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After months of studying Utah's liquor operations, Gov. Gary Herbert's office has recommended a list of "next steps" for the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, including employee pay raises and increased staff hours to meet the state's growing thirst for wine, beer and spirits.
In an email sent Monday to DABC employees, the governor's office said it is recommending pay increases to "improve employee morale and decrease turnover."
However, critics complained that the one-page correspondence — a colorful graphic with bulleted items called "next steps" — made no mention of how much of a pay increase Herbert would recommend to the Utah Legislature, which sets the DABC's annual operating budget.
"The document talks about 'recommended' fixes for employee issues," said Kerri Adams, a former DABC employee. But "what is the governor's office doing to work with the Legislature to ensure these are more than recommendations that go nowhere?"
In addition, the governor's office also recommends "increases in staff hours to meet demands" and "working with managers to create acceptable employee review process," the document explains.
Adams pointed out that the email did not address the issue of having one manager over two stores, which is "exacerbating already low staffing levels," she said.
Stores are so short-staffed that to meet the Thanksgiving rush, administrative employees were dispatched to stores to stock shelves.
The correspondence from the Governor's Office of Management and Budget comes after an "intensive review" of the DABC. State officials began in July to look into Utah's retail liquor operations, delving into inventory management and distribution. They also interviewed 120 employees and managers about liquor store policies, low pay, morale and other working conditions.
Adams said employees were hoping for a more detailed report of the DABC workings.
Kristen Cox, executive director of GOMB, and Sal Petilos, DABC executive director, are waiting until Tuesday to comment on the review. They have set up one-on-one interviews with Utah news-media outlets to explain their findings.
The DABC has been under fire for several months over a new computerized ordering system that employees, customers and restaurant owners say limits stock and causes some stores to run out of popular items. The issue came to a head in March when Ron Harris, a veteran manager at the Metro Wine Store and a critic of the new system, was put on paid leave just days after he announced his retirement.
The controversy seemed to reignite old wounds about the high number of part-time employees at the state-run liquor stores and the low pay, issues that create low morale.
At the same time, the DABC is figuring out how to operate with fewer dollars as lawmakers cut the liquor store operating budget by $500,000 for the 2015-16 fiscal year. The cuts came at the same time Utah is experiencing record liquor sales.
The employee email said the state is working on three key areas: product availability, employee success and department operations.
For product availability, the DABC will continue to:
• Reduce the number of instances of out-of-stock items.
• Replace nonselling items with new products.
• Increase opportunities for customer feedback.