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04-27-1983 ,...... '-' () ~ ~.. r CITY OF EDGEWATER MERIT BOARD MEETING April 27, 1983 Vice Chairman Bates called the meeting of the Merit Board to order at 7:00 P.M. in the conference area of the Community Center. ROLL CALL Betty Billups Robert Bates Ray Troian Debbie Sigler Nancy Blazi, City Clerk Present Present Excused Present Present APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mrs. Billups pointed out that the starting time of the meeting should be 7:00 instead of 7:30, and also, Mrs. Blazi's name should appear as being present. It was remembered that this particular meeting was proposed to be a joint meeting with the Council and it probably was 7:30 before the meeting started. However, Mrs. Blazi's name is to be added showing that she was present. Mrs. Billups made a motion to adopt the minutes, being seconded by Mrs. Sigler. Upon roll call vote the motion CARRIED 3-0. OLD BUSINESS Safety Policy: Mrs. Blazi explained that the Council suggested that there should be at least two department heads on the safety committee as well as two employees. Mrs. Sigler read from the Council minutes regarding this subject. The board members agreed with the Council's suggestion regarding the department heads and employees on the committee. It was also agreed that the accident forms should be kept in City Hall and when- ever an accident occurs the forms would be filled out immediately. Mrs. Blazi stated that we will have to have a meeting with the super- visors explaining what the responsibilities are exactly regarding the safety program. She added that she would like to see volunteers instead of appointing people to this committee. Mrs. Sigler made a motion that a memo be sent out to the department heads notifying their employees about the safety program, asking for volunteers to serve on the committee. If Mrs. Blazi doesn't receive any volunteers, then she can bring names to the next Merit Board meeting, and we can go on a rotation type method where everyone in each department will at one time serve on this committee. Mrs. Billups seconded the motion. Upon roll call vote the motion CARRIED 3-0. Mr. Bates questioned the possibility of requesting Council to give Mrs. Blazi the authority to spend the dollar amount necessary for the improvement or repair due to an accident, or hazardous situation. It was explained that each department head has the authority to spend up to $1,000~ and if anything came up that could not be handled under this system a special meeting could be requested of the Council. o ~ ? Merit Pay Plan: Mrs. Blazi stated that we could start with the Perfor- mance Evaluation form which would be filled out by the employees them- selves and the supervisors. Mr. Bates asked Mrs. Blazi if she has available the packages that were obtained from the other cities? He added what he would like to see is a package made up of our recommendation to be sent on to the Council, however he feels that they should also receive a sample of the infor- mation that we received from another city, to show that we are not trying to "reinvent the wheel". Mrs. Blazi agreed that this is a good idea. She can get this informa- tion and have it prepared for the Council. Mrs. Sigler suggested that the Performance Evaluation form, the Yearly Evaluation, the Job Descriptions in Classifications, the Pay Scale Work- sheet all be put together as a package and give these to the supervisors. Have the supervisors try to work with this, shew us what the flaws are, give us suggestions and maybe by our next Merit Board meeting we could go over the findings. After this is used on a trial basis and the prob- lems are worked out, then we make a recommendation to the Council. Mrs. Blazi added that the most important thing for the Council to approve is the pay scale, and until we are asking for the adoption for a specific pay plan we are still dealing with what is basically administrative pro- cedures as far as personnel is concerned. Also, this will have to be approved by the union prior to sending it to the Council. There was discussion about the original worksheet on the pay scale being run out the fifteen steps in order to get all the present employees on the scale. It should only be a ten step scale and if we have employees who have reached the end of the scale, they have reached the maximum. Perhaps a longevity percentage should be taken into consideration. Mrs. Blazi explained that most of the places she spoke with had this longevity step in their plans. There was discussion about probationary period. Mrs. Blazi explained that in most cases everyone is given a raise when they complete the probationary period. An example was given and the board members used the scale just as visual aid of what would happen with an employee as they were evaluated. Mrs. Bennington questioned the benefits possessed by an employee working on their probationary. It was explained that benefits are not given to the employees until after their three months probationary period is over. She suggested that in lieu of an automatic raise when an employee comes off probation, they are given the full benefits. Also, perhaps you could change their anniversary date or hire date, going ahead and giving the raise after probation is completed, but then changing the date so that it would be a year from that time before they were eligible for another evaluation. Mr. Bates reminded everyone that further down the line this would affect their retirement, and that might not be a good idea. Mrs. Blazi agreed with Mrs. Bennington's idea of the full benefits after the probationary period, being an increase in itself in a way, and she added that perhaps after six months of the person's hire date they would be eligible for the Step B in their classification. In other words, an individual would work for the City for six months before receiving a merit increase. There was a discussion, using the job description classification list and the pay scale as to the hiring salaries of different type positions. This is an area where the supervisors will definitely be of some help once they receive this information. -2- o o " Mrs. Blazi read from one of the packages received by another city in regard to the merit plan, probationary period, promotions and demotions, etc. The particular benefits enjoyed by our employees once they have completed the probationary period are: hospitalization, free pension plan, dental plan, perscription plan; these items are spelled out in the Personnel Guide and Contracts. At this time the board members discussed the evaluation form pro- cedures. Mrs. Blazi stated that the supervisors have forms and we should be using them. She has some examples of forms that we may want to use, some for achievements and some for counselling where improvement is needed. It was agreed that Mrs. Sigler would compile a package of a program to be used on a temporary trial basis, also in this package for the Council a few comparisons from the packages we have that other cities are using. This is just for information presently, we are not asking for approval of anything right now. There was discussion about the pay scale as it appears on the worksheet, when a person reaches the maximum step in his grade classification. It was explained that if a person is reclassified after reaching the end of a grade he would not be placed in the first step of the next grade. He would be put into whatever step is the closest, yet higher than the pay step he was presently in. The first step of a grade is for some- one who is beginning and qualified or classified in that grade. Mr. Bates made a point that this should be spelled out specifically in the plan, that no one would be hurt by receiving a reclassification. Mrs. Billups agreed that this should not happen, and it should be written in. The board continued to the evaluation form. The proposed form that Mrs. Blazi suggested is what the board members agreed to send to the employees, with one correction of adding an "Outstanding" grade. A grading chart should be worked out, and it was agreed that no one receiving less than half should be recommended for any raise. However, an employee receiving an outstanding evaluation should perhaps receive more than the percentage increase; it was agreed that a two step jump on the scale would be in line in this situation. Mrs. Blazi suggested that she and the other supervisors could take an old evaluation form and see how this grading system would work. The chart will have to be worked out. In regard to the evaluations, Mrs. Blazi told the board members that at one of the seminars she attended recently, supervisors were informed that it is a good idea to carry around a Performance Log on a daily basis. This would be for a real contribution not every little thing. Supervisors should have this kind of back up material to justify giving such high evaluations, as well as the paperwork to back up a low evalu- ation. We have to educate the supervisors of this. This system should also be followed when department heads are evaluated by the Council. Mrs. Blazi informed the board that the union has called for an eligibility list be maintained. Therefore when an opening exists, this eligibility list would be considered first before going out to hire someone. There was discussion on the flexibility of this program as the City grows; the job classification list will be added to, as well as the figures on the scale be updated with cost of living increases. Mrs. Billups stated that the Merit Board needs another member appointed. Mrs. Sigler read from the Council minutes where this has been discussed and she added that they do realize we need a member and are working on it. -3- Q o . Back to the matter of the Merit Plan. Mrs. Sigler stated that she did not read in any of the packages anything in line with Councilman Spencer's suggestion about the supervisors being limited to so many merit increases per department. If this should be in the plan, we need to work up the wording. It was agreed that this particular procedure would only cause more favoritism among the department employees, and would not be completely fair to all of the employees. It was also agreed that with all of the packages that Mrs. Blazi has received from other places, and the progress that has been made at this meeting, there really is no need for the City to pay for professional help. A lot of work has already been done and more will be learned from the trial run of the program. ADJOURNMENT Mrs. Billups made a motion to adjourn, being seconded by Mrs. Sigler. Meeting adjourned 9:15 P.M. Minutes submitted by: Debbie Sigler -4-