6.5. SR 03-11-2013 Elk REQUEST FOR ACTION
River
TO ITEM NUMBER
Mayor and City Council 6.5
AGENDA SECTION MEETING DATE PREPARED BY
Work Session March 11, 2013 Cal Portner, City Administrator
ITEM DESCRIPTION REVIEWED By
Temporary Increase in Human Resources Support Hours
REVIEWED BY
ACTION REQUESTED
Consider and consent to increasing HR support hours by sixteen hours biweekly.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
The city operates with one human resources representative to serve 140 regular part- and full-time
employees plus over 300 seasonal and temporary employees. The work of the HR representative is
supplemented by the city administrator and, as time allows, by senior administrative staff of the city clerk.
Typical work of the HR representative includes the following:
• Managing the hiring of new personnel including seasonal hiring cycles
• Consulting with management staff on disciplinary and personnel issues
• Resource to employees regarding policy,pay,and benefits
• Responding to external requests for information
• Renewing benefits, conducting employee benefit open enrollment,managing benefit
changes,insurance payroll deductions and vendor payments,updating benefit plan
documents
• Managing the performance review program
• Ensuring city/employee compliance and reporting with pay equity, OSHA, FLSA,personnel
manual, EEOC,ADA requirements,FMLA
• Exit interviews, release forms, and COBRA
• Managing the workers compensations program
• Leading and serving on a variety of employee committees
• Monitoring and coordinating mandatory personnel training
In the past six months, although we have removed payroll oversight and lessoned meeting load by
utilizing senior staff and discontinuing participation in department director meetings, a number of issues
have arisen that have created a backlog in HR work,including:
• Biennial election cycle (admin support)
• FLSA leave
• Overage in vacation hours accumulation
• New and replacement hiring
• City website implementation (admin support)
• Changes to OSHA reporting and required OSHA Logs
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• Mandated Pay Equity Report due (every 3 years)
• Timekeeping software review,purchase and implementation
• Mandated healthcare benefit changes (Affordable Healthcare Act)
• Implementation of opt-out option for cafeteria plan
• Union negotiations
In order to catch up on the HR workload, staff requests a temporary increase of work hours for the
payroll clerk,Denise Keller,to assist HR. Ms. Keller has an HR background and relevant 4-yr degree.
She currently works a regular schedule of 40 hours on payroll week and 24 hours on the off week and is
considered a 32-hour per week employee. She also works 40 hours per week during year-end closing
periods,which is coming to a close.
In the staff reorganization plan,it was hoped that the implementation of the timekeeping software would
eventually free up some time from payroll. With the backlog of work in HR, the purchase and timeline
for implementation has been pushed back.
The added hours would be temporary,until HR is caught up or upon completion of the implementation
of the new timekeeping software.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The maximum cost for Ms. Keller to work 40-hours each week until year end would be an additional cost
of approx. $12,000 in pay and benefits, an additional 328 hours over the course of the year. It is intended
that this position would return to its regular schedule as soon as we can.
The city has experienced budgeted savings for personnel costs with unexpected departures and the delay
in new hiring. There is money budgeted that will be unspent beyond the 0.5% attrition decrease added to
the 2013 budget.
ATTACHMENTS
None
N:\Public Bodies\City Council\Council RCA\Agenda Packet\03-11-2013\HR assistnace from payroll.docx