Just two months before her first child is due to be born, Ashley Phillips is getting a welcome boost in her pay this week.
The 20-year-old certified nursing assistant is among 142 workers at Alexian Brothers' facilities in Chattanooga whose pay is being raised to $11 an hour this week as part of a nationwide effort by the biggest Catholic health system to pay a "socially just" wage. For Phillips, who began her work at Alexian's PACE program last year with an hourly wage of $9.50, was making $9.60 an hour before Alexian raised that all pay to at least $11 an hour on Sunday.
The pay boost will mean an extra $56 a week, before taxes, for Phillips.
"This will be a great help to me, and comes at an important time for me," she said Friday. "I live in Soddy-Daisy and work downtown so that's 30 minutes a day of traveling and a lot of gas."
Alexian Brothers, a division of the nation's biggest Catholic health care system - Ascension Health - employs about 675 employees in Chattanooga. About 21 percent of Alexian's employees got a wage hike this week when minimum pay was raised to $11 an hour, Alexian spokeswoman Kim Goodwin said.
The wage change, which began July 5, is part of a nationwide move to a "socially just" wage by Alexian Brothers' parent, Ascension Health. The higher minimum wage affects the lowest-paid associates of Alexian Brothers PACE, Alexian Village of Tennessee, Alexian Brothers Valley Residence, Alexian Assisted Living, Alexian Brothers Live At Home Program, Alexian Grove, Alexian Brothers Home Care, and Alexian Village Health & Rehabilitation Center.
"Although we already have a low turn-over rate, the new socially just wage will only enhance our ability to retain and recruit qualified associates," said Joy Randall, human resources director of Alexian Brothers Community Services.
Ascension is the largest nonprofit and Catholic health system in the nation and employs nearly 10,000 workers at nursing homes, senior centers and other health care ministries across America.
"We believe our associates deserve a socially just wage that acknowledges the dignity of the human person and the spiritual significance of the care they provide every day to those we serve and to their fellow associates," Anthony Tersigni, president and CEO of Ascension, said in the statement.
Ascension said the change "will encourage other health care employers to choose to do the same."
Other major employers operating in Chattanooga already have raised their wages, although some not as much as Ascension.
In April, Wal-Mart raised starting wages to at least $9 starting for all workers, and will boost that minimum pay to $10 an hour next year. The move was followed by its competitor, Target, a month later.
McDonald's also is boosting its minimum pay this month to at least $1 above the government-set minimum of $7.25 for employees at company-owned stores and plans to pay at least $10 per hour by the end of 2016.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com