Connecticut’s longevity pay for state employees – $13.8 million in April – is no secret, but a small group of state employees also get “lump sum payments” equal to 2.5 percent of pay.
While longevity payments go to union state employees based on the length of their careers, lump sum payments go to about 100 correctional supervisors who have reached the peak of the pay scale.
The state makes the payments whenever the supervisors, members of the SEIU Local 2001 NP-8 bargaining unit, would otherwise be eligible for an annual increment in their pay.
Due to the payment code used to process the lump sum payments, it is not possible to precisely identify the total cost. However, all payments in the category – which includes certain other payments, too – to eligible employees add up to $184,058.
Two years ago, the legislature ended longevity pay for non-union state employees only to give them a raise of the same amount.