02-08-95 Council Workshop Minutes

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL FEBRUARY 8, 1995 not subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act are employees-at-will and can be terminated without cause by the employer. The Administrator reported that he did discuss this issue with the City Attorney. Since the current Personnel Ordinance does not provide for employment-at- will, this would be a change. The Administrator stated he will ask the City Attorney to provide the appropriate language as suggested by Fahey. The Public Works Superintendent pointed out that the current supervisory staff was hired under the present Personnel Ordinance. He asked if that staff would be grandfathered in with regard to the at-will employment issue under the Personnel Ordinance, rather than a Personnel Policy which will be adopted after their hiring. Morelan asked if the Personnel Ordinance would be revised or abolished. The City Administrator replied that he would anticipate abolishing the Personnel Ordinance, and replacing it with the Personnel Policy. The appropriate process would be discussed with the City Attorney. Fahey felt there was a need for at-will employment language, citing an example where there might be a personality conflict with a department head and the City Administrator. In such an instance, the City Council should have the ability to let the department head go. Scalze asked if at-will employment was common in the municipal-business world. The Administrator reported that he initially considered such languaqe to apply to all positions, but ran into some problems. The Administrator felt that the Mayor's recommendation had validity but does not appear common in the other ordinances reviewed. Fahey pointed out that an employer is looking for a lot different skills for management personnel than non- management. Fahey stated that the seminars he attends stress the need for at-will employment language, and for employers not to create anything which might be 2