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______________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br />Page 1 of 2 <br /> <br /> <br /> UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING <br /> <br />TO: <br />ERMU Commission <br />FROM: <br />Mark Hanson - General Manager <br />MEETING DATE: <br />November 12, 2025 <br />AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: <br />5.09 <br />SUBJECT: <br />Wage & Benefits Committee Proposed 2026 Adjustments <br />ACTION REQUESTED: <br />Approve the 2026 Wage and Benefits Adjustments, effective January 1, 2026. <br /> <br />BACKGROUND: <br />The Wage & Benefits Committee (WBC) met on September 2 and October 27, 2025, to review <br />possible wage and benefits adjustments for 2026. The agenda included the following items for <br />discussion: <br />1. Annual Wage Adjustment <br />2. Staff presentation of “Ideas and Things to Consider” <br /> <br />At the September 2 meeting, staff made one primary request for 2026: an annual wage <br />adjustment for all employees equal to the average lineworker adjustment within the seven <br />“metro average” utilities (Anoka, Chaska, North St. Paul, Shakopee, Great River Energy, Wright <br />Hennepin Electric, and Connexus Energy). <br /> <br />Additionally, staff provided a document outlining the following ideas for the committee’s future <br />consideration and potential implementation: <br />• An increase to the amount of paid sick leave converted to an employee's post- <br />employment Health Care Savings Plan (HCSP) at retirement <br />• An increase to the number of on-call hours that are paid while in "standby" mode during <br />an employee's week of on-call duty <br />• An increase to the amount of compensatory time ("comp time") an employee could <br />utilize annually <br /> <br />DISCUSSION: <br />2026 Wage Adjustment: At the October 27 meeting, the Committee discussed staff's request to <br />include an additional 0.5% adjustment in addition to the average adjustment for the seven <br />metro average utilities. The Committee determined that the 0.5% increase should not be <br />included in ERMU's 2026 wage adjustment calculation because it was associated with one <br />utility’s market adjustment rather than an annual cost of living adjustment. <br />105