4.8. SR 06-15-2015 �j
Elk = - Request for Action
River
To Item Number
Mayor and City Council 4.8
Agenda Section Meeting Date Prepared by
Consent June 15, 2015 Cal Portner, City Administrator
Item Description Reviewed by
Memorandums of Understanding: City of Elk River Lauren Wipper, Human Resources Representative
and LELS Local #231 Reviewed by
Action Requested
Approve, by motion, two Memorandums of Understanding to amend the current labor contract between
the City of Elk River and Law Enforcement Labor Services Local #231.
Background/Discussion
Following the unfortunate passing of Officer Todd Besser, two items came to light that needed to be
clarified in the labor contract between the city and the union.
The first item, Bereavement Leave, does not allow for time off for the bereavement of a co-worker. In this
case, officers work shifts and short of vacation/comp time,would have had to take time off to adjust
from night shift to a day schedule to attend funeral services. During this period, police services in the city
were provided through our mutual aid agreement with the sheriffs office.
The second item, Sick Leave, amounts to what is the city's severance pay program. The city pays out one-
half of the first 960 hours of accrued sick leave under certain circumstances. The intent or spirit of the
policy is to reward employees who leave in good standing with a portion of their accrued sick leave. For
an employee to have a balance, sick leave must be used sparingly and the goal is to ensure sick leave is not
abused. In this case, Officer Besser was an employee in good standing and would have qualified for the
payout if he had separated employment in a more typical capacity.
Financial Impact
For Bereavement Leave,public safety services were provided by another agency without additional cost to
the city. This memorandum has no net affect on the typical cost of doing business.
For Sick Leave, Officer Besser,providing his future service was similar to his previous service,would have
qualified for the severance benefit.
Attachments
• Memorandum of Understanding—Bereavement Leave
• Memorandum of Understanding—Sick Leave
p 0 W I R E a 0
NA UREJ
Memorandum of Understanding
This Memorandum of Understanding entered into this day of May 2015 is between the City of
Elk River and the Law Enforcement Labor Service, Inc. Local 231 (City of Elk River Patrol
Officers)
Effective May 13, 2015, Article XIX—BEREAVEMENT LEAVE of the Labor Agreement in force
until December 31, 2015, is amended to provide as follow:
Bereavement leave shall follow city policy.
In the event of the death of a co-worker, employees scheduled to work a regular shift shall receive bereavementpay for
the period identified by the city administrator to accommodate attendzng funeral or memorial services.
This memorandum does not set a practice or precedent.
John Dietz, Mayor Business Agent
Tina Allard, City Clerk Union Steward
Memorandum of Understanding
This Memorandum of Understanding entered into this day of June 2015 is between the City of
Elk River and the Law Enforcement Labor Service, Inc. Local 231 (City of Elk River Patrol
Officers)
Effective May 13, 2015, Article XVIII —SICK LEAVE of the Labor Agreement in force until
December 31, 2015, is amended to add the following provision::
18.4 In the event of an employee death,payment of this benefit consistent with this article may be approved by the
city administrator if the employee would have been eligible for cash payment under item 18.3.
This memorandum does not set a practice or precedent.
John Dietz, Mayor Business Agent
Tina Allard, City Clerk Union Steward