5.2 ERMUSR 07-13-2021 - Laserfiche WebLink

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______________________________________________________________________________ Page 1 of 2 UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING TO: ERMU Commission FROM: Theresa Slominski - General Manager MEETING DATE: July 13, 2021 AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: 5.2 SUBJECT: Wage & Benefits Committee Update ACTION REQUESTED: Approve all action items as outlined below to be effective January 1, 2022. DISCUSSION: On October 13, 2020, the Wage & Benefits Committee (WBC) held an open meeting for employees to submit wage and benefit suggestions for consideration by the Committee. A representative group of employees presented several suggestions focused on the retention of employees. Several items were implemented in 2021 and two were held over for discussion and possible implementation in 2022: Longevity Pay, and additional Vacation Days. The Committee met on May 26, 2021, to review the research from these two items. The Committee submits the following for Commission consideration: 1. Longevity Pay – There were two ideas presented from the employees for consideration of awarding Longevity Pay, based on percentages of pay, which ranged from $1,000 at 5 years of service to $7,000 at 20 years of service. The Committee reviewed these ideas and reviewed a 2016 survey from Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association (MMUA) regarding benefits among municipal utilities that had information on peers’ implementation of Longevity Pay. The survey results were varied and seemed to be less than either of the ideas presented. The Committee was favorable to implementing Longevity Pay, however as additional information was needed, the Committee requested human resources staff to do some more research and provide an update. Through MMUA, 33 utilities were surveyed in the state of Minnesota and 9 respondents currently offer a longevity pay incentive to employees who reach specified years-of- service milestones at their organization. Some awarded incentives at 8 years, however most started at 10 years and increased in increments of 5 years through 30 years of service. The incentive varied in dollar amounts, some awarding a percentage of pay and some flat dollar amounts. Depending on the rate of pay, the incentives ranged from $500 to $1,000 at 8-10 years, with a maximum of approximately $2,500 to $5,000 at 20- 30 years. There was a single utility that awarded one longevity incentive of 1% at 20 years of service (so approximately $500 to $1,000 depending on rate of pay.) 109