Janet Lawson, director of the Virginia Department of Human Resource Management, told the Tarver subcommittee that the Commonwealth workforce numbered about 136,955 employees at the end of fiscal‑year 2024 and that classified employees totaled 56,917.

Lawson said vacancy and turnover rates increased about two percentage points over the prior fiscal year but remained within expected ranges; promotions and transfers rose about 15% year over year. She reported pay increases totaling roughly 15% since 2022 — a combination of multiple adjustments (5% July 2022, 2% December 2022, 5% June 2023 and 3% June 2024) — and said those increases have reduced the average salary lag versus the private sector from roughly 25% a decade ago to about 13% as of the last biennial compensation report.

On compensation policy, Lawson said the Commonwealth projects a 3% salary adjustment in the current biennial budget cycle and is working with Deloitte to review its 25‑year‑old salary structure and job architecture. She noted the federal Fair Labor Standards Act overtime rule proposed increase has been vacated by the courts and that Virginia’s minimum wage rose to $12.41 on Jan. 1 (no year specified in the presentation excerpt).

Lawson described telework metrics, saying an employee counted as teleworking may do anywhere from one to five days per week and offered to supply a day‑by‑day breakdown on request. She said exit interviews are voluntary; DHRM sends a Mercer exit survey link to separations and agencies may run their own surveys.

On health benefits, Lawson reported roughly 207,000 members in the state health plan (employees, spouses, dependents and non‑Medicare retirees) and said the Commonwealth contributes at least 88% of full premium on average. She said the state plan, local‑choice plans and Line‑of‑Duty Act coverage together cost about $2 billion annually. Lawson said the health‑insurance fund balance has been "fairly healthy," reporting roughly $485 million as of a November 2024 pull and noting fund balances are used to subsidize premiums rather than pass full claim increases directly to employees.

Lawson said the Commonwealth completed solicitation and vendor interviews for its three self‑insured medical plans and pharmacy‑benefit management; proposals have been referred to the Office of the Attorney General and Department of General Services for required high‑risk review, with each office allotted their statutory review period before an intent‑to‑award can issue.

On workers’ compensation PTSD claims, Lawson said DHRM reviewed two years of statewide data and recorded 25 claims (10 accepted, 15 denied) with paid amounts under $395,000, reserves of about $718,000 and incurred claims near $1.1 million. She said three claims in that period fell under statutory presumptions; for those, medical payments were about $5,400 and indemnity about $88,200 with small reserves. Lawson also provided locality data from the Workers' Compensation Commission showing 716 PTSD claims over the same two years, an average claim cost of $792.15, and confirmed only one claim clearly exceeded the 52‑week payment maximum in the data provided.

Lawson closed with workforce planning messages: recruiting and retaining mid‑level professionals and managers remains a challenge; voluntary separations in the first five years are significant; and knowledge transfer ahead of retirements is a continuing priority.