2.2 ERMUSR 11-8-2022 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

5.5 Wage & Benefits Committee Update Ms. Slominski presented the staff requests and the subsequent proposals from the Wage & Benefit Committee based on those requests. She then invited the Commission to discuss those proposals for approval of action items to be effective January 1, 2023. The first request from staff was for a 5% wage increase for all employees while the proposal from the Committee was for a wage increase of 3.14% for all employees, which aligns with the metro average for the lineworker group. The second request was to have 100% of remaining sick time at retirement paid out to staff's Health Care Savings Plan (HCSP). The Committee proposed a tiered structure based on years of service, specifically: • 0-7 years 50% • 8-11 years 55% • 12-15 years 60% • 16-19 years 65% • 20-23 years 70% • 24-27 years 80% • 28-31 years 90% • 32+ years 100% The proposal caps this distribution at 960 hours. Ms. Slominski explained the third request was for the Committee to consider providing three additional sick days for non -remote staff. The Committee does not propose meeting that request. Ms. Slominski shared that the final request was for an increase to the Utilities Performance Metric Incentive Compensation (UPMIC) from 2% to 4%. She shared that the Committee felt that a 0.5% increase for each of the next two years was appropriate. Commissioner Westgaard shared it was his understanding that the goal had been to match the wage adjustment for non-lineworker utilities staff with city staff who had received a 4% adjustment for non -union employees. Chair Dietz stated that has not been the goal with this being the first time in his 26 years on the Commission where city employees are receiving a larger increase than utilities employees. Chair Dietz went on to explain that the utilities wage adjustments should align with metro average, which could be higher next year. Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Meeting Minutes October 11, 2022 Page 6 IN