5.7 ERMUSR 11-10-2020UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO:FROM:
ERMU Commission Theresa Slominski - GeneralManager
MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
November 10, 2020 5.7
SUBJECT:
Wage & BenefitsCommitteeUpdate
ACTION REQUESTED:
Approve all action items as outlined below to be effective January 1, 2021.
DISCUSSION:
On October 13, the Wage & Benefits Committee (WBC) held an open meeting for employees to
submit wage and benefit suggestions for consideration by theCommittee. A representative
group of employees presented several suggestions focused on the retention of employees. The
Committee met on October 28 to review and research topics from the open meeting. The
Committee also reviewed the “metro average” for the Lineworker positions and the 3% cost-of-
living adjustment (COLA) included in the budget. The Committee submits the following for
Commission consideration:
Employee Requests
The followingitems were requested: “metro average”benchmarking for Lineworker positions,
increase the On-Call radius from 20 to 25 miles, increase the On-Call compensationfrom 12 to
14 hours, have the ability to obtain up to 40 hours each year through worked overtime (OT)
and/or On-Call pay towards comp time, implement Longevity Pay with two differentideas
presented, change the vacation accrual to award 22 days at 16-18 years of service, and increase
the vacation accrual by 3 days to be awarded 1 day each at years 20, 22, and 24.
1. Metro Average – The metro average cost-of-living adjustment used for benchmarking
Lineworker market pay compares the base compensation of four metro municipals and
three metro cooperatives with ERMU. The comparison utilities are: The City of Anoka,
The City of Chaska, the City of North St. Paul, Shakopee Public Utilities, Connexus
Energy, Great River Energy, and Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association.
The projected 2021 metro average for base compensation would result in a 3.6%
adjustment (COLA plus market adjustment) for the ERMU Lineworker pay group. This
benchmarking system for the group has improvedstability in ERMU’s market
competitiveness for this pay group. The Committee recommends awarding the metro
average increase for the Lineworker pay group as requested.
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Thecommittee also discussed the need to have the metro average as a consistent
request from the lineworkerseach year, or to have the metro average be a “given” each
yearto stay competitive. The Committee would like to have Commission discussion on
this topic.
2. On-Call Radius – The current On-Call Radius is 20 miles from the power plant (the
Residency Rule in our Employee Handbook). All employees in the On-Call rotation must
live within this 20-mile radius, as determined by a straight line from the resident address
to the power plant. The request was to expand the radius to 25 miles. There was
discussion on the reporting time being increased if the radius is moved farther out and
the safety factors to be considered in the event of a life/death emergency or
catastrophic infrastructure failure (large outages or water main breaks). Thirty minutes
was determined to be the maximum tolerable reporting time. The current reporting
distance of 20 miles could be over thirty minutes in some areas already. Conversely,
depending on the thoroughfares available for different areas, distances greater than 20
miles could have a report time of less than thirty minutes. The committee discussed
whether a time limit would be morebeneficial than a mile limit. As the 20 miles is close
to the desired time limit maximum of thirty minutes, and we wouldn’t want to create
noncompliance if changed, consensus was to leave the radius at 20 miles.
3. On-Call Compensation- The current On-Call Compensation is 12 hours at regular rate
of pay (or 8 hours at the OT rate). Employees requested increasing this to 14 hours at
regular rate of pay, to be more comparable to the metro average of 14.8 hours. The On-
Call Compensation wasreviewed for 2019 and year-to-date 2020, and then projected
for 2021 with a change in the hours from 12 to 14.It was estimated to be about a
$10,000 increase to make this change and this was acceptable. The Committee
recommends increasing the On-Call Compensation from 12 hours at regular rate of pay
to 14 hours at regular rate of pay.
4. Comp Time – Employees requested having the ability to obtain up to 40 hours each
year through worked OTand/or On-Call pay towards Comp Time.The Committeewas
favorable to implementing thisfor OT pay only, and not including On-Call pay, with a
maximum of 40 hours for the year. The Committee discussed other parameters for
Comp Time. For every hour of OTworked, an employee could choose to be paid at the
OT rate, or earn1.5 hoursof Comp Time. Nomore than 40 hours of Comp Time could be
earned in a year, and if not used by December 15it would be paid out,so no Comp Time
is carried over to the next year. When using the earned Comp Time, it would need to be
scheduled with the supervisor and subject to the operating needs of the Utilities. The
Committee recommends allowing Comp Time based on the above parameters.
5. Longevity Pay – There were two ideas presented for consideration of awarding
Longevity Pay.The Committee reviewed these ideas and reviewed a 2016 survey from
MMUA regarding benefits among municipal utilities that had information on peers’
implementation of Longevity Pay. The survey results were varied and seemed to be a
lower amount than either of the ideas presented. The Committee was favorable to
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implementing Longevity Pay, howeveras additionalinformation is needed, the
Committeewould like to research in 2021 to bring back for Commissionconsideration in
2022.
6. Longevity Pay – Vacation – Currently,vacation is accrued starting onthe first day of
employment to earn 10 days the first year, and it increases gradually to 20 days in year
14. Then there is no increase in vacation days until year 19 when you earn 25 days,
maximum. It was requested to earn 22 days in year 16, earn 25 days in year 19, and
then additionally in year 20 earn 26 days, in year 22 earn 27 days, and in year 24 earn 28
days (increasing the maximum by 3 days.) The Committee was favorable to increasing
the vacation accrual in year 16 to 22 days. The Committee would like to research the
comparability of additional days beyond 25 days in 2021 to possibly bring back to the
Commission for consideration in 2022.
ACTION REQUESTED:
The Committeerecommends the Commissiontake thefollowing actions:
Approve 3.0%COLAfortheOffice,Field,andManagementpay groups.
Approve 3.6% adjustment (COLA plus market adjustment) for the Lineworker pay group.
Approve increasing the On-Call pay from 12 to 14 hours.
Approve ability to obtain up to 40 hours each year through worked OT towards comp
time.
Approve changing the vacation accrual to award 22 days at 16-18 years of service.
Approve researching Longevity Pay, and additional vacation accruals beyond 25 days.
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