August 2023

From August 24 - September 1, 2023 SLLS will modify its operations due to mandatory staff training.

From August 24 - 25, 2023 SLLS will be open for emergency intakes only for evictions with court dates for our Orleans Parish Right to Counsel program and Child in Need of Care (CINC) cases.

From August 28 - August 30, 2023 all SLLS offices will be closed to the public. Help desks, outreach events, legal clinics, and eviction desks will not be staffed during this time.

SLLS will reopen from August 31 - September 1, 2023 for emergency intakes, including evictions, urgent legal deadlines (within seven days), Child in Need of Care (CINC) cases, and protective orders.

Normal operations will resume on September 5th.

Online applications will not be accepted at this time. For emergency assistance, call 1-844-244-2871.

I. Overview

Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS) extends this Request for Proposal (RFP) for a Consultant to conduct a Compensation Analysis. The Consultant will work with SLLS’ management and Board of Directors Personnel Committee.

SLLS is a nonprofit tax exempt 501(c)(3) organization that provides high quality legal assistance to people with low-income in civil matters. SLLS serves clients in twenty-two parishes in southeast Louisiana from seven office (Baton Rouge, Covington, Gretna, Hahnville, Hammond, Houma, and New Orleans). SLLS works to remove barriers to opportunity, ensuring access to shelter, economic security, safety and health through direct legal representation in civil cases, policy advocacy, and community legal education. SLLS has 160+ employee of which about 70% are lawyers and engages hundreds of volunteer attorneys and dozens of law students every year.

Pre-pandemic and prior to 2021’s catastrophic Hurricane Ida, SLLS had about 100 team members on staff. We now have about 165 staff working from seven offices, staff embedded onsite with other partners such as hospitals, medical clinics, homeless shelters, domestic violence victim service centers, community colleges, and robust pro bono partnerships. We have almost 100 different funding sources though LSC funding is about 45% of our budget with another almost 30% from the Louisiana Bar Foundation.

Under SLLS’ current leadership, its salary scale was refreshed in 2018, 2020, and 2022 with a $2,000 lump sum salary supplement for all staff in 2023. Excluding its leadership positions which are off the salary scale, SLLS has three primary position types – Managing Attorneys, Staff Attorneys, and Support Staff. There is a maximum starting salary for new hires up to 15 years of experience. SLLS has annual steps of $1,800 for attorneys and $800 for support staff. The steps have not been changed in over a decade. SLLS removed caps on annual steps for staff after 10 years of employment in 2021 to prevent staff from getting maxed out on their annual salary.

SLLS wishes to conduct an analysis of salaries and benefits including comparison to the nonprofit and government sector for the local market. The goal of this project is to ensure that SLLS’ compensation package remains competitive to attract and retain staff, is respectful and supportive of staff, is an appropriate use of resources, and reflects SLLS’ commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

II. SLLS’ Salary Structure

Under SLLS’ current leadership, our salary scale was developed in 2018 and refreshed based on an internally conducted salary scale study in 2020 and 2022. SLLS has provided a one-time lump sum salary supplement of $2,000 for all staff irrespective of position in 2023. The key elements of SLLS’ current salary structure are:

SLLS’ Compensation Philosophy reflects a commitment to providing a competitive, transparent compensation package that encourages employee development and growth. As part of this policy, SLLS Aid commits to periodic review of salary ranges and positions to ensure ranges are appropriate and based on market analysis.
No position has a starting salary of lower than $15 per hour.
Starting salaries are based on comparable salaries in the non-profit and government sector in the southeast region
For new hires, each position type has a minimum and maximum starting point up to 15 years of experience.
Starting salaries are set based on years of experience, language fluency for languages regularly used for SLLS clients, and other factors for support staff.
Staff automatically (subject to funding and satisfactory performance) receive an $1,800 annual step increase for attorneys and an $800 annual step increase for support staff
Staff working with SLLS for more than 10 years are no longer maxed out on a maximum amount of steps
Information for SLLS’ current salary scale is included as Attachment 1 to this proposal

III. This Project

SLLS seeks a consultant to:

Conduct a market analysis of salary for all positions.
Work with SLLS to review job descriptions for positions and to make recommendations for how to incentivize longevity such as by creating new staff classification types and other measures
Make recommendations for changes in position and their compensation based on the analysis above.
Conduct comparable market analysis of benefits provided, including health insurance, retirement plan, time off, and other benefits.
Make recommendations for changes in benefits package where appropriate.
Make recommendations regarding changes to SLLS’ step increase levels
Provide a final report to the SLLS Personnel Committee describing research completed, process engaged, recommendations and reason for those recommendations.

IV. Steps and Timeline

The planned timeline for this project is:

Deadline for proposal submission September 5, 2023
- Direct Questions and submit proposals to Shannan Latino, Human Resources Manager at slatino@slls.org
Selection and identification of terms of engagement: September 13, 2023
Completion of Analysis: November 15, 2023
- Stage 1 – Salary Scale Recommendations: November 15, 2023
- State 2 – Recommendations for Step Increases: December 31, 2023
- Stage 3 – Benefits Review: March 31, 2024
- Stage 4 – Recommendations to Incentivize Longevity: June 30, 2024

Note: Timeline is subject to change based on SLLS and consultant schedules. Recommendations may be delivered in stages including Stage 1 -Salary Scale recommendations Stage 2 – Recommendations for Step Increases Stage 3- Benefits Review Stage 4- Recommendations to Incentivize Longevity

V. Proposal Content

Responses to this Request for Proposal should be no longer than 8 pages long (shorter proposals are welcome) and include the following:

Firm description, including how long the firm has been in business, specialty areas, and experience providing compensation analysis services to not-for-profit and other professional organizations.
Identification of the staff who will work on the project. Describe their experience, education, training, and professional certifications
Description of your commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and information regarding the diversity of your workforce.
Description of your engagement with mission-driven organizations where organizational values have significantly impacted compensation structure and how that orientation informed your work.
Statement of your understanding of the work required and how you will approach this project, including work plan and timeline.
Description of how your approach will assist SLLS on its path to become a more diverse, equitable and inclusive organization.
Three current or former clients who we may contact as references.
Statement of your fees for this work, including an indication of whether you propose a flat fee or hourly fee. SLLS prefers a flat fee proposal. If the proposed fee is hourly based, provide the estimated number of hours required. Please include the responsibilities and services covered by these fees.

VI. Evaluation Criteria and Award of Contract

SLLS may elect to schedule interviews with potential consultants prior to awarding a final contract. Please include contact information for scheduling purposes in the RFP.

Proposals will be evaluated upon the contractor’s responsiveness to the RFP, qualifications, demonstrated experience with similar projects, and total price quoted for all items covered by the RFP. Award of the contract resulting from the RFP will be based upon the most responsive contract that is most advantageous to SLLS in terms of cost, functionality, experience, and quality of past work.

SLLS ideally seeks a firm that understands its needs as a nonprofit and legal services organization and is invested in our mission of achieving justice and social change by fighting poverty.

SLLS reserves the right to accept or reject any and all proposals and to waive any minor discrepancies or technicalities in the proposal or specifications, when deemed to be in the best interest of SLLS. We also reserve the right to negotiate with all respondents to the RFP and reject any or all offers and discontinue this RFP process without obligation or liability to any respondent.

VII. Cost of Proposals

SLLS will not pay any costs associated with preparing proposals in response to this RFP.

You can download the request for proposals here.