10-29-2018 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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STAFF REPORT TO:Mayor Keis and Members of City Council FROM:Bill Dircks, Public Works Director DATE:October 29, 2018 RE:Apprentice Position Scale Adjustment ACTION REQUESTED: Motion to amend the Public Works Apprentice Wage Scale to enable staff to provide an adjustment at the 1-year anniversary based on demonstrated need and budget. BACKGROUND: The City of Little Canada established an apprentice program in 2017 to train and develop part-time employees and serve the ongoing needs of the Public Works and Parks Department. Alex Evenson was hired as an Apprentice worker November 1, 2017. Mr. Evenson has developed into an excellent employee and has received rave reviews from Public Works & Parks Department Supervisors as well as the rest of the crew. Mr. Evenson is currently at the six-month step of the Public Works Apprentice pay scale at $15.25 per hour. Alex has also obtained his Class B Commercial Driver’s License and has displayed enough knowledge and ability to be added to the on-call rotation, which earned him additional pay increases. He is also eligible for another step increase of $0.75 at his 1-year anniversary, at which point he would be paid $16.75. With the budgeted Cost of Living Adjustment for 2019 factored in, Mr. Evenson will be paid $17.25 per hour in 2019. The apprentice program was initially established to use an apprentice in lieu of a seasonal so that we had an additional year-round employee and we could develop potential full time employee prospects. It has come to our attention that Mr. Evenson has been applying for full time public works jobs with other cities. If this were a typical Apprentice scenario, I would be totally fine with that and consider it an indication of a successful program. In this case however, we are currently short one full-time employee. In an effort to retain Mr. Evenson, staff is recommending that the Apprentice Pay Scale be adjusted at the 1-year anniversary on November 1, 2018 to bring the hourly wage to $20.00 per hour. In order to accomplish this, staff recommends amending the Public Works Apprentice wage scale to enable staff to provide an adjustment at the 1-year anniversary provided the need is apparent and it works with the budget. This way, the entire scale does not have to be amended and then changed back in the future. This allows some room for extraordinary cases. A revised wage scale is shown below.