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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCIV 1982-04-20 Minutes MINUTES FOR THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION APRIL 20, 1982 AT 7:00 P.M. IN THE NORTH RICHLAND HILLS CITY HALL, 7301 N.E. LOOP 820 CALL TO ORDER Chairma.n Szol called the meeting to order at 7:04 P.M. ROLL CALL Members Present: Ed Szol Chairman Bob Skelton Bob Roark George Pederson David Phelps Others Present: Ron McKinney Civil Service Secretary APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Pederson moved, seconded by Commissioner Roark, OF MARCH 16, 1982 to approve the minutes of March 16, 1982 as written. The motion carried 4-0 with Commissioner Phelps abstaining since he was absent. REQUEST TO CONSIDER Chairman Szol opened the item up for discussion. Jerry LONGEVITY PAY Thompson, Public Works Superintendent, came forward. He stated he was speaking in behalf of his people. He said his department would ~.ike to know how, according to the ~ Rules and Regulat~ons, longevity can be taken away. He said that instead of North Richland Hills progressing forward for the employees, everything is going downhill. He stated that all of the employees here tonight are taking a cut in pay. He asked why cut out the people that have been with the City for a long time; all you are going to do is end up losing your good help and you will have nothing. Tommy Sears stated that in the Water Department there are quite a few people who have been with the City for years. He said these people depend on their longevity; it is part of their livelihood. He said the employees were told there would be no more longevity, but weren't given an explanation. Jerry Thompson said that the Rules and Regulations state each person shall receive, it doesn't say "if". He said the Charter also states this until it has been amended, and to his knowledge it hasn't. Chairman Szol said that when the new salary plan was recommended to the City Council, one of the expectations was the elimination of longevity. He said he subsequently found out that this aspect of it was not communicated to the employees when it occurred and it just recently became an issue. He said he thought all things should have been explained in the beginning, and for reasons unknown, the way the salary stru~ture was implemented never was communicated. He explained that the Commission surveyed the surrounding CIVIL SERVICE MINUTES Page 2 April 20, 1982 Mid-Cities area salaries and worked up a salary structure relative to placing people in salary ranks on the basis of tenure with the City and tied it in with performance. He said the problem now with the lack of communication is a feeling of inequity in finding out about it now. He said he couldn't say at this point what the Commission will decide, but the Commission has to make a recommendation to the City Council by June 1 for the merit budget and the issue of longevity w~ll be considered. He explained that one of the aspects of the whole salary program is the salary increases should be based more on performance. He said when the Commission set the ranges, the longevity factor was taken into consideration. John Moody asked how he could justify saying that because when you have a promise of a salary increase and you receive a salary increase that you call "zero" and multiply that times the three months retroactive back to October and you still get zero and then you find out you are going to take a$1,200 cut. He said if you look at it straight across the board there are a lot of inequities. Chairman Szol stated he could appreciate why everyone was ` here. He said that before the new salary administration program went into effect, everyone in the City received • an across the board increase. He said when a new salary program is established, one of the things to be done is change the inequities that have occurred. He said there were some jobs that North Richland Hills was already competitive with and some that were underpaid. He said there were a number of people who received a substantial increase while others did not. Floyd McCallum said they were more interested in the decrease than the increase right now. Chairman Szol said the Commis5ion was sympathetic to the problem being presented, but they couldn't stand here this evening and say longevity wa~ back in because it was not ~or them to say. He said his personal feeling is something needs to be done to correct the problem in some manner. Tim Horvath asked if the Commission's purpose is to look out for the employees' better interest or the City's. Chairman Szol explained the Commission's job is to look out for the interest of the employees while keeping in mind ~ CIVIL SERVICE MINUTES Page 3 ~ 'April 20, 1982 overall restrictions relative to the Charter and City Council. He said their function is to make recommendations to the City Council. Tim Horvath asked to whose better interest do you make the recommendations. He said he didn't feel the employees were getting anywhere with the Commission. Chairman Szol said the Commissions' function is to see what is best for the employees within the guidelines that have been established. Tim Horvath asked when they make recommendations what kind of pattern is used to make ad~ustments. He asked how it is decided that the Fire Department receives good pay raises. He said they are not going to fight a fire without the water furnished by the Utility Department. He asked why it wasn't on a more equal basis. Chairman Szol said the basis for their comparison is what the other cities within the Mid-cities area are paying. He said the Council has to decide how much they are willing to pay; they don't automatically rubber stamp what the Commission submits to them. He said the Coannission's function is to see what is the proper pay for the employees and make recommendations to the City Council. Jerry Thompson submitted a memo to the Commission dated August 18, 1981 that was sent out to the employees. He said this is the stuff that the employees have been lead on with. He said the memo doesn't say that longevity will be eliminated. Commissioner Pederson asked if he felt the Public Works and Utility Departments have been treated more inequitable than the others. Jerry Thompson said the Utility and Public Works Departments are the backbone of the City and pave the way for the City "to come grow with us". Dennis Thompson asked if the City Council gave a reason for dropping longevity. Chairman Szol said an individual may not do a good job but because of the fact that he has worked for the City ten years, he automatically gets a certain increase. He said the feeling is that amount of money should be in merit. Cliff Porch said two years ago the employees were told they were going to a merit system and at that time longevity and ~ merit were both on the salary proposals. CIVIL SERVICE MINUTES Page 4 - ~April 20, 1982 Huey Sheppard said when they were evaluated the last time, they signed the evaluation forms at the shop agreeing to the evaluation scores, but the evaluation forms were brought to the City Hall and the ratings were changed. Chairman Szol said he could see the possibility where the immediate supervisor would evaluate and then review it with his boss who might make changes, but once it is shown to the employee it should not be changed. He said the final evaluation should be reviewed and communicated to the employee. Tim Horvath asked if it was the Commission's recommendation to do away with longevity and replace it with merit. Chairman Szol said they made the recommendation to the City Council. Tim Horvath asked if they.had ever thought about looking inside the city rather than to the other cities. Chairman Szol said they looked outside as well as inside and compared one job to another. Cliff Porch asked if they looked at what it is worth to get up at two o'clock in the morning and sand the streets or work in flooding conditions. Huey Sheppard said everything is being taken away from the employees and nothing is being given in return. Cliff Porch asked what the employees are going to get in return when the City withdraws from Social Security. Ron McKinney said he was in the process of developing a benefit plan that will take the place of social security. Cliff Porch stated he would rather have longevity than social security. Jerry Thompson asked how the Commission could thoroughly place each individual in each salary step in the new pay plan. Chairman Szol said they did it with input from the City Manager and other people in the organization. Jerry Thompson said he felt the City Manager couldn't fairly place his people in the salary steps because he might not come around the shop but once a month. He said he felt that his boss and himself should have had something to do with the placement of his employees in the salary steps. Chairman Szol explained that when the jobs were slotted . there were some 3obs that did not fit in the framework of the other cities, and it was those 3obs that a decision had to be made as where they should fall. He said the determination was made by what the other cities were paying for those services. CIVIL SERVICE MINUTES Page 5 - -April 20, 1982 Glen Cooper asked what cities the Commission was referring to when they say North Richland Hills is competitive with - the other cities. Chairman Szol said North Richland Hills' salaries are competitive with Hurst, Euless, Bedfard and Haltom City when averaged. He said the salaries for the four cities were fairly close. To~y Sears said that without longevity, seniority doesn't mean too much to the majority of the people here tonight. He said he felt that there is not much reason left to stay with the City. John Moody said during the last Civil Service meeting the Commission was given a chance to show they could work for the employees by reconsidering the pay grade of the MW III~s. He said the discussion was held during a closed meeting and no vote was taken during an open meeting. He said they weren't told the reason the Commission turned down the request. Mr. McKinney explained that the Maintenance Worker classification was discussed during a closed meeting because it was felt there would be specific employees and salaries discussed. He said by law a vote could not be taken during the closed session, but the opinion of the Commission was there was a timing problem involved in the ~ movement of any classification to another pay grade and this was not the time to make the move. He said he relayed the information to the department head. Chairman Szol said as far as the Commission was concerned in regards to the slotting of the 3obs, there were aspects brought up in the meeting that lead the Commission to feel that the jobs are slotted properly relative to the other jobs. He said there were some differences of opinion and the Commission will be looking at the slotting as they go further into the year. There was a discussion among the employees and Commission regarding North Richland Hills' salary plan and other cities salaries. Dorothy McKnight said she has been with the City for ten years and during that time the employees worked for low salaries and were told that longevity was part of their salary. She asked how it could be taken away now. Jerry Thompson respectfully requested that the Commission take another look at longevity. CIVIL SERVICE MINUTES _ Page 6 • April 20, 1982 Commissioner Skelton said what you are saying is that you don't believe in basing a person's pay on how many years he has been around. He said if someone has promised you something and you have been lead to believe you are going to get it and then a11 of a sudden you are denied it, then it needs to be looked at. John Moody said if you review the personnel records and get a ratio on the amount of turnover, the Commission would be able to see that something is wrong. He stated benefits are being taken away from the employees. He said every three years the Water and Public Works Department have had a high rate of turnover and it is always over salaries. Chairman Szol stated there is no question people leave for more money but there are other reasons as well, such as poor supervision. He said one of the things the Commission did was take the years of service and slot them on that basis noC to exceed what their performance rating was so that to a certain percent longevity was factored into the salary plan relative to the competitive situation. He said he could appreciate the longevity issue and the Water Department's situation. He said this was one of the few areas that did not get a higher salary range. Tii~~e.. was a discussion concerning the updating of the job descriptions. ` Chairman Szol asked for a mation for the adjournment of the meeting. ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Skelton moved, seconded by Commissioner Roark, to ad~ourn the meeting. The motion carried unanimously. The meeting ad~nurned at 8:10 p.m. Ed Szol - Chai n i . Ron c inney - Civil vice Secretary ,