5.4 ERMUSR 09-14-2021 - Laserfiche WebLink

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same request was made the prior year and legal counsel advised that a current commission cannot obligate a future commission to a set wage increase. However, the commission and the WBC committee both agree that the metro average is the benchmark to strive for in awarding the wage adjustment for the lineworkers every year. Regarding the request to have the metro average as the standard wage adjustment companywide, the four employee groups were discussed. These groups were created strategically to allow for the appropriate wage adjustments to be applied to the different market groups. The organization benchmarks the lineworker group every year to remain competitive in a very competitive market. The other groups are not as easy to benchmark, however, we need to do a better job of doing this on a regular basis. The committee will work with HR to determine a way to do this regularly, and present to employees what that timeframe is (annually, every two years, every three years, etc.) so they know what to expect. 2. The second request to change the residency rule to be within 20 miles or 30 minutes seems reasonable and there was very little discussion. As the original criteria for 20 miles was that it shouldn’t be more than 30 minutes response time within that radius, this would allow for some additional flexibility if more than 20 miles still can be accomplished in 30 minutes. The Committee proposes that the residency rule be changed to be within a twenty (20) mile radius of the power plant, or within a 30-minute response time. 3. The third request for the Longevity Plan as a potential employer contribution to the 457 plan was researched for legality. Unfortunately, any employer contribution to the 457 plan can only be a matched contribution by the employee, and so could not be done as requested. The committee reviewed the previously submitted proposal from July and revised the contribution amounts within the years of award. The revised longevity plan proposed is below: 8 years $1,550 12 years $2,025 16 years $2,100 20 years $2,125 24 years $2,300 28 years $3,000 32 years $3,000 4. The fourth request was to explore some options for having a summer hours schedule for field staff. There was discussion on what the considerations and challenges are in implementing a summer schedule. The most obvious challenge was the current application of overtime in recording hours worked for the field staff. They are currently paid overtime on any day where more than 8 hours are worked. ______________________________________________________________________________ Page 2 of 3 82