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07-27-1983 r . o o CITY OF EDGEWATER MERIT BOARD MEETING July 27, 1983 The meeting of the Merit Board was called to order at 7:00 P.M. in the conference area of the Community Center. ROLL CALL Betty Billups Roberts Bates Ray Troian Dr. Roland Bazin Debbie Sigler Connie Kinsey, City Clerk Present Absent Absent Present Present Present Mrs. Sigler informed the board members that Mr. Troian had phoned in his resignation from the board and she read the resignation of Mr. Bates into the record. The board members all expressed their disappointment with these resignations, however could understand the discouragement the members feel. It was pointed out that Mr. Bates had been filling in as acting Chairman until such time the full board was present to hold an election of officers. Mrs. Kinsey explained that a quorum is present and officers could be elected. Mrs. Billups nominated Dr. Bazin as Chairman, being seconded by Mrs. Sigler. Nominations were closed. Dr. Bazin was elected board Chairman. Dr. Bazin nominated Mrs. Billups as Vice Chairman, being seconded by Mrs. Sigler. Nominations were closed. Mrs. Billups was elected Vice Chairman. Chairman Bazin requested that Mrs. Sigler lead the board through tonight's agenda, as he is a fairly new board member. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mrs. Billups made a motion to approve the minutes of the June 22nd regular board meeting, being seconded by Mrs. Sigler. Motion CARRIED 3-0. COMMUNICATIONS Mrs. Sigler read a memo from Mrs. Kinsey regarding workmen's compensation, also reading from last month's meeting an excerpt of the conversation in question. Dr. Bazin questioned the fact that once someone is out of work due to an injury for a certain extent of time, if they plan on being out any longer, it says they can use their sick days or vacation time. He does not understand how this can be done when someone was hurt on the job. ~ o o Mrs. Kinsey explained that workmen's compensation is approximately 60% of your salary. The City pays the difference in order that the individual receives a full pay check, for ninety days. At the end of the ninety days, the City no longer subsidizes the injury. The individual still gets his 60% from the comp carrier, however at this point he can chose to utilize his sick time or vacation. It is the individual's choice. Dr. Bazin thanked the City Clerk for the explanation, which cleared up his question. He added that this is a generous policy. Mrs. Kinsey added that it is very rare that an injury run the full ninety working days. At this time there was discussion in regard to the desire to get the safety program off the ground. It was agreed that this is a very important committee, and as soon as possible we should hold an organizational meeting. Mrs. Sigler read the memo from the Merit Board regarding the department head status, explaining that a package has been prepared of the job descriptions, the hourly rates of each individual and the organizational chart which was recently adopted by Council. It was explained that presently some redrafting is being done on the job description of the Building and Grounds Superintendent and a Recreational Director, what is in this information is the job description that is now in effect. There was discussion at this time regarding the proposed Merit Plan that was submitted to the Council. Dr. Bazin questioned the reason given for tabling the plan. Mrs. Kinsey explained that it was tabled until union negotiations are completed. She added that everyone is now aware of the fact that there is no pay plan in existance and this is certainly needed. Dr. Bazin questioned the placing of the employees to this scale. Mrs. Sigler went over the procedure which' was followed in order to give the Council a figure of the cost involved in placing everyone to the proposed scale. She explained that each depart- ment head helped classify each of his employees. Then a spread sheet was done taking their present salaries and determining the closest pay step on the chart to each employee. In a number of cases the hourly rate was only one penny away from the chart and a pattern began forming by which,taking into consideration the years served by the individual, they were on the chart about where they should be. There were questions from the board members about the Council not adopting the plan. Mrs. Kinsey explained that she has spoke with the Council members, informing them of the present conditions. She added that Councilwoman Bennington did express her appreciation for the hard work that was put into the plan. There was d~scussion that functioning without any plan at all could be more costly to the City than adopting a specific plan with limitations on how many increases can be awarded. Also Dr. Bazin pointed out how helpful a specific pay scale would be during budget preparation, it will even be more beneficial when the supervisory positions are classified. Mrs. Kinsey spoke on the different forms included in the merit package, which will be of value when the department heads evaluate their employees. -2- ~ o o Dr. Bazin asked what we could do to get this item off the table. Mrs. Kinsey explained it will have to wait until after the nego- tiations. She went on to explain that she does not feel any of the Council members have a problem with the plan itself. There is a feeling of double jeopardy and everyone is going to be:~etting two raises, due to the union contract and a merit system. It was explained further that presently this is exactly what is happening; it has been the unwritten policy that everyone gets some kind of increase now when they are evaluated each year. Also, the union could not do away with a merit system, even if they wanted to. It was a referendum item and it in the City Charter there will be a merit system. It was also questioned why ,.the Council would not rather have their employees working on a merit system, which means trying a little harder than the next person. There was a conversation regarding the amending of the pay scale each year, according to the Council's wishes on salary increases. Mrs. Kinsey stated that she was told when the budget was set this past year, everyone received a 5% cost of living and there was 3% put in for merit. Mrs. Sigler stated that another supervisor told he~ when discussing this pla~ that he was told it was 4%. Mrs. Kinsey then added, we should all be working in line with each other, whatever the figure may be. OLD BUSINESS Mrs. Sigler read an excerpt from the Council minutes of July 18 regarding the Merit Pay Plan, whereby the plan was tabled pending the wage negotiations. It was decided, since the plan is still pending, and the board now has the job descriptions and information on the department heads, the board could go ahead and recommend classifications for the department heads. Mrs. Sigler suggested that rather than conferring with the department heads on determining their classifications which, in the past, caused personality conflicts; that the Mer{t Board, the Personnel Officer and the City Council make this decision. She recommended that when considering the department heads, instead of comparing them with each other, perhaps we could take into consideration their employees'classifications. A department head certainly should be classified higher than the employees under him, but not always classified as high as another department head who may have more qualifications, education and responsibilities.' The board members went through the department heads'job des- criptions and the classification schedule for each department, first choosing a tentative classification for the department head then looking at the pay scale to see if the choice would comply. In some cases, grades were left open for future growth and higher qualified employees to be fit in. It was agreed that a new sheet be put in the merit plan packages for Council consideration. Mrs. Kinsey explained that presently there is no one in the Building and Grounds Superintendent position, however we should go by all of the job descriptions that the Council has adopted. We should for example, place the City Clerk position in a classi- fication as well as the Finance Director position, although presently one person holds both positions and it is understood that she does not fall under the Merit System, nor is a member of the bargaining contract. -3- ~ o o Dr. Bazin stated that all we can do is present what we have worked on to the Council. We should show the means by which we made our recommendations and they will have to decide. Mrs. Sigler made a motion that we present this addition to our package to the Personnel Officer for Council considera- tion, being seconded by Mrs. Billups. Motion CARRIED 3-0. NEW BUSINESS There were no items from the safety committee to be discussed. Mrs. Sigler made a motion that we send a letter to the Council informing them that we have two vacancies on the board and asking for new board members, being seconded by Mrs. Billups. Motion CARRIED 3-0. ADJOURNMENT Mrs. Billups made a motion to adjourn, being seconded by Mrs. Sigler. Meetingadjourned 8:45. Minutes Submitted By: Debbie Sigler NOTE: Mr. Bates withdrew his resignation the following morning. Letter to Council showed one vacancy on the board. -4-