12-11-2013 Council Workshop Minutes

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL DECEMBER 11, 2013 about the pay -off of PTO when an employee leaves, and staff noted that the proposal would be that PTO would be paid off when the employee leaves. The maximum exposure to the City would be one year's worth of PTO (if the employee never used an hour during the year and left on 12/31) and the carry -over maximum, i.e. employee earns 30 days per year and is at the carry -over maximum of 30 days (if that is the number set). The City would be liable for a 60 day pay -out at termination. McGraw expressed concern about the carry -over maximum and the potential that employees would lose PTO time. It was pointed out that the intention of PTO programs or vacation programs is that employees take time away from their jobs. Therefore, putting a carry -over maximum in place ensures that employees will use their PTO. The next talking point discussed was a conversion policy. Staff is recommending that current vacation hours be converted to PTO on a one - for -one basis. Staff is also recommending that any sick leave balances that are not converted to PTO be converted to a Deferred Sick Leave balance and paid out under the City's Severance Policy at termination. The Administrator stated that staff has discussed the option of converting a determined number of sick leave days to PTO in order to provide employees with a starting balance in their PTO accounts. PTO would be proposed to accrue on a bi- weekly basis. The Administrator suggested that 12 days of sick leave be allowed to be converted to PTO as this will eliminate the lowest employee sick leave balances entirely. Any remaining sick leave would be converted to a Deferred Sick Leave balance that could be used for catastrophic events, including the care of another. The Administrator suggested that events of 5 days or more seemed reasonable for this category. There was a great deal of discussion relative to the number of sick leave days that should convert to PTO. Blesener suggested that employees be allowed to convert 4 sick leave days to PTO for 2014 and another 4 sick leave days for 2015. He further suggested that these days be a deduction from the Severance Pay -Out should the employee request this conversion. Blesener indicated his support for remaining sick leave days converting to a Deferred Sick Leave balance that could be used for catastrophic events. With regard to pay -off of deferred sick leave balances at termination, the Council was in agreement with the pay -off of these balances in accordance with the Severance Policy, and subject to the Mayor's suggestion for the deduction of sick leave converted to PTO from the severance pay -off. McGraw expressed concern for employees with low sick leave balances and the need for some sort of short term disability (STD) provision. He suggested the creation of a sick leave bank that could be utilized by 9