03-06-2006 CC MIN - Laserfiche WebLink

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. . . City Council Minutes March 6, 2006 Page 7 6.6. Sick Leave Donation Policy City Administrator Lori Johnson indicated that the city does not have a leave donation policy that allows employees to donate leave to another employee who is off work due to a serious illness or accident and has exhausted all of his/her leave time. Ms. Johnson stated that this is being discussed now because a city employee was recently seriously injured in a snowmobile accident and employees have been asking about donating leave to that employee. She stated this has been reviewed at a staff level several times previously, but it has never gotten to the Council for a final decision. Ms. Johnson explained that many cities have a policy that allows employees to donate either sick, vacation, or compensatory time toa fellow employee who has experienced a catastrophic accident or major illness. She stated that some cities pay for long and/ or short term disability for their employees in lieu of or in conjunction with a leave donation program. She stated that Elk River does not pay for long or short term disability but it is offered to employees on a voluntary basis at their expense. Ms. Johnson noted that long term disability does not kick in for 90 days after the disability. Ms. Johnson indicated that if the Council agrees that a leave donation policy is needed, there are many ways to structure it and explained some of the options. Ms. Johnson stated that each employee would be allowed to donate a maximum number of hours and the employee receiving the donation is allowed to receive a maximum number of hours. She explained that depending on the option chosen, there could be an expense to the city as the city could be paying for leave time that may not otherwise be paid. She stated that if compensatory or vacation time is donated, there would be no additional expense to the city. Ms. Johnson noted that the donated time is paid to the recipient at his/her current rate of pay. Councilmember Farber indicated that in the city he works for, the sick time and vacation time are combined and that employees are allowed to donate up to eight hours to fellow employees who have been seriously injured or who have a major illness. He stated that this issue has only come up three times in many years and that employees are very appreciative to have the option to donate and receive leave time. Councilmember Dietz stated that he has been approached by some employees who have indicated they would like to be able to donate time to the injured employee. He indicated that the policy should be cost neutral for the city and he has concerns that employees may donate sick time they will never use at an additional expense to the city. He suggested that if an employee donates sick time it could be tracked and when the employee leaves employment with the city the sicktime donated could be subtracted from any amount paid to the employee. Assistant Street Superintendent Mark Thompson questioned if it would be possible for employees to donate an equal amount of sick and vacation time. Councilmember Dietz indicated that is a good idea but he would like to see options presented to the Council. Councilmember Dietz questioned what determines a long-term illness. Ms. Johnson indicated that an employee would need to have a major illness or experience a catastrophic accident to qualify for the leave donation program. Councilmember Gumphrey indicated that the policy would need to have guidelines on what makes an employee eligible because he would not want to see the program abused. Ms.