11-13-2002 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 HR -4. Public Employees Labor Relations Act (PELRA) 2 3 • The state must modify the definition of public employee under PELRA by removing the 4 existing 14- hour /67 -day requirement and replace it with a definition in which employees 5 must work more than an annual average of 6 20 hours per week. 7 • Temporary or seasonal employees must be excluded from the PELRA definition of public 8 employee in Minn. Stat. § 179A. 9 10 HR -5. Re- employment Benefits 11 12 • Public sector temporary or seasonal employees must not be eligible for re- employment 13 benefits. 14 15 HR -6. Essential Employees 16 17 • Cities must balance the health, welfare, and safety of the public with the costs to taxpayers. 18 Therefore, the Legislature must carefully examine requests from interest groups seeking 19 essential employee status under Minn. Stat. § 179A (PELRA). The League opposes 20 legislation that mandates arbitration that increases costs and removes local decision - making 21 authority. 22 23 HR -7. Pension Benefits 24 25 • The League opposes special legislation for individual employee pension benefit increases, 26 unless they are initiated and approved by the city council of the impacted city. 27 • The League opposes the expansion of the Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) 28 corrections plan to include dispatchers. 29 30 • HR -8. Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) Coordinated Plan 31 Funding Deficiency 32 33 • PERA identified a significant long -term funding deficiency in its coordinated plan in 2000 34 that was the result of changing demographic patterns. The 2001 Legislature adopted 35 employer and employee contribution rate increases and plan modifications to address the 36 deficiency. Recent analysis has indicated that some of the costly demographic trends that led 37 to the deficiency may be slowing or reversing. 38 • The state must carefully analyze future actuarial reports and experience studies to deteuuine 39 if the 2001 contribution rate increases and plan modifications are sufficient to cover the 40 plan's deficiency. The state must assist local governments in covering any deficiency that 41 still may exist. The PERA eligibility guidelines must be modified to take into account unique 42 part -time and student employment situations in cities, particularly in recreational operations. 43 The plan should be modified to use pro -rated service credit, which would make PERA 36