S.206 instructs the South Carolina Public Employee Benefit Authority (PEBA) to design, and the General Assembly to fund a state employee longevity pay plan. All state employees would participate in the plan and would be eligible for varying degrees of pay raises based on their occupation and length of time employed by the state.
This plan is presented as a way of retaining valuable state employees, but that could be better accomplished by pay raises based on performance. Basing pay raises on time served rather than merit will remove important incentives that promote state employees giving optimal effort. Pay levels on the private sector are based almost exclusively on merit and the productivity of labor, the public sector should attempt to emulate this standard.