HomeMy WebLinkAboutPC Minutes 2003Final
Town of Ithaca Personnel Committee Meeting
December 10,2003
Final
Committee Attendees:Supervisor Catherine Valentino;Councilman Bill Lesser;
Don TenKate,Working Supervisor;Larry Salmi,Heavy Equipment Operator;
Cindy Vicedomini,Court Clerk;Judith C.Drake,Human Resources Manager
Others Attending:Paul Tunison,General Manager;Larry Parlett,Administration
Manager;Lisa Carrier-Titti,Network/Records Specialist
Call to order:1:35 p.m.
Agenda Item #2:Review Minutes of October 15,2003 meeting:
Approved as read.
Agenda Item #3:Persons to be Heard:
Lisa Carrier-Titti,Network/Records Specialist addressed the committee regarding
the effect of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).She handed out information off
the web from Apollo Light (www.apollohealth.com)and a news article on “How
does indoor lighting influence your workplace”.There was a great deal of
discussion around SAD and what could be done to mitigate some of the
problems.The group decided the first step would be to make sure that all the
lights in the main work room have been cleaned free of the plaster dust from
construction.The last known status was that Joe Hulbert,Maintenance Worker
could not reach two of the lights,due to the desk setup.Judy will follow up with
Joe to see if this task can be added to his schedule.She will also ask him to
check the illumination of the lights in that room as that room is pretty dark on gray
days,possibly it is time to change the bulbs.
Agenda Item #4:Discuss Recommendation to Increase Shift Differential for
Highway Staff:
At the previous Personnel Committee meeting it was suggested to increase the
shift differential to $0.75 per hour as that was the average rate from the benefit
survey.Henry Eighmey,Laborer,currently works the night shift at Highway and
has for the past two winters.Don was to talk over with Henry this $0.75 amount
and have him come back to this meeting with an acceptance or a
recommendation from Henry.Don explained Henry’s view is that the Town is
saving a great deal on overtime,because he works the night shift during the
winter.Working this shift costs him more money,because when he works the
regular shift he is able to car pool,saving on gas money.The current $0.60 per
hour increase for working the night shift only equates to $24 per week,which
barely covers the increase use of gas.Henry was requesting an increase of
$0.40 per hour that would increase the night rate from $0.60 to $1.00.This
$0.40 increase would cost the Town on average $256 more for 2004 than 2003.
The committee was comfortable in making the recommendation to the Town
Board at the yearend meeting to change the night shift rate from $0.60 to $1.00
for 2004.
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Final
Agenda Item #5:Druq Free Workplace Discussion:
Final
Judy explained that the Safety Committee has been reviewing the Drug and
Alcohol Policy and was sending to the Personnel Committee a revised policy to
review.The revised policy is to make the goal of the policy clearer,which is to
have a drug free workplace for the employees.Besides more wording explaining
the employer and employee responsibilities some of the other changes include:
>Name change from “Drug and Alcohol Policy"to “Drug Free Workplace
Policy">Reasonable Suspicion and post-accident testing was added and a
section explaining the desire to work with the employee to get them help
and hopefully return to work>Pre-employment testing (including seasonal and interns)
The main emphasis is to add the Drug Testing section,as there is no mention of
this in the current policy.The drug testing section does not include any form of
random testing for current employees as the Safety Committee did not feel this
was desirable and would cause a lot of debate.They felt the emphasis should
be on the reasonable suspicion and post-accident testing.They wavered on the
recommendation of including pre-employment testing especially on whether it
should include seasonal and interns.Therefore,the revised policy the Personnel
Committee had to review included the pre-employment for them to also discuss
and decide to include or not.
Some changes that the Personnel Committee felt needed to be addressed from
the discussion were adding the word illegal before transfer of alcohol as
employees may receive a gift of wine at the holiday party.The use of
prescription drugs needs to be worded or highlighted differently.There is still the
issue around employees bringing their own and consuming alcohol at town
functions such as the picnic.Judy will address all of these changes and any
others that come up from discussion with employees or the Safety Committee.
The committee decided to send the policy to the Town Board to get their take on
it as it is.They wanted feedback as to whether the policy should include pre¬
employment testing for all employees including seasonal and interns or not.
Currently the Town does no pre-employment testing including physicals unless
they are applying for a CDL required position and then they are required by law
to undergo a drug and alcohol pre-employment test
The Committee will send the policy including the Pre-employment testing to the
Town Board for discussion and recommendation.Judy will send out copy of
policy to employees to make them aware of the proposed policy revisions and
ask for their feedback.
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Agenda Item #6:Discuss Personnel Committee Appointments:
Judy explained that the question was brought up to her as to how the employee
representatives are chosen to be on the Personnel Committee.The committee
use to have only one representative from Highway and one from Town Hall,but
that was changed three years ago.The change to two representatives was so.
that if one was unable to attend there would be another person there to provide
feedback.Committee appointments were made based on a request for someone
to fill in a vacancy on the committee.Larry Salmi explained that at Highway the
guys were asked to choose someone to represent them and Don was chosen.In
the past there was the issue of not having anyone who wants to be on the
committee.
The group felt that it should be up to the Highway and Town Hall employees to
re-appoint the representatives each year.For Town Hall Judy will do an email
asking for nominations and then do a vote.It will be up to Highway if they want
to ask for nominations and a vote.
Agenda Item #7:Others:
There was additional general discussion about benefit programs.Judy has not
had the opportunity to follow up any further with offering Long Term Care
Insurance.She was able to find out that in most cases Long Term Care
Insurance is better if it is written on an individual basis versus a group plan.
Employees were given the opportunity to meet with Ted Rowland,Aflac,at the
Wellness Fair.Other discussion focused around flex spending programs and
cafeteria styled plans.There was no action taken from the discussion.
Meeting Adjourned:2:30 pm
Next Meeting:Not scheduled yet
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Final i Final Final
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Town of Ithaca Personnel Committee Meeting
October 15,2003
1:30pm
Members Present:Councilman Bill Lesser;Don Ten Kate,Working Supervisor;
Cindy Vicedomini,Court Clerk
Absent:Supervisor Catherine Valentino;Larry Salmi,Heavy Equipment
Operator;Dani Holford,Senior Typist
Support Staff:Judith C.Drake,Human Resources Manager
Others Attending:Paul Tunison,General Manager SCLIWC
Call to order:1:35 p.m.
Agenda Item #2:Review Minutes of August 6,2003 meeting:
Approved as read.
Agenda Item #3:Persons to be Heard:
None.
Agenda Item #4:Review Benefit Part of Survey:
Distributed a draft of the Benefit Comparison section of the Salary and
Benefit Survey that was done this summer.There is still more work to be done
on completing the survey for a final review.Judy will be adding a summary
column to the spreadsheet.
Paul asked overall how the Town’s benefits compared to the others.Judy
felt the Town is very comparative to the other municipalities.There are some but
just a few municipalities that still offer health insurance at 100%employer paid.
The employee share of premiums ranged from flat dollar amounts to 10-25%of
monthly premiums.Judy also pointed out that several of the places offer 25 days
of vacation as the maximum versus our 20 days.
The survey will be reviewed further at the next meeting.The committee
was asked to look over the draft they had and to highlight any points of interest
they wanted to discuss further.
Final Final Final
Agenda Item #5:Discuss Increasing Shift Differential for Highway Staff:
The Town has had a 3rd shift person on every winter since 1997.For the
inconvenience of working that shift from November through March,the Town has
paid an extra $0.60 per hour.In the past the shift was covered on a rotating
basis by all the highway crewmembers.For the last few years Henry Eighmey,
Laborer,has been covering this shift.Henry asked for a review of the shift
differential,since it has been the same for years.His reasoning is because
during the rest of the year he carpools and saves on gas.When he works the
night shift he can’t carpool and therefore costs him more money to travel to work.
Judy explained that the average from the salary &benefit survey was
$0.73.Other companies in the area pay:
$.80 2nd shift
$.80 2nd shift
$.90 3rd shift
$.80 3rd shift
Ithaca College
CU
Kitchen/Maintenance
Maintenance
CU Operating Eng.$.90 2nd shift $.90 3rd shift
TransAct Tech.Manufacturing $.35 2nd shift $.50 3rd shift
Emerson Manufacturing $.20 2nd shift $.30 3rd shift
Albany Inter’l Manufacturing $.30-$.75 depending on grade
Judy recommended having Don talk over with Henry an increase in the
shift differential from $0.60 per hour to $0.75 per hour.
Agenda Item #6:Discuss Long Term Care Insurance:
Judy has been able to review the quotes from MetLife and MedAmerica.
Both are quite different and hard to compare.She will be following up with
BayRidge Group as a consultation on this insurance as it is very complex.Judy
has talked over with Al Carvill,Budget Officer and they both agree that this would
not be able to be paid for by the town.We would bring in the plan as a group
plan for discounts and payroll deduction only.Judy will follow up with more
information to the employees.
Agenda Item #7:Others:
Judy explained that she has not received quotes yet from Blue Cross Blue
Shield or Guardian.They are to be in by the end of the following week.Open
enrollment information will go out in early November.
The annual Wellness Fair has been scheduled for Thursday,November
13,2003 from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm.Flu shots and such as previous years will
be offered.
Meeting Adjourned:2:10 pm
Next Meeting:December 10,2003
FINAL FINAL FINAL
Town of Ithaca Personnel Committee Meeting
March 18,2003
1:30pm
Members Present:Supervisor Catherine Valentino;Councilman Bill Lesser;
Don Ten Kate,Working Supervisor;Larry Salmi,Heavy Equipment Operator;
Dani Holford,Senior Typist
Absent:Cindy Vicedomini,Court Clerk
Support Staff:Judith C.Drake,Human Resources Manager
Others Attending:Paul Tunison,SCLIWC
Call to order:1:35 p.m.
Agenda Item #2:Review of minutes of January 15,2003 meeting:
Changes as requested by Larry Parlett (attached).
Agenda Item #3:Persons to be heard:
None.
Agenda Item #4:Employee Assistance Program:
Judy explained that she and Larry Parlett have emailed each other back
and forth on this issue since he had some strong thoughts about the Family &
Children’s Service and was unable to attend this meeting.
Judy stated that there were several discussions back and forth between
herself,Larry Parlett and Karen Fritz (Employee Assistance Program,Family &
Children’s Service).There was some concern on Larry’s part about F&C Service
being an “arm”of Tompkins County DSS,Child and Adult Protective Services.
Judy explained they are a mandatory reporter just like a teacher,daycare
provider,etc.If they suspect child abuse there is a state toll free number they
call and then the state calls the local DSS to investigate.It is Judy’s
understanding that the child isn’t always immediately removed from the home,
usually an evaluation is done.Unless,it is blatantly obvious that there has been
abuse.
Judy went on to explain that the County does contract with F&C Services
for some state mandated programs;Alternatives to Incarceration (for children
who may be involved in drugs or other criminal activity),Parent/Child Program
(psychological or developmental problem children),Children’s Crisis Outreach
(sever mental,overaggressive or suicidal)and respite/elderly home health.
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Judy thinks Larry feels a little more comfortable with the program,which is
important because he will be the person recommending people at Bolton Point to
EAP.It won’t work if he’s not comfortable with the program.
Judy pointed out that the EAP through F&C Service is utilized by
Tompkins County,City of Ithaca,Cornell University and Borg Warner.Cathy
Valentino added that these places probably would not continue contracting with
F&C if there were problems.
The cost of the Employee Assistance Program is $1.70/mth per employee
or:$1,060.80/year for the Town (52 employees),$387.60/year for Bolton Point
(19 employees).Judy went on to explain that this program is completely
confidential and the only information the Town will receive is how many hours
used as a total so we can determine if this is a valued service.The only time the
Town would receive any other information is if they feel the person is a danger to
himself or herself or may enter the workplace with violent intentions.
Dani Holford asked if Larry Parlett’s original misgivings had to do with
Child Protective Services being involved through this program.Cathy stated that
the concern was children being taken out of the parent’s custody,which would
happen in a really violent situation.Judy feels that if this does happen then this
is good for the child.She has a hard time seeing this as a bad thing.Paul
Tunison agrees,but if we do go through with this,we owe it to the employees to
let them know that this can happen.Judy explained that if we opt to do this they
would request to have a meeting with the employees to go over the program.
They would also want to meet with the supervisors because they also provide
service to them if they are dealing with an issue with an employee.Bill Lesser
suggested something along the following;these are purely confidential services
except under specific circumstances,such as,if there is reasonable belief a child
is being abused,that they are mandated to report.
Paul Tunison asked if the school districts use this service for counseling in
the instance of a tragic death of a student.Judy responded that they do.
Bill Lesser pointed out that this is also a great community service -not
only in helping our employees -but also helping to maintain a service here.
Judy explained that at this time F&C Service is not a Blue PPO provider
but they expect to be by the middle of the year.Right now,if a person uses their
3 visits and need more,they are referred on to a participating provider.
The Personnel Committee agrees to send a recommendation to the Town
Board and Commission for approval to contract for these services.
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Agenda Item #5:AFLAC:
A representative from AFLAC has contacted Judy with 3 plans they are
offering.These are employee only plans -no participation by the Town.The
plans require a minimum of 3 contracts per plan.The 3 plans are;Personal
Accident Expense Plan,Personal Lifestyle Protector Cancer Plan and Personal
Short-Term Disability Income.Judy will put some basic information together to
send out to the employees to see if there is any interest.
Agenda #6:Retirement Costs:
Judy explained that all municipalities costs for NYS&LRS are
skyrocketing.We had been paying around 1 or 2 percent of employee’s gross
wages.Last year we paid around $35,000.00,including Bolton Point.This year
we will be paying around $232,000.00 (in December).It doesn’t sound like this
will be an ongoing thing year after year.Cathy added that the State is thinking
about averaging the payment out over a 5-year period,but a decision has not
been made.Dani asked if all the retiree’s were getting a big jump in pay.No.
Judy’s understanding is that the retirement fund is quite well.Depending on
whether the stock market is doing good or bad is factored into the percentage the
employer has to pay.Cathy believes that the zero percent we had to pay for the
last 3 years is gone.
Don Ten Kate asked if they would start taking the 3%again from the
people who were able to stop paying after 10 years.Judy responded that it
would take legislation to start that up again.Don added that in the past they just
started a new tier.Cathy agreed that Tier 5 might be coming.Judy emphasized
that people should not be concerned that the pension fund is going to go
bankrupt,the system is still quite healthy.Cathy stated that the municipalities
that have reasonably good fund balances (like the Town)it will be tough,but we’ll
get through it.The ones without fund balances are really going to be hard hit.
J
Agenda #7:Others:
Judy Drake updated the committee on the distribution and presentation of
the "Employee Handbook”.Town Hall has received their handbooks and a
presentation.Highway will receive theirs when the locker room is complete,so
they will have someplace to put them.When Highway employees receive their
handbooks Judy will do a presentation for them.
Paul Tunison added that Bolton Point is in the process of distributing their
handbooks.There is an all hand staff meeting on April 2nd to review the
handbook.Judy offered to do a Power Point Presentation for Bolton Point during
their review meeting.
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Judy stated that there were a couple of interesting things that came up
during her presentation at Town Hall.First,has to do with FMLA (Family Medical
Leave Act).You can take an intermittent leave and you’re allowed a total of 12
weeks a year.What she needs to find out is if you only need to take an hour off
in one week,does that count as an hour or a week toward those 12 weeks.
Second,has to do with the requirement of a Dr.’s note if you are out 3 or more
consecutive days.Judy stated that this is not something that she will severely
police,but it helps to make sure that people are calling in to their supervisor and
also gives her a heads up that this may be heading towards a disability claim.
Judy also made a clarification in regards to the percentage amount a
retiree has to pay towards Health Insurance.The manual does not specifically
state that it is service time with the Town or service time in the Retirement
Service,it is service time with the Town,not in the Retirement System.
Bill Lesser,making reference to the Drug Policy,asked if we provide any
training or assistance to supervisors in relation to the part that reads,’’The
employee’s supervisor can also prevent an employee from performing a safety
sensitive activity if,based on the employee’s speech,statements,behavior,
conduct or appearance,the supervisor determined he/she appears to be a safety
threat to him/herself or others”.He believes this could be construed as a very
serious matter if you go up to some one and say,“you don’t look all right to me”.
Judy said that under the CDL there is some drug and alcohol training that
everyone has to go through that tells you what to look for.It hasn’t been a
problem up to this point,but maybe we should look into additional training.
Adjourned:2:20pm
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TO:Judy Drake PHR
FROM:Larry Parlett
DATE:March 12,2003
RE:January 15,2003 Personnel Committee Meeting
Minutes
SYSTEM
BOLTON POINTWATER>
Needed Addition/Change for page 2,paragraph 2
Presently it states:"Larry Parlett distributed a Physician’s Statement form he found on the New
York State Department of Motor Vehicles website (attached).The form is used when a person
applies for a license and has indicated on the application that they have been or are being treated
for a medical condition.”
Please change to:“Larry Parlett distributed an excerpt summarizing case law (Roe v.Cheyenne
Mountain Conference Resort,CA 10,No.96-1086,1997),(attached)in which both a district court
and a court of appeals agreed that any policy of an employer which requires employees to reveal
the prescription drugs they use could force them (the employee)to disclose a disability,in
violation of the ADA’s prohibition against employers inquiring whether an employee has a
disability.In essence,a blanket policy requiring employees to report all medications is a violation
of the Americans with Disabilities Act.He noted that the excerpt did state however that
employers may inquire about what medication employees in safety-sensitive jobs are taking and
how that medication may affect their work performance.This information was found on
www.business.com (a business search engine on the internet)
Mr.Parlett noted that if driving vehicles were considered safety-sensitive,supervisors probably
are not qualified to make the decision whether a particular prescription medication,or
combination of medications would impair an employees driving ability.Mr.Parlett noted that on
the back of his handout was a New York State Department of Motor Vehicles form "Physician’s
Statement,MV 80”used by a physician to state that a given treatment or medication would not
impair the individual from driving.”
Needed Addition/Change for page 3,paragraph 3
Presently it states:Larry Parlett pointed out the Family and Children’s Services is an arm of the
Child and Adult Protective Service.They can use their discretion to report you to these agencies
if they believe you are not able/stable to take care of your children.
Please change to:Larry Parlett pointed out that the Family and Children’s Services is the local
arm of Child and Adult Protective Services.Discussions with any of their staff may result in the
decision being made for our employees dependents to be taken into their custody for up to 24
hours at which time a Judge will decide if the dependents are returned to the employee or turned
over to the State of New York’s foster care program.”There was some discussion
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