5.4 ERMUSR 09-14-2021UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO:FROM:
ERMU Commission Theresa Slominski - GeneralManager
MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
September 14, 2021 5.4
SUBJECT:
Wage & BenefitsCommitteeUpdate
ACTION REQUESTED:
Approve all action items as outlined below to be effective January 1, 2022.
DISCUSSION:
On October 13, 2020, the Wage & Benefits Committee (WBC) held an open meeting for
employees to submit wage and benefit suggestions for consideration by the Committee. A
representative group of employees presented several suggestions focused on the retention of
employees. Several items were implemented in 2021 and two were held over for discussion and
possible implementation in 2022: Longevity Pay, and additional Vacation Days. The Committee
met on May 26, 2021, to review theresearch from these two items, and made a proposal to the
Commission at the July 13, 2021 Commission meeting. No decision was made at that meeting
and the proposal was deferred for further discussion with the WBC.
An open meeting withthe WBC was held on August 10, 2021 for employees to submit wage and
benefit suggestions for consideration by the Committee. A representative group of employees
presented four suggestions and the document they prepared is attached. The first request was
for the “metro average” wage adjustment for 2022, and for this to be the standard each year
companywide. The second request was to have the residency rule for on-call positions to be
modified to state “..within a twenty (20) mile radius of the power plant, or within a 30-minute
response time.” The third request was for the Longevity Plan to be a choice between an
employer contribution to the 457 plan or the employee taking the money in check form. To
maximize investment in a 457 plan, the payout was requested to be annual rather than every
four years. Both an annual contribution and a four-year contribution plan was submitted,
notably with higher contribution amounts in the beginning and a more uniform distribution
throughout the term of employment. The fourth request was to explore some options for
having a summer hours schedule for field staff.
The WBC met on August 25 to discuss the items requested at the open meeting, and the items
previously proposed at the July 13 meeting. The Committee discussion and proposals are
outlined as follows:
1. The first request for the metro average to be awarded for 2022, and for the metro
average to be the standard every year was addressed in the open meeting. This
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same request was made the prior year and legal counsel advised that a current
commission cannot obligate a future commission to a set wage increase. However,
the commission and the WBC committee both agree that the metro average is the
benchmark to strive for in awarding the wage adjustment for the lineworkers every
year.
Regarding the request to have the metro average as the standard wage adjustment
companywide, the four employee groups were discussed. These groups were
created strategically to allow for the appropriate wage adjustments to be applied to
the different market groups. The organization benchmarks the lineworker group
every year to remain competitive in a very competitive market. The other groups are
not as easy to benchmark, however, we need to do a better job of doing this on a
regular basis. The committee will work with HR to determine a way to do this
regularly, and present to employees what that timeframe is (annually, every two
years, every three years, etc.) so they know what to expect.
2. The second request to change the residency rule to be within 20 miles or 30 minutes
seems reasonable and there was very little discussion. As the original criteria for 20
miles was that it shouldn’t be more than 30 minutes response time within that
radius, this would allow for some additional flexibility if more than 20 miles still can
be accomplished in 30 minutes.
The Committee proposes that the residency rule be changed to be within a twenty
(20) mile radius of the power plant, or within a 30-minute response time.
3. The third request for the Longevity Plan as a potential employer contribution to the
457 plan was researched for legality. Unfortunately, any employer contribution to
the 457 plan can only be a matched contribution by the employee, and so could not
be done as requested. The committee reviewed the previously submitted proposal
from July and revised the contribution amounts within the years of award.
The revised longevity plan proposed is below:
8 years $1,550
12 years $2,025
16 years $2,100
20 years $2,125
24 years $2,300
28 years $3,000
32 years $3,000
4. The fourth request was to explore some options for having a summer hours
schedule for field staff. There was discussion on what the considerations and
challenges are in implementing a summer schedule. The most obvious challenge was
the current application of overtime in recording hours worked for the field staff.
They are currently paid overtime on any day where more than 8 hours are worked.
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In order to “workahead” and leave early on a Friday, that would likely need to
change.The Committee willwork with HR to explore options to possibly bring back
for implementation in a later year.
5.The Committee proposed a change to the vacation accrual in July and is bringing
back that same proposal now. The vacation changes proposed are below:
0-4 years 12 days
20-21 years 26 days
22-23 years 27 days
24+ years 28 days
ACTION REQUESTED:
The Committee recommends the Commission take the followingactionsto be effectiveJanuary
1, 2022:
Approve changing the residency rule to allow within 20 miles or 30 minutes of response
time.
Approve Longevity Pay per proposed schedule and amounts.
Approve additional vacation accruals beyond 25 days and change the beginning accrual
as proposed.
ATTACHMENTS:
Wage & Benefit Committee Update from July 13, 2021 commission meeting.
Employee requests from WBC open meeting - August 10, 2021.
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