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Minutes 10-15-97 MINUTES OF THE CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING HELD IN THE LIBRARY PROGRAM ROOM AT THE CITY LIBRARY, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1997, AT 7:30 P.M. PRESENT Gerald "Jerry" Taylor, Mayor Jamie Titcomb. Vice Mayor Matt Bradley, Commissioner Shirley Jaskiewicz. Commissioner Henderson Tillman. Commissioner Kerry Willis, City Manager James Chemf. City Attorney Sue Kruse, City Clerk Arthur Lee. Asst. DirecTor of Human Resources Joe Sciortino. Golf Course Director Marshall Gage, Police Chief Bill Bingham, Fire Chief John Guidry, Utilities Director CALL TO ORDER Mayor Taylor called the meeting to order at 7:50 p.m., and apologized for the delay in starting the meeting. The City Commissioners and City Manager attended a School Board meeting to support a resolution to fund the high school for Boynton Beach. There was a great deal of discussion on this Issue and a motion was made and carried to pass the resolution to pass a COP funding source no later than March 1. 1998 if the Legislature does not provide funds for the construction of our high school. I. OVERVIEW - Jim Cherof- Identify Sections from: A. Civil Service B. Coral Springs Administrative Policy Manual Attorney Cherof advised that the approach that was used with respec~ to the document (PPM) was to try to implement a set of rules and procedures to take the place of a svstem that is archaic, with rules and regulations that are difficult-to read and reconcile with eac~ other: They went through the Civil Services Rules & Regulations. the City Charter, City Code and existing Administrative Procedures Manual issued through the City Manager's Office. In reviewing these existing documents, there were certain provisions they wanted to move away from because they were cumbersome or difficult to deal with This review was done in keeping with the sentiment of the Commission that it was time to move away from the traditional Civil Service System and devise a system that would result in responsibility being exercised by employees, managers, and employees and managers together. There are Two key sections in the document that comprises the rewrite of the Civil Service Rules & Regulations that were borrowed from the City of Coral Springs. These are the sections dealing with disciplinary action and incentive pay. These procedures are not intended to apply to union employees. It is hoped that someday, the collective bargaining agreements will incorporate the provisions of this Personnel Policy Manual. MEETING MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 15, 1997 However. that provision cannot be compelled upon the un~on employees. Therefore. the document is written very carefully to exclude application to union employees. The manual applies to non-contract City employees and identifies a list of upper management positions that are targeted for contracts. These individuals will be asked to sign individual employment contracts at a point in the future determined by the City Commission, In another key prowsion, the recruitment process has oeen converted to open recruitment. For any position, the City will be able to look inside and outside the City for appropriate candidates, The objective of this provision is to allow the City to target, recruit and hire the "best and brightest~ for every position within the City. The central provisions of the documentrare not different than the current Civil Service Rules & Regulations. These are the sections that outline the compensation plan and most of the other monetary-type benefits including sick and vacation time. These sections have been carried over almost word-for-word from the existing policies. The intent was to ease the transition of procedural rules and regulations and compensation rules and regulations. It is hoped that over time. the Commission will have an opportunity to look at the compensation ssues year by year, A new monetary provision has been added which includes bonus days that will be awarded for responsible use of sick time. There is another monetary provision that automatically provides for longevity bonuses to employees on a periodic basis. Those bonuses range from $500 to $2.000 There is an incentive pay program that was borrowed from the Coral Springs document The incentive pay program is linked to an annual review of performance that is a process we do not currently have, This process can result in up to a 4% increase to employees in several different categories An entirely new section on disciplinary guidelines has Ueen added so that the types of activities that can result in disciplinary actions are clearly set out. They are placed ~n categories that range from minor violations to major violations with corresponding degrees of disciplinary penalties. This also includes information on how management is supposed to ~mpact this through the evaluation process The employee will move through a disciplinary process in a progressive manner. A careful study of imposing and evaluating discipline was made. The conclusion was that the process takes much too long and that is detrimental to the employee and management. We devised a process that results in minor discipline including verbal or written reprimands. Anything less than a five-day suspension ~n pay will be considered minor discipline. This will be resolved, if necessary, by the Human Resources Director, Major discipline (five days suspension or more) will go through a process that results in binding arbitration with a third- party arbitrator being selected. The losing party will pay for arbitration The intent of this provision s to ensure that both the grievant and the party defending the grievance truly evaluate the merits of the grievance before moving it forward. We have a gnevance process that goes through a process that ends with a determination by the Human Resources Director. The rules have also been clarified that govern the City Commission and all employees of the City with regard to nepotism. 2 MEETING MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 15, 1997 This is a working document There are a number of policy decisions lhat need to be made. -The Labor Management Committee has provided good feedback with respect to the document. The docdment ends with an effective date provision which offers three choices for rmplementation as follows: The new policies woul0 be effective and applicable to all employees on October 1. 1998. 2 The new policies would not be effective to current employees= but all new hires would be subject to the new policies. Current employees would have an option of selecting whether they want to be governed by the old Civil Service Rules & Regulations or be covered by the new policies. Attorney Cherof believes [here are monetary incentives in the new policies that should attract employees to it. The new policies would apply to everyone, but would nol ~e effective until October 1, 2000. II. SUSAN GRANT A. Evaluation B. Incentive Ms. Grant explained that the incentive pay system has been in effeci in Coral Springs for approximately five years. The current policy has evolved in many ways and is very different from the original policy. The City of Coral Springs has an annual review of all policies. They convene an employee group known as a Focus Group to learn what is good and what is not good so that changes can be made. At present, the employees have an annual review. Fifty percent of that rating is based on objectives. These objectives are agreed to by employee and supervisor at the beginning of the year. The remaining 50% of the rating is based on job skills, In the past, ratings were in traditional categories such as work habits (showing up for work everyday, tardiness, etc.). Employees are expected to come to work everyday on time: therefore, no extra points are awarded ~n those areas. Current ratings are based on customer service empowerment, and self-improvement. This is a way of focusing the employee on things that are important. With regard to objectives the City of Coral Springs asked that the employees set approximately three to five objectives that are measurable. This year, the City tried to link those objectives to the department objectives and the City mission. By having objectives link up to the top, it gives the employees the feeling that their jobs have impact on the City accomplishing goals and objectives. The features of this system are: It provides motivation for high performance with awards of 0 to 7% based on the rating. 3 MEETING MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 15, 1997 The City of Coral Springs has a rating system (1, 2. 3 or 4). The raise is based on where the employee falls within the rating system. 2. The system also provides employee flexibility. The awards can be taken in one of four ways. The awards can be added to the base pay, taken in extra vacation, taken in cash, or added to deferred compensation. Long-term em ployees can take the award in vacation cash or add ~t to their deferred compensation. At the start of this program, the entire 7% could be added to the base pay. Approximately three years ago, the program was changed to put a 5% cap on what could be added to base. Last year. based on long-term budget projections, the cap was lowered to 4%. If a raise of 7% is granted. 4% can be added to base and the remaining 3% can be taken in other awards All evaluations are completed on October 1st. This assists in budgeting and eliminates late evaluations. In addition, this provides motivation for long-term employees. Even if employees are capped, the award can be taken in vacation, cash, or deferred compensation. Responding to a question from Arthur Lee. Ms. Grant said the City Of Coral Springs has not had any problems completing evaluations on time She explained that in order to get everyone on the October 1s' date for evaluations, the employee would be evaluated on his/her anniversary date and then again on October 1st. That evaluation will ce prorated for the number of months since the last evaluation. The same type of procedure takes place when an employee ~s promoted. Dale Sugerman questioned whether or not any Cost of Living Adjustments are awarded, or whether all increases are tied to incentives. Ms. Grant said the City of Coral Springs eliminated annual C.O.L.A.s approximately five years ago; therefore, all raises are lied to incentives. Every other year, the City of Coral Springs does a comprehensive salary survey, and pay raises are increased. Scott Blasie questioned whether or not any problems have been encountered whereby departments are out of balance in awarding raises. Ms. Grant said Coral Springs does annual reporting to find out what the raises look like in every department. Employees are aware of the fact that there is no guarantee of consistency in ra~ses throughout the City: However. they know that their ratings and raises are consistent within the department. If a department appears to be tougher than others. Human Resources counsels them. Arthur Lee asked for a description of the training program in the City of Coral Springs. Ms. Grant said there was a tremendous amount of training when the incentive plan was first implemented. Of late. they have been slightly lax, but intend to begin reinforcement of training. In addition, twice a year the employees and supervisors are asked to do a progress check to see where they stand with regard to their objectives. Commissioner Bradley questioned whether there is any motivation for the department heads to come in at budget or under budget. Ms. Grant responded negatively and explained that the raises are approximately 5% across the boards. The results are reported, and to date. no 4 MEETING MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 15, 1997 department head has claimed he/she was pressured in any way. Approximately four years ago, the average ra se was 4.2%. Last year, the average raise was 5.52% Commissioner Bradley q Jestioned whether there was a mechamsm in place to track whether customer service has increased proportionately. Ms. Grant advised that citizen surveys are done twice a year. The customer satisfaction rating has been over 90% and has been increasing. An employee survey is also done twice a year to track employee satisfaction. The Jatest numbers show a 94% employee satisfaction rating. A member of the audience questioned how long this policy has been in effect in Coral Springs. Ms. Grant said ~t has been in-place for five years. Management has evaluated the plan every year. In the first year in order~to give an employee the highest rating, City Manager approval was required. That has now been changed. Cty Manager approval is no longer re u red. Also, ain ratingthe past, an emp oyee who received a rating of 2 was automatically'awarded a 3~q° raise. For of 3, the raise was 5%, and for a rating of 4, the raise was 7%. Because supervisors wanted more flexibility, that was changed to allow for ranges. Over the years, they have found that the changes have become less drastic and have had less impact on the employees. Brenda Gibbs questioned whether there has been a marked increase in job hopping because of raises. Ms. Grant responded negatively. Mayor Taylor thanked Ms. Grant for her presentation, and complimented the Labor Management Committee on their review of the document. III, OVERVIEW OF LABOR/MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE - Arth ur Lee Prior to presentation of an overview by Art Lee Mayor Taylor directed the Commissioners to Page 69 of the back-up material that listed the three options availa~ole He pointed out that if Option ~ was selected, it would not be necessary to review the document this evemng, He reminded everyone that Option #2 would allow current employees to be grandfathered under Civil Service, andthe document would only apply to new employees Vice Mayor Titcomb said he read the entire document that was very positive and offers a great deal of future positive incentives for emp oyees However, being realistic, he feels there will be significant problems in transitioning between the systems, Of the three options, he favors Option #2 that gives the current employees a grandfather status with an option to move into the new system He ['eels that through attrition and the option of going to the new policy, over several years' time some of the difficulties of the current system will be phased out with the least amount of frictio'n. Commissioner Jaskiewicz was not opposed to deferring the implementation of the policy longer than October 1. 1998. However. she fee~s this document is better than what is currently existing. There is nothing punitive about this new policy and she does not see any reason for having so many layers She would: support Option #1 or Option #3. If there were fewer employees, she might consider OFtion #2 She could not see the reason for expending this effort if it is not going to be implemented. She feels the employees will not object to it once they read it. She has r~ad comments aboUt concerns the employees have about being dismissed. She pointed out that the Civil Service System can hurt the employees as weJl as help them. MEETING MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 15, 1997 Vice Mayor Titcomb advised that the City Manager confirmed there are approximately 350 non- union employees. Therefore. less than 800 employees would De affected by the new policy. Commissioner Bradley commended the Committee for their time and efforl with this project. There are many different opinions and many ~ssues that were raised. This ~s a project that still has a ~ong way to go. If this new plan is good enough, people will want to join it. He supports Option #2. Commissioner Tillman feels the Committee Is doing a very good job. However. he also feels it is too early to make a determination He feels tonight's meeting is part of the process and what has happened dur ng this meeting is part of the procedure to find a plan that will serve the employees fairly and equitably. He is not in favor of anything that would lean back toward the Civil Service System. He feels we should move forward to put together a plan that the employees would find acceptable. Although the employees may find some parts of any new plan unacceptable, as a whole, it should be a plan that has flexibility. He would favor Option #1. He feels there is a great deal of work to be done. Commissioner Tillman suggests that everyone keep an open mind in terms of what the plan should do. He feels a new. better plan cannot work if we do not want it to work. He reiterated that he would support Option #1. Mayor Taylor advised that he has gone back and forth on this issue. When this process began, he was in favor of eliminating Civil Service and moving forward. He has considered his position and realizes that it might not be fair to change the rules for people who have been with the City for a number of. years. He wants to be as fair as possible. Under the new plan, the employees would not lose any benefits. Certain positions will become contract positions In a~td tion. there are a number of people in unions a~nd there will be early retirements and attrition. Therefore. the number 3f employees remaining will be insignificant to the overa workforce. Mayor Taylor feels the employees who are committed to the City need to have the City's backing on that commitment. He is in favor of Option #2. He suggests that upper love management look at the recommendations that have been made in an effort to incorporate whatever is fair and equitable into thenew policy. He is not in favor of putting a new cover ~nthe Civil Service Rules & Regulations and calling them a new policy. If the referendum passes on March 1~. all new employees will be under the new policy The current employees should be g~ven a "window of pportun~ty to dec~de.whether or not to stay in Civil Service or opt into the new policy. Mayor Taylor explained that since this was a workshop meeting, a vote could not be taken. However, at this point, there are three Commissioners in favor of Option #2 Commissioner Jaskiewicz noted from the minutes of the Labor Management Committee meetings that there were a number lof Civil Service Rules & Regulations that should be changed. She questioned whether or not that work would continue. Mayor Taylor said the Civil Service Rules & Regulations need to be updated, and the Labor Management Committee should review ~hem and bring recommendations to the Commission. City Manager Willis asked the CommisSioners for input relative to the fact that the new policy would not be applicable to union members. Mayor Taylor expressed his feelings that if the unions are not affected by the policy, they should not set the rules for those who are affecl~ed. MEETING MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 15, 1997 Vice Mayor Titcomb questioned whether future union negotiations would include elements of Civil Service as part of their structure or would they move toward an administrative policy. City Manager Willis said all changes have to be bargained collectively between the Commission and union representatives. If there is a multi-year contract, the City and the un,on must abide by the contract provisions. When the contract comes up for renegotiation, f the union chooses to adopt a certain provision of the contract, it would have to be brought to the table and they would have to be prepared to bargain away something in exchange. IV. QUESTIONS & ANSWERS With regard to the union employees, Police Chief Gage explained that the proposed APM will have a wide range of rules and regulations covering City functions, discipline, etc. A lot of the contracts reflect back to Civil Service Rules. In that absence, we could end up having to rewrite the entire manual as opposed to referr ng to issues that are not governed b their APM It might be better to leave them in and -,",-,,, ,'- ......... Y ' contract or the ~,,'~,vv t[[~HI LO De part OTTne APM. It is hopeful that an APM will be designed that would eventually make those employees want to cut the contract to two or three pages. He feels it might be premature [o exclude the union employees. Art Lee explained that union representatives have been included in the Labor Management Committee meetings~ He agrees with Police Chief Gage's remarks on this subject and feels un,on representation should be included in the meetings. Mayor Taylor said he is open to discuss ons on this subject. Dee Zibelli confirmed with Mayor Tay or that the Civil Service Board would remain if Option #2 is approved. Roger Kuver feels that i~ the City builds a better plan, people will opt for it. He q aestioned what action the City Commission will take to ensure that the em Io ees w~l. be grandfathered into Civil Service since the r~ferendum will eliminate the Civil Ser~lP'~Y~yste Mayor Taylor explained that the referendum question will be written to include the grandfather clause for current empioyees. Attorney Cherof agreed that the Ordinance will have to be revisited to clarify the lan~luage regarding the grandfather provision. Commissioner Jaskiewicz explained that one of the things that made her angry about the Civil Service Board is the procedure for arbitration. This has been h - · . She read from a report that s de, v~lr~r~¢,,4 ....... er poslbon from the beglnn n . wa ...... ,~vu ~ ~ resu~l of workshops with State agencies. Thge report indicated that issues are brought before Civil service Boards for adjudication even though that board has not been a part of any previous actions and does not have a sense of what went on to get to that point. Id many cases, a City's administration can build a very strong case and the board can make a decision to overturn the administration based solely on emotion rather than based on the true facts or me~its of the case. There are other Civil Service systems that work very well. Those systems include a paid arbitrator. Mark Law rem~nded the Commissioners that many of the Civil Service Board members are appointed by the Commissioners. Only a few of those members are employee elected. 7 MEETING MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA OCTOBER 15, 1997 One of the union members pointed out that 99% of the gnevances filed were resolved by the unions. He does not feel the Commissioners should let one episode cloud their decision. Rick Smith pointed out that in 1991 and 1993 revisions were developed to straighten ou~ Civil Service. He feels those rules should be rewsed and the new APM should be added to it On behalf of the Labor Management Committee, Art Lee thanked the Mayor and Commissioners for allowing staff to have an opportunity to address this issue. The Committee was the brainchild of the City Manager and its purpose was to open discussion on issues of mutual concern to labor and management. The Committee is composed of six department heads, five representatives from collective bargaining, two members from the general · employees. Arthur Lee and Wilfred Hawkins. A great deal of time and energy was expended on the review and formulation of a policy. The Committee has not completed the review or feedback and requests the opportunity to continue. Mayor Taylor said he expects the Committee to continue its review and provide recommendations to see where they fit into the new plan. ]'here is still a great deal of work to be done to update Civil Service and prepare a pay matdx. He thanked the Committee members for their work. Commissioner Bradley recommends retaining representation from the bargaining units on this Committee since they were involved from the start. Consensus There was a consensus of the Commission that the Committee should continue to meet~ ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Commission. the meeting properly actjourned at 9:00 p.m ATTEST: City ~'lerk ~i-.-CI WO TapetYs)Clerk CITY OF BOYNTON B~ Mayo~.~..~ ay, or .-~ Commissioner ~