HomeMy WebLinkAboutPC Minutes 1998FINAL FIN.^TOWN OF ITHACA
'j Personnel Committee Meeting
March 17,1998
1:00 P.M.
At the regular meeting of the Personnel Committee for the Town of Ithaca,
Tompkins County,New York held at the Town Hall,126 E.Seneca Street,
Ithaca,New York,there were present:
Members:Supervisor Valentino:Councilman Conley:Larry Salmi,heavy
Equipment Operator;Erik Whitney,Assistant Town Engineer.
Support Staff;Judith Drake,Human Resources Specialist
Others Attending:Stanley Schrier,Cleaner.
Called to order.1:05 p.m.by Supervisor Valentino
Agenda Item 2:Approval of December 16,1997 meeting minutes.
Supervisor Valentino asked to approve the minutes.
Supervisor Valentino and Mrs.Drake are the only two present who were
at the December 16,1997 meeting since there was a change in the members of
,the committee.The minutes stand approved.
Agenda Item 3:Discussion on comparison between procedures of Tompkins
County Highway and Town of Ithaca Highway.
Mrs.Drake explained that Fred Noteboom,Highway Superintendent and herself
had a meeting with Ward Hungerford,Tompkins County Highway Manager,
about the County’s policy on certain subjects.
Overtime Calculation:
The County does include Vacation,Sick,Personal and Holiday hours in the
overtime calculation the same as the Town of Ithaca.
Cd 1 1 Back Pay Discussion:
The County pays all 4 hours of callback at the overtime rate not just the Callback
Time actually worked at the overtime rate like the Town.
Supervisor Valentino asked if they get paid overtime for all the hours whether
they worked the full 4 hours or not?
Mrs,Drake:Yes,that is correct.
Supervisor Valentino:That is different,than how it is worded in their labor
contract.
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Mrs.Drake:Correct,in the labor contract it says a minimum of 4 hours except
that if call in hours duplicate those hours used for calculating overtime
pay in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act.Mr.Hungerford did
agree that it is done differently than how the contract reads.He also
commented that the call back time is only on time outside the normal
workday,but that buildings and grounds includes it on their normal
overtime.So even in the County it is done differently per department.
Supervisor Valentino:Call back is suppose to be call back.
Mrs.Drake:The new 1998 contract,which hasn’t been finalized yet,is supposed
to change the wording under call back time per Mr.Hungerford.
Mr.Whitney:Explained that the county lumps the personal and sick time so it is
in the same pool.
Supervisor Valentino:We separate ours.
Mrs.Drake:Right.In the County contract it used to be five (5)days of sick can
be used for personal,but with the new contracts it is going up to six (6)
days out of the twelve (12).
Mr.Whitnev:They do accrue overtime on their personal time also,which we
don’t.
Supervisor Valentino:At the county their Personal and Sick time are all part of
their Sick time accrual,so if they use up Personal time it is deducted from
their Sick time accrual.Our Personal time stands alone.
Mrs.Drake:We presently have 3 days of Personal time and the County will have
6 days,but as part of their sick time.
Supervisor Valentino:we will be looking at these benefits comparisons as we go
through the year.
Councilman Conley:What precipitated us doing this comparing?
Supervisor Valentino:The Highway Staff brought if up since they heard the
County treats call back time differently than we do.
Councilman Conley:OK,then we definitely should look at it.
Mr.Salmi:We had traditionally always been paid that way as well.
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Supervisor Valentino:That is my fault that they don't get it that way anymore.It
is a violation,you are not supposed to pyramid time.The County is doing
it the way it should not be done.
Mr.Salmi:For the most part almost anytime we are called in we are there for 4
hours,anyway.The other example is if we are called in on Saturday,we
already have our 40 hours in,if we are being paid 4 hours,that is 4 hours
beyond our normal 40.Anything over 40 would be time and one half.
Supervisor Valentino:If you worked the 4 hours.If called in on a Saturday and
only worked 2 hours,the 2 hours worked would be paid at time and one
half,but the other 2 hours not worked would be paid at straight time.
Should only be hours worked during call back that is paid at time and one
half.Call back is not like vacation or sick time which is an accrual it is a
completely different category of how you pay someone for the
consideration they have driven and come into work outside their normal
hour.That is how it is written in the County contract,but that is not how
they are doing it.
Mr.Slami:And that is not how we have ever done it.
Supervisor Valentino:Yes,1 know,but that is how we do it now.
Mr.Slami:So far it hasn't ever happened ,so there are lots of times we are
called in and don’t work three hours but 5 or 6,depending on the job.
Supervisor Valentino:1 know Mr.Noteboom had said it was pretty rare that
anyone is called back and doesn’t work the 4 full hours.Work the full 4
hours and it will all be paid at time and one half.It will be pretty rare for
the employees not to work the four full hours.
Mr.Whitney:I have never known a call to be under four hours.
Supervisor Valentino:So it doesn’t really happen anyway?
Mr.Slami:It is more apt to be 8-10 hours if it is a water main break.
Supervisor Valentino:Do we ever pay double time,for example they are called
on a holiday?Of course,they get holiday pay and then time and one half.
Mrs.Drake:They get the 8 hours for the holiday plus they record all the hours
worked but we do not pay double time for any of the hours.
Supervisor Valentino:We will see what the County puts in their new contract
when it comes out.
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Paid Meal Breaks Discussion:
Mrs.Drake:Prior to our 1997 Personnel Manual the highway guys use to
Mr.Salmi:If called in early,paid straight.through for entire time worked,no
break shown.Example:Called in at 2:30 a.m.and worked until 2:30 p.m.,
they showed 12 hours on time sheets.This paid for the meal without any
paper work.
Councilman Conley:Is this the way it use to be?
Mr.Salmi explained how the policy has been over the years.
Supervisor Valentino:There has been some shifting over the years,with this
policy.Now our policy is to show the meal period.
Mrs.Drake:Correct,now they show their normal lunch and then turn in receipts
for the meal and we reimburse them for the meal.The main reason this
has come back up is it has been problematic in the Highway Department
and in the accounting office because of the vouchers.Also there is not
enough petty cash on hand.
Supervisor Valentino:Because of the reimbursing for the Meal?One of the
reasons we changed this policy is because by law we need to show
breaks taken if they were taken.
Mrs.Drake:Technically we should show a lunch break,especially if they are
taking it.
Supervisor Valentino:There is nothing prohibiting us from paying for a lunch
break.
Mr.Salmi:That is how it got approved before.It seemed easier because there
was no extra paperwork needed.
Mrs.Drake:My only point was that people are paid at different rates.So an
employee who is paid $15 per hour will receive $7.50 for that half hour,
but an employee paid $8 an hour will only receive $4 for that half hour.If
we use the $6 reimbursement rate for lunch it becomes more equal for
everyone.That was why it came back up before going into the revised
manual.Prior to the 1997 revised manual this was just a “memo policy.”
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Councilman Conley:I would like to limit the paper work,but yet be fair to the
employees while doing it.Doing it the way they were doing it seems fine
to me.
Mr.Salmi:Is there that much difference in pay scale?
Mrs.Drake:Yes,or rather close to that.The County pays through their break.
Also Fred Noteboom has tried to establish a voucher system with Mano’s
in order to cut down on the employees having to pay then get reimbursed.
Mr.Salmi explained this process and how cumbersome it is too.
Mr.Whitney:There’s no one that wants to stop for a meal when they have been
working on a sewer break for hours.So we usually work straight through
until we are done.
Mr.Salmi:That allows personal choice and allows people to get the job done so
they could go home.At times they don’t want to drive from some of the
hills down to Mano’s to take a break.
Supervisor Valentino:Are we recommending that they get a break and they get
paid through it?If they get paid through the meal break then we won’t
have to reimburse them for meals anymore?
Mr,Salmi:Whenever 1 plow I like to take a few minutes to eat and then get back
to work.It seemed like you didn’t think about it.
Supervisor Valentino:Are we going to take this to the Town Board?When do
they get these paid meal periods.
Mrs.Drake:When they are called in early and haven’t had the time to eat
breakfast or make lunch.And the same if they are asked to stay a lot
longer than their normal hours and don’t have dinner with them.
Mr.Salmi:For emergency,overtime situations.
Supervisor Valentino:So we need to have that spelled out that it is not for
everyday but only for overtime situations.
Councilman Conley:When it is written out,let the Highway guys see it before it
goes to the Town Board.
Mr.Salmi:After speaking with all the guys changing it back to the old way is the-preferred way to go.
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Weekly Paychecks Discussion:
Mr.Salmi:I know it has been discussed,but I wasn't sure if there has been any
new opinions formed.
Supervisor Valentino:!t was discussed at a Town Board Meeting and the Board
has decided to make no changes now.
Mr.Salmi:explained reasoning behind wanting weekly checks and how one
week at a time would be easier on the staff.
Supervisor Valentino:Town Board strongly expressed during the discussion
that they weren’t in favor of changing to weekly paychecks.
Mr.Salmi:Primarily due to cost?
Supervisor Valentino:Yes,cost and time it takes.There is not enough staff for .
weekly paychecks.
Mrs.Drake:Explained the payroll process and time it takes.
Agenda Item #4:Discuss the option of a Sick Time Pool.
Mr.Whitney:1 haven't discussed it with the Highway crew but thought we could
gather some ideas on it and discuss it at the next meeting.I know it was
brought up before.Have those who have reached their 120 day limit or
gone over the limit,to give some to other employees.The Personnel
Committee and probably Town Board would need to approve each
situations on whether it would be a gift or a loan.There are enough
employees that have been here long enough to give a donation of some
time before starting to donate it back to the Town,because we are over
our 120 day limit.
Mrs.Drake:In the City of Ithaca’s Administrative units contract they dp have a
Sick leave Bank.This Bank is something people would need to belong to.
They have to write a letter saying they want to participate.From there
they contribute 1 day per year to the bank.Only those opting to
participate are allowed to draw from it on a needs basis.It also explains
that it is for 30 days or more and not for a day or two here and there.
Councilman Conley:What do they do if they don’t have 30 days available?
Mrs.Drake:It states they will keep a minimum of 50 days in bank and if goes
below the City will contribute days to bring it back up to 50.Plus if an
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employee leaves employment with the City their sick balance rolls into the
sick time bank.
Mr.Whitney:I think this could be a savings for the town.For example if a
person at my pay rate donates time and is used by a person at a lower
pay rate that will save the Town money.Your longer term employees will
be the ones most likely donating and we should check with the City to see
if there is a net gain or loss on this system.
Supervisor Valentino:What’s our maximums?
Mrs.Drake:120 days or 900 or 960 hours depending on a 7.5 or 8 hour work
day.
Mr.Salmi:What is the City’s maximum?
Mrs.Drake:Theirs is unlimited,and they accumulate 12 days a year the same
as the Town.
Mr.Salmi:The older employees might want to reserve their days to pay for their
health insurance at retirement.
Mr,Whitney:When they hit 120 days they don’t accrue anymore.
Mrs.Drake:Yes,they do.You can accrue another 12 days,but only 120 days
can go toward retirement health insurance.
Mr,Whitney:I thought this would be a voluntary thing,where it wouldn’t cost the
Town anything.
Mr.Salmi:Is there a provision now where we could voluntarily contribute time to
someone.
Supervisor Valentino:That was suggested in the past,but the Town Board
decided to loan that person some time which had to be paid back over a
long period of time.We did have some employees who did want to
volunteer some of their sick time.We need to think about what the policy
would be and how to administer it.
Councilman Conley:What about those who always use their sick time as they
earn it versus those who never abuse sick time.
Mr.Salmi:The Highway staff was against such a policy because there are those
who abuse sick time so why should we be giving them more.
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Mr.Whitney:Couldn’t we rule out that type of thing and make it for major
accidents or illness.
Mr.Salmi:They will still have disability or Worker's Compensation.
Councilman Conley:Sometimes it is a family member and not the employee.Is
there a system where if this happened other employees could donate
time.
Mrs.Drake:Not at the present time.
Supervisor Valentino:The Town turned down those volunteering before just
because it was cleaner if the Town just loaned time to the person.The
Town Board was afraid what would happen if it didn't turn out the way the
volunteer liked and that would cause problems.I like the idea of leaving
special circumstances up to the Town Board,but you can’t always count
on a giving Town Board.Erik would you be willing to check into this a little
more?I would like to know how well it has worked in other places.
Mr.Whitney:1 thought it should be a blind pool.Basically the Personnel
Committee could recommend to the Town Board and the Town Board
could decide.
Councilman Conley:I think it would be difficult for the Town Board.I’m not
against it but it depends on how it works.
Supervisor Valentino:Maybe we couidTind out more from companies that have
this.Or maybe we could have a mechanism in order that isn’t a pool but
that if a situation occurred,people could donate time to that situation.So
it is based case by case.This deserves more discussion.
Mr.Salmi:I have never seen here at the Town if a situation came up and a
person really needed the time and those who had the time was willing to
give the time,the Town Board wouldn’t be will to listen to us or get
involved.I think we might otherwise get involved in a great deal of
paperwork.
Supervisor Valentino:Maybe we could mention how it could be done.
Mrs.Drake:Explained about Family Medical Leave Act.
Councilman Conley:There should be a mechanism in place that allows the other
employees to help out if they want to.Also agree Town Board can figure
out a way to handle it without burdening the staff.Valuable employees are
valuable to everybody,
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‘Members are to do more research on this topic and bring it back to the next
meeting.*
Agenda Item #5:Review of Benefits Comparison Study.
Mrs.Drake:Explained what information she has received so far.Have new
salary ranges for 1998 from County except Blue Collar.The contracts are
not ready to go yet,and Blue Collar is still being negotiated.Have
received the City’s contracts but several of them are in negotiations now,
for effective January 1998.
Supervisor Valentino:What other places would be good for us to use for the
comparison.The County and City are obvious comparisons.
Mrs.Drake:I have written and requested information from the Town of Owego.
We have relatively the same benefits as the county.They do have a
flexible savings benefit we don’t offer.There is an administrative fee that
is involved which the county pays for.County has same health insurance
with the employees paying 15%for both BC/BS and PHP.
Councilman Conley:What do we do with personal time and how far do we let it
accumulate?
Mrs.Drake:Allotted three days per year.Any time left December 31st is wiped
’clean and January 1st three more days are allotted.
Councilman Conley:Vacation time?
Mrs.Drake:We allow them to rollover 1/2 of their January 1st allotment.
Councilman Conley:State didn't allow that.
Mrs.Drake:County allows you to carryover up to 2 years.Their vacation
accrues on a monthly basis like sick time.Once your balance equals 2
years worth i.e.four weeks,you stop accumulating until you use some.
Those who accumulate 2 weeks a year earn 5/6 or .84 hours a month on
the first of the month.Same holidays.Out of the 12 sick days earned per
year 6 can be used as Personal time.Sick accumulates up to a maximum
of 120 days.If they don’t use personal time it stays in sick bank.They
have an Employee Assistance Program that provides 8 free visits a year -
through Family Children Services.They have longevity payments after so
many years of service paid on your anniversary date every year.
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Longevity payments are as follows:
10-14 years of service $250
15-19 years of service $300
20-24 years of service $350
25 +$400
The reason they have this is due to the way their salaries are set up.No
matter how long you have worked at the County you are paid at the same
rate as others in the same title.Example:all MEO’s who have passed
probation are paid at the same hourly rate no matter the number of years
they have worked for the County.
They have a hiring rate and once they pass probation they go up to
working rate.Then based on the contract depends on the percentage
raise they will receive effective January 1st.I will prepare a spreadsheet
comparing the benefits for the next meeting.
Mrs.Drake:I am passing around the Deferred Compensation forms that need to
be signed by the Committee.The Personnel Committee has been
designated as the Deferred Compensation committee too.
Supervisor Valentino:The county’s job rate is higher than ours but our maximum
is higher than their working rate.
Mrs,Drake:They do have a wellness program,which I will be working with,
since they are looking for outside support.I will do a comparison sheet
explaining our benefits versus the others’benefits.
Supervisor Valentino:Next meeting we will have some spread sheets,
summarizing the comparison.Do people agree that if we compare the
County,City and maybe another comparable Township is sufficient?
‘(Committee agreed)*
Next meeting is in June,but if a meeting is needed contact Mrs.Drake to get a
meeting set up sooner.
Mr.Salmi:The employees feel we are a leadership Town so when it comes to
benefits we want to continue to be the leader.We don’t want to follow the
County,we want to lead.Not only in the pay checks but also in the work
we do.
Supervisor Valentino:I want us to be in a leadership role in the County.On the
cutting edge and have the Town of Ithaca as who does it better than anyone
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else.If our employees feel proud of the Town and what we are doing thentheresidentswillfeelproud,too.
Meeting adjourned 2:20 p.m.
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TOWN OF ITHACA
Personnel Committee Meeting
June 30,1998
1:00 P.M.
At the regular meeting of the Personnel Committee for the Town of Ithaca,
Tompkins County,New York held at the Town Hall,126 E.Seneca Street,
Ithaca,New York,there were present:
Members:Supervisor Valentino:Larry Salmi,Heavy Equipment Operator,P.Erik
Whitney,Assistant Town Engineer.
Support Staff:Judith Drake,Human Resources Specialist
Called to order:1:10 p.m.by Supervisor Valentino
Agenda Item 2:Approval of March 17,1998 meeting minutes:
Minutes stand approved with no corrections needed.
Approved by Supervisor Valentino and members.
Agenda Item 3:Persons to be heard:None
Agenda Item 4:Continued discussion on Sick Leave Bank:
Mrs.Drake explained the Town of Owego’s sick leave pool.Their pool is a
voluntary one that only allows an individual to contribute up to 30 days a year.
You could specify who it is to go to,but only 15 days per year can go to that one
person.This one is different than the City of Ithaca’s because you don’t have to
“belong”to use it.Supervisor Valentino would prefer not to have a bank but to
have it more up to the Town Board.There was the continued fear of the pool
being used more by those who already use up their sick time as soon as they get
it.
The consensus was that we want to do something,but that an actual pool might
not be the best for our organization.Supervisor Valentino requested Mrs.Drake
to draft a policy that would make the statement that the Town Board would help
on a case by case basis.This would give us some perimeters to work from.
Maybe it would be possible to work out some type of donation and borrow
system,without any formal pool being developed.We don’t want to get
ourselves into something that is too cumbersome and is an administrative
headache.Especially since it is very rare that an employee is caught in these
circumstances.
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Agenda Item 5:Continue discussion of Benefits Comparison:
Mrs.Drake explained that most of the details of the summary came from the
union contracts.Some of the differences are:
Town of VanBuren pays double time on Sundays and Holidays.
All of them had 12 holidays except the City which has 13 due to Washington’s
birthday and President’s day.The Town of Van Buren has off election day
instead of a floating holiday.The places that had a floating holiday left it up to
the employee to decide which one day off they would like instead of specifying a
date for the entire municipality to be off.
Town of Owego's call back policy is 4 hours at time and one half and four hours
at double time on holidays.Once again Supervisor Valentino expressed that our
call back policy is not that bad because it is most likely that if an employee is
going to be called back they will be working the full four hours.Therefore,they
will be getting paid at time and one half too.
Town of Owego’s bereavement policy allows 5 days for spouse or child,3 days
for immediate family and then 1 day for friend or other family.
Town of Owego and Town of Van Buren give up to 25 days of vacation.T of 0
at 24 +years,T of VB at 14 +years.
City of Ithaca has some bonus options such as:buying out vacation balance in
November each year,but must use up at least 1/2 of vacation time first.If an
employee doesn’t use any sick days then they are given three extra personal
days as an incentive.
It was requested to get the total assessed value and the total tax levy for the
Town of Owego and Van Buren.This information will allow us to make a better
comparison based on availability of funds,size,etc.
There were three areas of the benefit survey that the committee decided they will
need to look at further :1:call back 2:bereavement time 3:vacation
Agenda Item 6:Consider recommending to the Town Board the Revised Job
Classification and Revised Wage Scale:
Supervisor Valentino explained the revisions of the wage scale.There was a
small increase in S,R,Q &P which is the management level.There were no
changes for O or N.Once you get to M and down there were big discrepancies
and adjustments were greatly needed.The adjustments made brings our lower
level position’s job rate closer to the County’s working rate for 1998.
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Agenda Item 6 continued:
Mrs.Drake explained that one of the main things that revising the wage scale
would do would be to make each level more consistent.There is the same
amount for each level instead of each level increasing at completely different
amounts.For example the difference between Hiring Minimum and Job Rate for
each is $2 and there is a $0.50 jump as you go from one class to the next higher
class.This system is more fair and less sporadic than the 1995 one.
Our 1995 Wage Scale and Job Classification was a beginning and knew it was
going to need revisiting in at least three years.
There was a discussion on where the money comes from for the Highway fund
for equipment and salaries:Sales Tax which also goes to the B fund.
Mr.Salmi expressed the concern that the work they are doing is much like
construction work,but that they are not making anything close to construction
workers pay.Supervisor Valentino also reminded him that there is a lot more
stability with the Town and a lot better benefits.Mr.Salmi agreed and stated
most of the people who work for the Town like it as long as they can get a decent
wage.
Supervisor Valentino explained that many employees in the lower classes will be
looking at bigger jumps in pay for 1999.However,this will all depend on the
restraints of the budget.It may take two years to get those who should be to Job
Rate to Job Rate.Even if it does take the two years most all the Highway
employees will be getting the $1 raise they were pushing for at the employee
meeting.Those who are at or close to their max.will be seeing a 2.5%increase
for 1999.Therefore,no one should get less than a 2.5%raise for 1999.
It was left that Mr.Salmi and Mr.Whitney would show the revised wage scale to
the other employees and would then get back to Mrs.Drake any comments or
concerns.These would be taken into consideration before sending the wage
scale to the Town Board for determination.
Mr.Whitney did bring up the subject of weekly paychecks again.Supervisor
Valentino stated that we were not going to look at that subject again.The
highway guys won’t get weekly paychecks but are getting the $1 they pushed
for.
Meeting adjourned:2:25 p.m.
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