COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Navigating through salary increases, health care packages, and disablity leave is enough to make every Jefferson Lab employee feel faint. Fortunately, Jefferson Lab has Milton Brooks to guide employees through the sometimes rough waters of Compensation and Benefits.

As Compensation and Benefits Manager, Brooks recommends salary rates for every employee at the Lab, including new employees, employees transferred to a new division, and those receiving promotions. Annually, Brooks must prepare a proposal to the regional Department of Energy Office recommending general salary increases for the Lab as a whole. On an individual level, Brooks serves on the Salary Committee, along with the Associate Directors and the Human Resources Director, which determines salary increases for each employee at Jefferson Lab. He also oversees the benefits office which assists employees in choosing a health care package, establish a plan for retirement, decide how much vacation and sick leave each employee receives and determine rules for long and short term disability.

Brooks came to the Lab last March after working in the education environment for seven years. He admits that working in education and working in a scientific atmosphere are two different worlds. "It was tough here at first because I had to acquaint myself with what the physicists and engineers do in order to make sure our pay rates stay competitive," says Brooks. "I came to the Lab because it was a challenge and I wanted to be part of a growing organization."

Brooks has worked in human resources since his career began more than 20 years ago. His first professional job was with the city of Hampton in the Personnel Department. "It was my task to determine the importance of each job and how they fit into the pecking order within the city," says Brooks. It was during his 12 years with the city of Hampton that he became hooked on human resources. "During that time I really fell in love with personnel work," says Brooks. "It is as though this career was made for me." Later, Brooks went on to become Compensation Manager with the Williamsburg/James City County Public School System and the College of William and Mary. Brooks says his attraction to compensation and benefits work stems from the ability to meet all types of people. In an environment as diverse as Jefferson Lab, Brooks is in "seventh heaven." "As the compensation and benefits manager, sooner or later I am going to meet every person in the organization," says Brooks. "Some days I counsel people about things that are not even related to human resources. They seek me out because they value my advice and I have been able to help them before," says Brooks. "When that happens, I go home at night and feel a sense of accomplishment." A native Virginian, Brooks often travels away from home. He has ventured as far north as Atlantic City and as far south as St. Maarten in the Caribbean. He even went to the Olympic Games in Atlanta. "I had the chance to sit in the Olympic Stadium with 85,000 other people and watch track and field events," says Brooks. "It was the most electrifying experience I have ever had and now I am hooked on the Olympics. I am even considering saving my pennies and going to Sydney, Australia for the Olympics in 2000."

maintained by webmaster@jlab.org