To ensure pay parity for county sheriffs' correction officers and jail officers
Summary
This bill would require correction officers and jail officers employed by the fourteen county sheriffs’ offices in Massachusetts to be retitled as Correction Officer I, II, or III, or Jail Officer I, II, or III, and to be paid base salaries tied to the corresponding salary grades used for Department of Correction officers in State Bargaining Unit 4. The bill directs that county sheriffs’ office positions be slotted into those titles based on which Department of Correction job duties they most closely match.
The salary adjustment would be phased in through equal annual increments over the three fiscal years following enactment, with the goal of bringing sheriffs’ office pay into parity with Department of Correction base pay. During that three-year period, county sheriffs would not have to bargain under Chapter 150E over base salary rates for these titles, though existing collective bargaining agreements and other labor-law obligations would continue to apply. After the phase-in period, normal collective bargaining rules under Chapter 150E would again fully govern these positions.
Impact
The bill would amend Section 17 of Chapter 37 of the General Laws to create a statutory pay-parity framework for county sheriffs’ correction and jail officers. It would directly affect compensation practices in all fourteen county sheriffs’ offices, tie those local positions to state correction officer salary grades, and temporarily limit bargaining over base wages for the affected titles while preserving other labor rights and contract obligations.
Sentiment
The available context shows the bill being introduced with bipartisan sponsorship, including the primary sponsor and additional co-sponsors from both parties, which suggests at least some cross-party support for the goal of pay parity. No committee transcript or recorded vote is available, so there is no formal evidence of opposition or debate in the provided materials.
Contention
The main policy issue is labor and fiscal control: the bill would mandate wage parity with Department of Correction officers and temporarily remove base-salary bargaining from Chapter 150E for three fiscal years. Supporters are likely to favor fairness and recruitment/retention parity for sheriffs’ officers, while potential critics could object to the cost to county sheriffs, the state-local compensation linkage, and the temporary restriction on collective bargaining over wages.