There are over 180,000 associates working diligently in our stores and support departments, making sure every customer has the best shopping experience possible. So who’s working to make sure our associates have competitive pay and paid time off (PTO) benefits, and who is responsible for managing all of their personnel information behind the scenes? That’s the responsibility of compensation and personnel records.

Compensation specialist John Manns, Senior Compensation & Organizational Management Specialist Heather Starling and Compensation Specialist Tim Speicher review information in the associate handbook.

From pay and PTO benefits to processing pay rates and new hire transactions, these highly skilled teams oversee a myriad of programs and processes that help make Publix one of the best places to work in America.

“Both departments are heavily impacted by changing government regulation, which requires significant experience,” said Director of Compensation and Personnel Records Tracy McClellan. “We are fortunate that we have very experienced teams.”

I-9 Compliance Analyst Valerie Anyaogu assists a store with I-9 questions.

Compensation
Established in 1992, the eight associates in Compensation are tasked with developing and implementing pay and PTO benefits programs and policies that align with Publix’s business strategy and compensation philosophy. They also perform audits of pay programs and policies and manage the tuition reimbursement program, as well as the company’s entire organizational structure within our systems. Compensation also manages the pay for performance systems, all pay scales, holiday bonus, the relocation program and the pharmacy tech certification program.

“We create the pay ranges for every job at Publix, which takes months of research. I’m not aware of any company our size doing this extensive research annually,” said Tracy. “Our team conducts extensive research of PTO benefits periodically as well.”

Personnel Records
Originally established to serve as a centralized location for personnel-related records, the department had an office in Miami and another one in Lakeland.

Record Support Wayne Fernandez prepares documents to be scanned into associates’ electronic personnel files.

In 1991, both offices were consolidated in Lakeland. The 54 team members oversee maintenance of all associates’ personnel records, including transfers, pay rate changes, new hire processing, separations, unemployment compensation and leaves of absence. They also provide work history information for associate recognitions. Most records are available in digital format for easier storage and retrieval.“It’s important that we manage associates’ records in a timely manner and ensure their information is correct in our system when they’re first hired, when they transfer, when they receive pay increases and everything else in between,” Tracy said.

Leave specialist Colleen Scouras scans associates documents into our online management system.

Technological tools of the trade
Compensation and personnel records served as key business areas in the collaborative implementation of

• Oasis
• PASSport and
• Manager Self Service (MSS).