The State of Colorado is implementing a Step Pay Program as outlined in the 2022 Amended Partnership Agreement in COWINS Article 31.6, which provides base salary increases to eligible State classified employees at certain milestone years. If approved by the General Assembly, on July 1, 2024, eligible classified employees will receive a 3% across-the-board (ATB) increase, then may receive an increase to the step pay rate for their July 1 job pay range based on total completed years in their current job series as of June 30, 2024.

By March 31, all eligible classified employees will receive an initial placement notification from the Department of Personnel and Administration (DPA) with an estimated time-in-job series.  Employees can reference the to estimate their new pay rate based on their time-in-job series. 

A job series, sometimes referred to as class series or job class series, is a group of similar positions, such as Accountants. Within each series, there are different levels of job classifications. For example, in the Accountant job series, the classifications are Accountant I, Accountant II, Accountant III, and Accountant IV. If an employee has held positions as an Accountant I, was then promoted to an Accountant II position, and then later promoted to an Accountant III, all of the time spent in those classifications would count as time in the Accountant job series. Time spent in another job series, such as Accounting Technician or Administrative Assistant, would not count toward time in the current job series (Accountant) for purposes of step placement.

No employee shall experience a decrease in pay if they are earning more than their step placement. If an employee’s salary is above the salary step for their job series, employees will still receive the 3% ATB (up to the pay range maximum). Note that the 3% ATB is applied to the employee’s salary first, and then if the employee’s salary is still below their assigned step, an additional increase to the step value is applied.  Employees impacted by a system maintenance study should refer to the step value for their .

Eligible classified employees who believe their time-in-job series is incorrect are encouraged to follow the to submit additional information to DPA for further review. Employees who do not receive a notification by March 31 and believe they should have, or have any questions or requests, are encouraged to reach out to dpa_steppay@state.co.us. Eligible classified employees will receive a final step placement notification by mail from DPA by May 15, 2024.

Helpful Resources:

Please refer to the links below to review translation options for the notification templates from DPA.

Time in Class Series 

  • (English)

Time in Job Series Additional Information

  • (English)