Employee Handbook Policy Changes
Based on City Commission direction, Staff is recommending the following four updates to the Employee Handbook.
1) Insert the following paragraph into the preamble:
All City employees are covered by the policies and procedures in this Handbook. Departmental policies and procedures will not contradict or supersede City policies and procedures, unless when otherwise noted or approved by the City Manager. Additionally, certain employees may be subject to the provisions of a memorandum or understanding or other agreement, and shall refer to those agreements for guidance.
2) Replace current overtime policy with the following policy:
Nonexempt employees are eligible to receive overtime pay at a rate of one and one-half their regular rate of pay for hours worked in excess of forty (40) in a standard workweek; 212 during the 28-day work period for nonexempt, sworn employees in the Fire Medical department assigned to shift operations; or eighty (80) during the 14-day work period for nonexempt, sworn employees in the Police department.
Paid holidays will count as hours worked for the purposes of calculating overtime.
It is the policy of the City to keep overtime to a minimum. Nonexempt employees will not work overtime without advance supervisory authorization. Employees may be required to work extended hours to respond to emergency, operational, or service delivery needs. An employee’s work schedule may be adjusted during a workweek or work period to avoid overtime.
Overtime is considered a condition of employment, and refusal to accept it without good or sufficient reason as determined by the employee’s supervisor is cause for discipline, up to and including termination.
The City may provide nonexempt employees compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay for hours worked in excess of the standard workweek or work period through a voluntary and revocable agreement. Agreements must be approved by the Department Director and be recorded in the employee’s personnel file. Such agreements will provide for a cap of 60 hours for accrued compensatory time. Payments for accrued compensatory time are not included as hours worked when calculating overtime.
A substitution or “trade time” program is available in the Fire Medical department. The hours worked will be excluded in the calculation of the hours for which the substituting employee would otherwise be entitled to overtime pay under the FLSA.
3) Replace current working on holidays policy with the following policy:
For those employees scheduled to work holidays, departmental rules will govern time off. Employees that work holidays will receive holiday pay plus their regular rate of pay for actual hours worked. Holiday pay will count as hours worked when calculating overtime. See the section on overtime regarding employee eligibility for overtime.
4) Add the following new section on Extended Emergency Event Pay:
Employee regular work schedules may be changed to provide the highest level of response to weather related events (including snow and ice removal), emergencies, or disasters.
If a weather related event, emergency, or disaster is declared by the City Manager and it causes a nonexempt employee’s regular work schedule to change for two consecutive days or more, the employee will be compensated at one and one-half times the regular rate of pay for hours worked in excess of the regular work schedule each day, and the employee will record those excess hours worked on the Employee Time Report as Emergency Event Pay.