[khull]

In the past, our annual salary increases have been tied to the federal COLA, with additional market increases for roles that were out of line with external benchmarks. We are trying to plan for inflation in the next calendar year and while giving the full COLA to staff is a top priority, we’re not certain we’re going to be in a financial position to be able to do that. We are having discussions with funders right now to see which may be open to increasing their grants to help us keep track with inflation.

In the meantime, we have given a $1,000 cost of living “bonus” to all staff mid year. This felt more equitable than giving a percentage raise or bonus, as we know our lowest paid staff are the ones who are feeling the effects of inflation the most.

It’s interesting that this article noted that the orgs most affected by inflation are those with high direct costs (food banks, etc). It almost assumed that no or low raises would be given. Personnel is our highest cost by far, but we must look at supporting our staff through this period of high inflation and making sure that our wages keep track with the market.

[khull]

This is what we did. We are still planning to have annual raises at the calendar year, but gave everyone a one-time amount of $1,000 to help with their increased costs. We know that inflation is taking a higher bite out of the take home pay of our lower paid staff, so this seemed like a more equitable way to get additional funds into our staff’s hands.