Agenda Packets - 2002/10/14 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Item No: 8C Meeting Date: October 14, 2002 Type of Business: CB City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: James Ericson, Community Development Director Item Title/Subject: Discussion and Consideration of a Temporary Alternative Staffing Assignment within the Community Development Department Date of Report: October 10, 2002 Background: The Administrative Assistant for Community Development will be taking a four to six week medical leave the first week in November to undergo a necessary invasive surgical procedure. She will be unable to drive or return to work for at least a month after the operation. The Administrative Assistant has offered to work from home part time during her leave to remotely assist in the continued functioning of the department, as she has done during two previous maternity leaves. (During her last maternity leave, she installed and formatted the City’s current Permit tracking software, saving the department thousands of dollars in consultant fees.) Discussion: The Administrative Assistant would be able to monitor voice mail and respond to most if not all zoning requests, property information requests, flood plain zoning inquiries and Code related questions. In the past, we provided the assistant with the ability to remotely access her personal computer from home, thereby allowing her to update and maintain data bases, input building permits and draft correspondence as needed. Her ability and willingness to perform this work from home on a temporary basis would greatly reduce the impact her leave will have on our department. Even though we have made these types of temporary “work from home” arrangements in the past for employees on leave, we have no personnel policy in place that addresses this. Given that, we thought it would be appropriate to bring this to the City Council’s attention and, if the Council is agreeable, to draft a policy that would provide some guidelines and controls for future implementation. Recommendation: I am recommending to the City Council that the Community Development Administrative Assistant be afforded the flexibility to remotely provide administrative support from home during her medical leave, under my supervision, and in compliance with any policies drafted that would apply to her situation. Please call me if you have any questions. _____________________________________ James Ericson Community Development Director 763-717-4021