The Alabama Department of Corrections announced its new salary and bonus structure for employees Tuesday.

Resulting from the passage of HB468, which Gov. Ivey signed into law on May 29, the law will provide ADOC correctional officers a two-step, 5 percent pay raise and expand the incentive program to include bonuses for additional training and career milestones, according to a news release from the department of corrections.

The news release said the pay changes will help the department of corrections achieve its goals and priorities outlined in its 2019-2022 strategic plan.

“Our employees are our greatest assets and the key to improving prisons in Alabama,” said ADOC Commissioner Jeff Dunn said in a news release. “Increasing compensation for our security workforce is crucial to recruiting qualified new employees and retaining current ADOC personnel who carry out critical, meaningful work across the state of Alabama.”

The news release said updates to the ADOC’s comprehensive compensation plan include salary increases, higher guaranteed probationary increases, recruitment and retention bonuses, optional excess annual leave payout, salary grade changes and two new position classifications. Specifically, this includes:

Salary increases including a 2 percent cost-of-living adjustment, effective Sept. 1, and a one-time, 5 percent raise for employees in the correctional officer series, effective Oct. 1.

Probationary increases of 5 percent for employees who meet performance expectations.

Recruiting and retention bonuses, ranging from $4,500 – $7,500.

Excess annual leave payout for up to 80 hours of excess annual leave per year.

Two new position classifications including a new entry-level correctional officer position, Basic Correctional Officer.

Salary grade changes.

“This legislation and the resulting changes to correctional officer compensation are a result of extensive collaboration between Gov. Ivey’s office, the state legislature, the State Personnel Department and third-party recruitment and compensation experts,” Dunn said. “These updates will help the ADOC improve safety for staff and inmates, so that we can implement successful programming, which ultimately will reduce recidivism.”

The ADOC recently announced its 2019-2022 Strategic Plan ,which focuses on four priority areas: staffing, infrastructure, programming and culture. In addition, since announcing the new basic correctional officer position in May, the ADOC has seen a 150-percent increase in applications.