8.1. SR 08-16-2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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REQUEST FOR ACTION TO ITEM NUMBER Ci Council 8.1. AGENDA SECTION MEETING DATE PREPARED BY Administration August 16, 2010 Lauren Wipper, Human Resource Re resentative ITEM DESCRIPTION REVIEWED By Street and Equipment Services Divisions Compensatory Time Lori ohnson, Ci Administrator Pay-out Date Change REVIEWED BY ACTION REQUESTED Approve changing the date for the payout of compensatory time for street division and equipment services division employees to October 31 of each year. BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt governmental employees are able to earn compensatory time in lieu of being paid overtime. Compensatory time is banked and employees are able to use these hours to take time off at a later date. The City has a compensatory time policy which allows employees to carry 40 hours in their bank at the end of each calendar year. In June of 2006, the street and park department (which is now two separate divisions) requested that the twelve-month year for the carry over of compensatory time be changed from a calendar year to November 1 to October 31. This would help eliminate employee requests to use compensatory time during the busy snowplow season. Following City Council discussion, it was decided to approve the change but to make the pay-out at the end of the quarter -September 30. In August of 2008, the street department requested to have this twelve-month period changed back to the calendar year to be consistent with all other Public Works divisions. This was discussed with street division staff and the consensus among the employees-was that they would like to see the date changed back to the end of the calendar year. During recent meetings with Street Superintendent Phil Hals, he requested to, again, have the twelve- month calendar year changed to November 1 through October 31 to better accommodate the use of compensatory time. During these tight budget times, employees are required to use their compensatory time as opposed to having it paid out. Needing to use compensatory time by the end of December creates requests for time off during the potentially busy snow season. As well, overtime is often necessary during this period which creates additional accrual of compensatory time. FINANCIAL IMPACT None.