Services

Salary Guide Services

Accurate analysis for every stage of negotiations — from planning to settlement.

LEMSNJ turns your district’s payroll and placement data into clear analysis your negotiations team can rely on, in closed-session planning, at the table, and in budget development.

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Expiring Salary Guide Analysis — A close look at your current guide: its structure, step and column differentials, top-of-guide placement, and longevity. We identify uneven steps, compression, and other structural issues that drive cost — before you set negotiations parameters.

Cost of Increment (Step Movement) — What does it cost just to move eligible staff one step on the current guide, before any increase? We isolate the cost of increment so your board can see how much of any settlement is already committed.

Scattergram Development — A clear grid showing how many employees sit at each step and column, built from your payroll data and reconciled for accuracy. The scattergram is the foundation for every costing exercise — and for keeping everyone working from the same numbers.

Salary Guide Construction & Restructuring — New or revised guides designed to meet a target cost: adjusting step values, adding or collapsing steps, or rebalancing columns. Includes transition placement for current staff and side-by-side comparisons of current and proposed guides.

Union Proposal Analysis & Costing — Prompt, accurate costing of the association's economic proposals against your actual staff distribution, including guide changes, stipends, and longevity. Know the real multi-year cost before you respond.

Board Counterproposal Modeling — "What-if" models of guide structures, percentage settlements, and distribution options, so your team can test alternatives quickly and stay within board-approved parameters.

Multi-Year Total Cost & Breakage — The full cost of a proposed agreement over its entire term, including compounding effects and breakage from retirements and turnover, with clearly documented assumptions to support budgeting and board approval.

Chapter 78 & Health-Benefit Contribution Impacts — Analysis of how employee health-benefit contributions interact with salary settlements, showing effects on district net cost and employee net pay. Coordinated with your benefits advisor and board counsel as appropriate.

Comparable District Comparisons — Benchmarking of guides, starting and maximum salaries, and settlement trends against districts your board considers comparable — useful for setting realistic parameters and for mediation or factfinding.

Related Salary Guide Support — Costing of stipend and extracurricular schedules, longevity, and column-movement provisions, plus economic exhibits to support your team during impasse proceedings.

What We'll Need From Your District — Typical data includes the current payroll and placement roster by step and column, current and prior salary guides, the collective negotiations agreement, stipend and longevity schedules, and health-benefit enrollment information.

Additional Services

Practical labor relations and HR support, working alongside your board counsel.

Collective Negotiations Support — Support for your board's negotiations committee on successor agreements, from setting parameters through tentative agreement and ratification. For at-the-table negotiations, we can refer districts to trusted partner negotiators we work with closely.

Impasse, Mediation & Factfinding Support — Preparation of the board's position and economic evidence for New Jersey's school-district impasse procedures through PERC: mediation, factfinding, and super conciliation.

Contract Administration & Review — Clause-by-clause review of your agreement to flag ambiguous or costly language, plus quick-reference guides that help administrators apply the contract consistently.

Grievance Handling & Arbitration Preparation — Help responding at each grievance step, and organized chronologies, documents, and exhibits to support board counsel in arbitration.

PERC Matters Support — Help understanding negotiability and unfair-practice exposure, and factual documentation to support board counsel in PERC proceedings.

Discipline & Workplace Investigations — Support for fair, well-documented investigations and progressive discipline consistent with your contract and board policy.

Tenure & TEACHNJ HR Guidance — HR process support on tenure timelines, evaluation documentation, increment withholdings, non-renewals, and reduction-in-force planning.

Board & Administrator Training — Practical workshops on salary guides and costing, the board's role in negotiations, and contract administration.

Interim HR / Labor Relations Coverage — Part-time or interim support during a vacancy or capacity gap, with a clear scope and transition plan.

LEMSNJ is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice or representation. Legal matters — including PERC litigation, arbitration advocacy, tenure charges, and statutory interpretation — should be directed to your board counsel. LEMSNJ works alongside counsel to provide analysis, preparation, and documentation.