HomeMy WebLinkAbout10.D.1. Adoption of 2015 Wages and an amendment to the Personnel Handbook for Paid on call Firefighters, Res. No. 7521 & 7524 General Business 10. D. 1.
SHAKOI'EE
TO: Mayor and City Council
Mark McNeill, City Administrator
FROM: Kris Wilson, Assistant City Administrator
DATE: 12/02/2014
SUBJECT: Adoption of 2015 Wages and an Amendment to the Personnel Handbook for
Paid-on-Call Firefighters -- Res. #7521 & #7524 (E)
Action Sought
The Council is asked to offer Resolution No. 7521, a resolution adopting the 2015 pay plan for
part-time employees of the Shakopee Fire Department, and to offer Resolution No. 7524, a
resolution amending the Personnel Handbook for Paid-on-Call Firefighters of the City of
Shakopee, and move their adoption.
Background
As was noted at the Council's August 18 workshop meeting on the 2015 budget, personnel costs
are a major component of the City's annual operating budget and there are several key issues
impacting those costs for 2015. One of those is the need to address the hourly wage for
paid-on-call firefighters.
The City established an hourly wage of$10.00 for paid-on-call firefighters effective January 1,
2004. That amount has only increased once since that time -- to $10.50 on January 1, 2012. This
has resulted in a wage that has lost substantial buying power and is well-below average for
metro-area fire departments.
Additionally, it allowed several antiquated pay policies regarding how the City counts hours
worked and when it pays or doesn't pay a firefighter to continue. The City's pay policies for every
category of employee should be clear and understandable to the employee, to supervisors, and to
payroll staff-- but also to the public and taxpayers. The current way of doing things does not
meet this standard.
Therefore, I am recommending a substantial increase in the hourly wage for paid-on-call
firefighters but with several key changes to the way hours are calculated and to when a firefighter
is paid. For example, instead of rounding all calls up to the next full hour, as is currently done,
the new policy would have all calls paid at a guaranteed minimum of one hour with time in
excess of the first hour rounded to the nearest quarter hour. This, and the other proposed changes,
will bring Shakopee's payroll policies more into alignment with the norm for metro-area fire
departments.
Along with these policy changes, it is recommended that the hourly wage for new hire firefighters
be increased from $10.00 per hour to $13.00 per hour, and that the wage for those who have
completed one-year of service or more be increased from $10.50 to $14.00 per hour.
After analyzing calls for the first nine months of this year and determining what "would have
been" had the proposed policies been in place, it has been determined that an increase of$1.00 is
necessary specifically to offset the proposed policy changes, so that the City achieves the desired
level of clarity and transparency without a net loss to the employees. The remainder is necessary
in order to compensate for inflation and market conditions, and to make up for many years of
stagnation in the wage amount.
Lastly, it is recommended that the attendance incentive pay that was first implemented for 2012
be discontinued. This program provided an extra fifty cents, seventy-five cents or dollar per hour
to employees that had attendance percentages above 50%, 60% and 75%. However, it has not
shown the hoped for results in terms of generating better attendance. Therefore, Chief Coleman
and I believe those funds can be better used to help offset the cost of the hourly wage increase.
The proposed changes and reasoning behind them were outlined for firefighters at their
November 17 staff meeting and all were given the opportunity to ask questions. There were some
concerns expressed and not everyone in the Department is in favor of the proposed changes,
however every effort was made to be open and transparent regarding the issue.
Officer Pay
In addition to establishing the hourly wage for paid-on-call firefighters, the Council is asked to
authorize the salary levels for part-time officer positions. These are outlined in the attached
Resolution No. 7521 and reflect no change from the current year-- for now. If the requested
full-time Assistant Chief position is approved and once that hiring process has been completed,
some re-organization of the paid-on-call officer positions will likely be needed. Those would be
budget-neutral and brought forward mid-year. However, authorization to continue with the
current positions and salary levels is needed in the meantime.
Budget Impact
The estimated cost of the proposed hourly wage increase is $62,000 for 2015, although this
amount will depend on the number of calls for service in 2015 and the attendance rates of
employees.
Relationship to Vision
Paying all employees a fair and competitive wage contributes to Goal E: Deliver effective and
efficient public services by a staff of well-trained, caring and professional employees.
Recommendation
I recommend adoption of attached resolutions.
Requested Action
The Council is asked to offer Resolution No. 7521, a resolution adopting the 2015 pay plan for
part-time employees of the Shakopee Fire Department, and to offer Resolution No. 7524, a
resolution amending the Personnel Handbook for Paid-on-Call Firefighters of the City of
Shakopee, and move their adoption.
Attachments: Resolution No. 7521
Resolution No. 7524
RESOLUTION No. 7521
A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE 2015 PAY PLAN
FOR PART-TIME EMPLOYEES OF THE SHAKOPEE FIRE DEPARTMENT
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SHAKOPEE, MINNESOTA, that the
City Administrator is hereby authorized to issue warrants upon the City Treasury from and after
January 1, 2015 payable to officers of the Shakopee Fire Department, in the following amounts.
Position Authorized# 2015 Salary
Assistant Chief 1 $6,200
Deputy Chief of Training 1 $5,600
Deputy Chief of Engineering 1 $5,600
Captain 2 $3,000
Lieutenant 4 $2,500
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City Administrator is hereby authorized to issue
warrants upon the City Treasury from and after January 1, 2015 payable to paid-on-call
firefighters, in the following amounts.
Position New Hire After 12 mos.
Paid-on-Call Firefighter $13.00 per hour $14.00 per hour
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all Resolutions in conflict with this resolution are hereby
repealed and terminated effective January 1, 2015.
Adopted in regular session of the City Council of the City of Shakopee, Minnesota, held this 2nd
day of December, 2014.
Mayor of the City of Shakopee
ATTEST:
City Clerk
RESOLUTION No.7524
A RESOLUTION AMENDING RESOLUTION NO. 6807,
A RESOLUTION ADOPTING A PERSONNEL HANDBOOK FOR
PAID-ON-CALL FIREFIGHTERS OF THE CITY OF SHAKOPEE
WHEREAS, Resolution No. 6807,a resolution adopting a Personnel Handbook for Paid-on-Call
Firefighters of the City of Shakopee,was adopted on September 16, 2008, and
WHEREAS,from time to time there is a need to modify such policies to best suit the needs of the
City and its employees.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SHAKOPEE,
MINNESOTA,that Chapter IV,Section A of the Personnel Handbook for Paid-on-Call Firefighters is
hereby amended to read as follows:
A. Wages. Employees shall be paid an hourly wage, of an amount established annually by the City
Council, per call for responding to emergency calls for service and attending meetings, drills and
other special details authorized required by the Fire Chief or his/her designee. (Hereafter the
term "calls"shall be used to mean emergency calls for service plus drills,trainings and
meetings.)
The following policies shall be applied in the calculation of hours worked:
a. All calls shall be paid for a minimum of one hour,with time for calls in excess of one
hour being rounded up or down to the nearest quarter hour.
b. For calls in excess of one hour, individual firefighters arriving late or departing early shall
be paid for their time in attendance,which may be less than the total time from
dispatch to clear time of a call, but shall still be subject to the one hour minimum.
c. Emergency calls occurring during drill,training, meetings or any other paid event shall
not be paid separately, but shall be included in the time paid for the drill,training,
meeting or event.
d. Overlapping calls shall be paid from the dispatch time of the first call to the clear time of
the last call,with a guaranteed minimum of one hour and time in excess of one hour
being rounded to the nearest quarter hour.
e. Calls occurring within the same hour, but for which the first call was cleared prior to the
second call being dispatched,shall be paid separately and shall be subject to a separate
one hour minimum and the rounding policy noted above.
f. Firefighters shall be paid only for those calls responded to and for which the firefighter
was prepared to serve the public, as determined by the commanding officer on the call.
Firefighters present at the fire station but not available to respond to the scene shall not
sign-in to the call and shall not be paid or given attendance credit.
g. Firefighters not in attendance at a call due to participation in another Fire Department
sanctioned event or training may be given attendance credit for pension purposes, but
shall not be paid for missed calls.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all previous Resolutions, as well as related policies and directives, in
conflict with or adopted prior to this resolution are hereby repealed and terminated effective January 1,
2015.
Adopted in regular session of the City Council of the City of Shakopee, Minnesota, held this 2"d day
of December, 2014.
Mayor of the City of Shakopee
ATTEST:
City Clerk