage Policy proposal, with a correction to update the employee minimum wage effective May 3, 2025 to $20 per hour. |
Location: N/A
Address (if applicable):
Precinct(s): Choose an item.
|
Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
|
Service Name |
|
|
|
|
Current Fiscal Year Cost |
Annual Fiscal Cost |
|
|
Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
Recurring Expenses |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
Existing Budget |
|
|
|
|
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Existing Budget |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Additional Budget Request (Requires Fiscal Review Request Form) |
|
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Additional Budget Request |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Funding Sources |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Grants - Proposed Budget (For Grants Items only) |
|
|
Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
No. of Grant Years |
|
Local Match Source - Existing Budget: Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
|
Local Match Source - Additional Budget Request: Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
|
Grant Funds Applied for/Awarded (Total) |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
|
Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new PCNs) |
|
|
Current Position Count for Service |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Additional Positions Request |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Total Personnel |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Anticipated Court Date: 6/12/2025
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): Click or tap to enter a date.
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or COVID-19 related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Janet Gonzalez, Director, Office of County Administration; Kera Backer, Project Manager, Office of County Administration
Attachments (if applicable): Amended County Employee Minimum Wage Policy