Agenda Packets - 2008/06/02 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Item No: 3 Meeting Date: June 2, 2008 Type of Business: Worksession Administrator Review : ___ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: James Ericson, Clerk-Administrator Item Title/Subject: Discussion Regarding the Establishment of a Vacation Policy Introduction: At the May 27, 2008 City Council meeting and in consultation with previous Administrator Kurt Ulrich and present Administrator Ericson, Mayor Marty expressed a desire to initiate a discussion regarding the City’s vacation policy after hearing of concerns expressed by residents who had encountered limited staff on certain Fridays during summer months. Discussion: The City’s vacation policy is articulated in Section 3.40 of the City’s Personnel Manual. It states in part: “Each department shall establish a vacation schedule to ensure the needs of the department will be met while allowing employees to use accrued vacation time. Requests for time off shall be made in advance, with the length of the notice to be determined by the Department Head. All vacation time must be approved by the employee’s Supervisor or Department Head. The City encourages employees to use their full amount of vacation each year. If this is not possible, an employee is permitted to carry over no more than ten days vacation time plus the amount accrued up to December 31 of the present year. In most circumstances, if an employee is entitled to more than one week of vacation, it is recommended that the employee combine vacation weeks consecutively. The rate of vacation pay is the employee’s normal base straight-time rate of pay.” It has been discussed with department heads that vacations should be approved so as to not compromise each department’s ability to serve the public and to ensure that each department maintains a reasonable staffing presence. That said, given limited staffing in departments and the unavoidable segregation of certain duties despite substantial cross training, it may be the case that a resident will visit City Hall with a request or an issue that cannot be readily addressed if someone is on vacation. The other factor used when reviewing vacation requests is the impact on front counter coverage. Except in the case of extraordinary circumstance, there will always be someone to answer the phones or greet residents when they visit City Hall. No different than any work place, taking a Friday off to create a three-day weekend is common during the summer months. But not unlike any other day, such time off requests are granted so long as adequate coverage by department is maintained. With the exception of one instance last year, I am not personally aware that any resident has been unreasonably inconvenienced by a staff member being on vacation.