Merit Pay in New Mexico

After a contentious debate, non-union city employees in Las Cruces will soon receive merit pay increases instead of longevity pay increases, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News.

Employees can get a raise of between 1 percent and 6 percent every year. Some city employees said “such a system would be rife with favoritism and good ol’ boy cronyism, with favored employees getting substantial increases while less popular employees get little,” the Sun-News reports.

One council member said he supports the controversial move, but that “human resources failed to sell it to city employees.”