HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 01-25-1994 WorkshopCITY COUNCIL
SPECIAL WORKSHOP MEETING
January 25, 1994
A Special Workshop Meeting of the Cape Canaveral City Council was held on January 25, 1994,
at the City Hall Annex, 111 Polk Avenue, Cape Canaveral, Florida. The meeting was called
to order at 6:00 P.M. by Mayor Salamone.
ROLL CALL:
Mayor Joy Salamone Present
Mayor Pro Tem John Porter Present
Councilmember Arthur Berger Present (Late)
Councilmember Leo Nicholas Present
Councilmember Rocky Randels Present
City Manager Bennett Boucher Present
City Attorney John Kancilia Present
City Clerk Faith Miller Present
BUSINESS:
1. Discussion Re: Proposed Revisions of Personnel Rules & Regulations, Beginning with
Section 6, Wage and Salary Plan.
The following items in Section 6, Wage and Salary Plan, of the proposed revisions to the City's
Personnel Rules & Regulations were reviewed and discussed as follows:
SECTION 6 - WAGE AND SALARY PLAN:
Item 6.01, Policy - changed the word "assign" in the first line of the item to read "determine ".
Item 6.02, Purpose - changed the word "constructed" in the last line of the first paragraph of
the section to read "formulated".
Item 6.03, Content - the last sentence of the first paragraph was changed to read "This plan may
be adjusted by approval of the City Council ".
Item 6.04, Administration - the words "pay plan" of the third line, first paragraph would be
changed to "Wage and Salary Plan". Mr. Randels questioned the wording regarding the City
Manager's approval of all hiring rates. Mr. Boucher stated that if a department head presented
a recommendation for hire at a rate above the minimum, then he would approve or disapprove
the request. Mayor Salamone stated that by deleting the words: "...including obtaining approval
for all hiring rates..." it would satisfy the problem she had been having with individuals being
hired at salaries above the minimum starting rates. Mr. Porter stated that this topic had been
discussed previously regarding whether or not the administration could decide where on the pay
scale an individual was to be placed when hired.
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City of Cape Canaveral, Florida
Special City Council Workshop Meeting
January 25, 1994
Page 2
Mr. Boucher stated that he had a problem with not being allowed to hire above the starting rate.
He explained that certain levels of skilled positions would have to be hired above the minimum
to ensure that well qualified individuals were chosen. Mayor Salamone stated that in the past
the hiring of individuals above the starting salary had become the "rule always, rather than the
exception". Mr. Michael Gluskin, Public Works Director, commented that the latitude should
be there for the Manager to make the decision to hire someone above the minimum. He gave
examples of problems that would be encountered to fill certified positions at the wastewater plant
if certified individuals had to be hired at the minimum rate.
Mr. Randels commented on the concept of reward for performance and he used the example of
the Secretary II position in the Building Department that had recently been filled by an in -house
transfer at a wage significantly higher than the starting rate for the position. Mayor Salamone
stated that it was her intention that if the City was going to have a Wage and Salary Plan that
contained a minimum and a maximum salary that the minimum salary be followed as the Plan
intended. She started that a large majority of new hires had been hired above the starting wage.
Mr. Boucher stated that Item 6.05, Starting Rates, allowed that if an applicant's training,
experience, or other qualifications were substantially above those required for the position, then
it was in the best interests of the City to hire that individual above the minimum rate and he,
as City Manager, should be given that latitude.
Mr. Nicholas stated that there were other avenues available to increase individuals' salaries
through special evaluations. Mr. Porter stated that there had been a situation where an
individual was hired at a higher salary than necessary and Mr. Boucher had been told that
Council felt hiring above minimums was a problem; therefore, Council was asking that
individuals be hired at the minimum. Mr. Boucher asked for the latitude in certain situations
to hire above the minimum. Mr. Porter stated that Item 6.05(a) clearly stated Council's intent
to hire at the minimum. Mr. Randels expressed his opinion that there were specific cases when
hiring above the minimum was needed.
Mr. Randels questioned if it was the consensus of Council that there may be some time that the
rule may not always be adhered to, but as a rule it should be followed. Mayor Salamone stated
that she had a personal problem with individuals being hired above the minimum and everyone
should start at the minimum and the jobs should be advertised with a starting salary only. She
suggested that possibly the Wage and Salary Plan should be rewritten to show the amount of
experience and knowledge required to be hired above the minimum. Mr. Porter suggested that
the City Manager give a memo to Council advising them of any new employee's starting wage.
Mr. Randels stated it appeared to be the consensus that the department head(s) had some
discretion over the hiring rates, but not as an every time rule. Mr. Porter stated that the
discretion was there, but that Council would hope that the department's discretion nine times out
of ten would be to stick with the program.
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City of Cape Canaveral, Florida
Special City Council Workshop Meeting
January 25, 1994
Page 3
Item 6.04, Administration - the last sentence would be changed to read: "Cost -of -living
adjustments as determined by the City Council may cause the minimum and maximum pay
ranges to be adjusted on October 1st of each fiscal year."
Item 6.06, Pay Upon Reclassification, (A) - changed to read: "When a position is reclassified
to a higher class and the employee's rate of pay is less than the minimum of the new class, the
employee's rate of pay will be adjusted to the new minimum."
Item 6.06, Pay Upon Reclassification, (B) - changed to read: "When the reclassification results
in a lower pay grade for the same job, the employee's rate of pay shall be reduced accordingly."
Mr. Berger arrived at the meeting at this time.
Item 6.07, Merit Increases - first sentence changed to read: "The Wage and Salary Plan
provides for a merit increase (subject to fund availability) for all full -time and part-time
employees, who receive a rating of satisfactory or higher, to be granted each year on the
employee's annual review date after completion of the employee performance evaluation."
There was discussion regarding the percentages proposed for the ratings of satisfactory, very
good, or exceptional on employees' annual performance evaluations. Council asked that a rating
of "0 %" be provided for ratings of "Unsatisfactory/Needs Improvement ".
Mr. Kancilia explained a conceptual problem regarding the merit increase /lump sum bonus
wording including in Section 6.07 (A) & (B). He questioned why there was a maximum pay
rate if an employee who had reached the maximum salary was eligible for a lump sum bonus.
There was extensive discussion regarding the maximum salary rates and lump sum bonuses.
Mayor Salamone stated that the majority of governmental entity employees received a cost of
living raise per year, not bonuses or merit raises. Mr. Gluskin commented that if a survey of
municipalities within the State of Florida was done, it would show that 98 % of all cities gave
a cost -of -living increase based on the cost of living and a merit increase based on performance.
There was further discussion regarding the basic concept of pay for performance, merit raises,
cost of living raises, and the proposed incremental percentage merit increases (3 % - 5%).
After a ten - minute break, the meeting was reconvened.
Discussion continued regarding Item 6.07 (A) & (B). Mayor Salamone stated that conceivably
the percentage merit increases at the maximum 5% for all employees could cost the City
$72,000 including the cost -of -living raises. She believed that work should be rewarded and she
suggested a total dollar amount (not a percentage amount) not to exceed $500 -600 on a sliding
scale for lump sum bonuses. Mr. Boucher stated that the City had to have a reward system that
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City of Cape Canaveral, Florida
Special City Council Workshop Meeting
January 25, 1994
Page 4
would be fair and equitable for all employees and he believed in rewarding performance. Mayor
Salamone stated that she did not believe it was a good idea to proceed with the percentage
system based on the conceivable cost of the merit increases. Mr. Nicholas agreed with the
deletion of the percentage language. Mr. Porter stated that if incentives were set up correctly
and employees had something to work towards, then the City would see tremendous gains in
productivity, quality of service, etc.
Mr. Boucher suggested including limits such as $.50 per hour for an exceptional rating, $.35
for very good, and $.25 for satisfactory. He explained the problems with inconsistency over the
years with employees all receiving the highest amount whether or not they received satisfactory
or exceptional. Mayor Salamone did not feel that the problem would be fixed by assigning
certain rates to each performance category as each supervisor's perception of an employee's
work performance differed. Mr. Randels stated that it appeared that Council did not wish to
lock a rating into a specific dollar amount. He wanted to give the discretion to the department
heads to use their jurisdiction with the money available to authorize the amount of merit
increases. Council concurred to eliminate all of the proposed new wording under Item No. 6.07
(A) & (B) and the one old sentence in (B) would be added to the paragraph under the subheading
(A).
Mr. Porter encouraged programs that would offer incentives and rewards other than monetary
for recognizing exceptional performance. There was additional discussion regarding incentive
programs.
Mr. Kancilia commented that the Christmas bonus procedure should be included in the Personnel
Rules & Regulations. Mayor Salamone stated that the wording: "Council may give Christmas
bonuses based on the following formula" should be added along with the formula which was
used to calculate said bonuses.
Item 6.08, Pay Rates in Promotion, Demotion or Transfer - Mr. Nicholas commented that there
was a conflict between this item and Item 8.02(C) which would be discussed later. Item
6.08(C)(2) would be changed to read: "An employee's request to a position of a lower
classification may result in a decrease in pay."
There was discussion regarding the demotion section which allowed for demotions as a
disciplinary action or at an employee's request which provided "may" language for decreases
in pay. Mr. Nicholas stated that possibly another sentence was needed in the demotion section
which provided that "the granting of the request was left to the discretion of the City Manager".
Mayor Salamone asked that Mr. Kancilia include a management clause in Item 6.01.
Item 6.09, Temporary Assignment - No changes.
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City of Cape Canaveral, Florida
Special City Council Workshop Meeting
January 25, 1994
Page 5
Item 6.10, Overtime (A) - the last word of the second sentence of this paragraph would be
changed from "day" to "workday ". Cross reference to Item 6.15 would be changed to reflect
Item 6.12.
Council asked that a definition be included for "administrative personnel" in Section 2,
Definitions.
Item 6.10, Overtime (B) - the first sentence would be changed to read: "All authorized and
approved work performed in excess of forty (40) hours in any one work week shall be
considered as overtime and shall be paid at the overtime rate of one and one -half times the
employee's regular rate of pay."
Item 6.11, Call-Back Pay - the reference to "or compensatory time" would be stricken from the
second sentence of the section.
Item 6.12, Wastewater Treatment Plant Certification Operators - the section would be deleted
in its entirety.
Item 6.13, Compensatory Time - item changed to Item 6.12 due to the deletion of the previous
section. Mr. Kancilia would verify whether or not the Chief Operator was considered "salaried"
and whether or not the position should be included in this item as exempt from overtime.
Council concurred to schedule the next special workshop regarding the Personnel Rules for
February 8, 1994, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:18 P.M.
.4Latz.,
Faith G. Miller, CMC /AAE
City Clerk