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5.5. SR 10-27-2003MEMORANDUM Item 5.5. TO: FROM: DATE: Mayor and City Council Pat Klaers, City admi~ t~~ October 27, 2003 ,'~ SUBJECT: Consider Compensatory Time Policy Change for Exempt Employees A compensatory time informational memo was provided to the City Council with the October 13, 2003 agenda packet. In this memo it was indicated that I would be requesting Council approval of a change in the city comp time policy for exempt employees on October 27, 2003 so that this change could be implemented effective November 2, 2003. The change being requested of the City Council is to delete the last three sentences of the "t/me off for exempt employees" section of the city Personnel Policy Manual (see attachment). Also attached is my October 13, 2003 memo to the City Council, which should help explain the proposed change. It should also be noted that this change will not impact the police sergeants, as they are covered under a different policy that is part of their union contract. As stated in the attached October 13, 2003 memo, in addition to the change in the compensatory time policy for exempt employees, I am also recommending that 20% of the compensatory time hours that has been accumulated be converted into personal leave time. Employees will be provided 20% of their compensatory time as personal leave time and be required to use this time, or lose it, within five years. Recommendation It is recommended that the City Council delete the last three sentences from the "time off for exempt employees" section (on page five) of the city Personnel Policy Manual. It is recommended that the City Council authorize 20% of the accumulated compensatory time be converted to personal leave time and that the personal leave hours need to be used, or the hours will be lost, within five (5) years. S: \Council\ Pat\2003 \ comptimeine ffect.doc Overtime compensation will be paid for overtime hours, unless the employee and department head mutually agree in advance of performance of the work that the overtime will be banked as compensatou~ time in lieu of receipt of overtime compensation. Employees may request and use compensatory time off in the same manner as other leave requests. Non-exempt employees who have requested the use of accrued compensatory, time will be permitted to use the compensatory time within a reasonable period after makdng the request, if the use of the compensatory time does not unduly disrupt the operations of the City. All compensatory time must be marked as such on official timesheets, both when it is earned and when it is taken. Overtime hours not specified as compensatory time will be paid with overtime compensation. The Finance Department maintains compensatory time records. An employee whose activities include public safety, emergency response or seasonal work may accumulate up to 480 hours of unused compensatory time in a "bank." All other employees may accumulate up to.240 hours of unused compensatory time in a "bank." In any event, no employee may carry over more than forty (40) hours of compensatory time in a bank from one calendar year to the next. Any non-exempt employee who has accumulated more hours of compensatory time than he or she is permitted to bank wilt be paid overtime compensation for all overtime hours of work in excess of the amount permitted to be banked. Upon termination of employment, non- exempt employees will be paid for all accrued but unused compensatory time. TI2~E OFF FOR EXEMPT EMPLOYEES Exempt employees are exempt from the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act and are expected to work whatever hours are necessary in order to meet the performance expectations outlined by their supervisors, the City Administrator and/or the City Council. Exempt employees are often required and expected to work in excess of forty (40) hours per week. ~l~jt~ll~oyees :must record all time worked on official timesheet~.' Exempt'emp[oyee~ may take no more than four (4) hours of compen~tto~ time off in one, day and no more than t~ (10) hours of:~pm~atory time off in one weelt Exempt employees shall not be paid for compensatory, timeunder any circumstance. ~ REPORT OF PERSONNEL CEL4~NGES The City attempts to maintain complete and accurate personnel information on its employees. The City complies will laws regarding data privacy. It is important that your permanent personnel records are kept accurate and up-to-date. You must immediately notify the payroll department when there is a change in any of the following: · Name (through marriage or otherwise) · Address · Marital status · Beneficiaries for life insurance and retirement · Telephone number · Person to contact in case of emergency · Other changes which may affect benefits coverage MEMORANDUM TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: Mayor and City Council Pat Klaers, City Admi'~,ist~a~?r October 13, 2003 '~ Comp Time The city needs to change its compensatory time policy for exempt employees. The current comp time policy states, in part, that exempt employees may take no more than four hours of comp time off in one day and no more than ten hours of comp time off in one week. In my opinion, this policy no longer treats all of our exempt employees fairly. (The city has 24 exempt employees excluding the Police Sergeants.) In too many cases there has been times when an employee will have ~vorked a "huge" week and then that employee needs and deserves to take a day off, but can use no more than four hours of comp time off in one day because of our policy. Another reason to make a change in our comp time policy is that the city must make sure that it is in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The easiest, cleanest, and best way for the city to ensure compliance with FLSA, and in order for the city to be fair to all employees is simply to eliminate the recording of comp dine. This will not impact how we do business or work as city employees, it will only impact how ~ve record hours. The city will only record hours worked, vacation time taken, sick dine taken, and holidays. We will no longer record compensation dme earned or taken. This is not an uncommon practice for municipalities. This issue was discussed (again) at the September 23, 2003 department head staff meeting and the consensus reached was that it is best for the city to elLmmate comp nme being recorded as earned or taken. Use of comp me is a management and supervisor issue. Use of compensation time relates to whether or not an employee is required to be at work for a particular assignment or duty and, overall, whether or not the employee's work is getting completed. In this regard, both the employee and employer need to have a clear understanding of the expectations and responsibilities of the position. If problems e:dst with an employee's work performance or hours worked, then this is a management or supervisory issue and needs to be addressed. A second comp time issue that needs Council review is related to the comp hours which employees have built up and have "in the bank" at this time. Some employees have a large amount of comp dme built up while other exempt employees have a very modest amount. The city has not capped the amount of comp Ume that can be carried over from one year to the next and has simply kept a running log of the hours accumulated as compared to the hours used. Use of these comp hours by an employee is not an entidement and the city could simply eliminate these hours entirely. However, I think it's appropriate to acknowledge the work and dedication of these employees. In this regard, I am recommending to the City Council that when we stop the recording of comp me and eliminate the comp time hours that are on the books, then the city, gives the employee 20% of the hours accumulated to be used as personal leave time. This personal leave dine will not be paid in cash upon the employee leaving the city. The employee will need to use these hours sometime over the next five years. In this manner, employees that have three or four weeks vacadon dme available to them per year will not have to try, to also use all of their personal leave time in one year and can plan out the use of this dine. Even ~vith this five-year approach, there may be a few employees that do not use aH of their personal leave. It is planned that this change in the recording of comp time be effective on November 2, 2003. This will necessitate a sentence change and a sentence removal from the current personnel policy manual. Attached for your information is page 5 of the city, personnel policy manual that refers to nme off for exempt employees. Two sentences towards the end of this secdon need changing and/or removal. Action on this item will be requested on October 27, 2003. Any Council feedback on the above proposals prior to October 27 will be appreciated and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.