U‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‍se the case study and answer the questions in a paper APA format. Include the references Case Study 6.1 in Labor Relations in the Public Sector (LRPS) • What is your view of the state legislature’s merit award program? • How could it be better structured? • What issues are raised by the merit pay system that you must implement? • Develop a plan for distributing the merit pay funds in a manner that you can defend with reasonable comfort. Case Study 6.1 The Merit Pay Dilemma A newly ratified state collective bargaining contract provides for a 3% across-the-board raise for all state employees and a 2% merit increase. The means for distributing the merit raises were left to the discretion of agency heads. At the State Department of Corrections, agency managers met over a period of 3 weeks before deciding to allow unit heads to allocate the merit raise according to their own best judgments. You are the chief warden at a medium-security prison just outside the state capital. The largest bargaining unit in your organization consists of corrections officers. All officers will receive the 3% across-the-board pay hike. But how should you distribute the merit increase? A number of alternatives occur to you. Total payroll for your 60 corrections officers is $ million (average salary is $40,000). The merit pool ‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‍consists of $48,000. You could distribute the merit pay in percentages of base pay (perhaps in % increments up to 10% for the top performers), or you could allocate the merit awards in dollar amounts, such as $100 increments, ranging from a low of $100 to a high of perhaps $3000. Meanwhile, the union president appears in your office to urge you to distribute the merit pay as 2% across the board with the rest of the annual pay increase. His assessment is that all the guards are fully competent and deserve merit pay. Moreover, this approach would be noncontroversial. He notes that the senior members of the bargaining unit are particularly supportive of his proposal. The following day, three junior officers schedule an appointment in your office. They state that, in their opinion, the highest performers are the recently hired guards. They offer the observation that the senior guards are by far the highest paid, whereas the less senior officers lag far behind in salary. A true “merit” award based on performance appraisals would be more valid and in accordance with the taxpayers’ interests. References Kearney, Richard C.; Mareschal, Patrice M.. Labor Relations in the Public Sector (Public Administration and Public Policy). CRC Press.