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MEMORANDUM <br /> <br />TO: <br /> <br />Mayor and City Council <br /> <br />FROM: <br />DATE: <br /> <br />Pat Klaers, City Administrat~ <br />June 9, 2003 <br /> <br />SUBJECT: Consider 2003-04 Voluntary Leave Program <br /> <br />Item <br /> <br />Over the past few months there has been numerous discussions held with department heads and <br />the finance director regarding a Voluntary Leave Program. The purpose of this program is to <br />create a "win-win" situation whereby the city can save some money during a time of budget <br />constraints and an employee can take some additional time off without pay but without loss of <br />any benefits. The city already has in its personnel policy manual a provision for a "general leave" <br />whereby an employee can seek time off without pay. However, this time off is without accruing <br />vacation or sick time, without holiday pay, and without the city contributing to insurance <br />premiums. <br /> <br />This proposed Voluntary Leave Program is temporary and the amount of time off allowed is <br />limited. All leaves are subject to department head approval. Use of this program is anticipated to <br />be somewhat limited and there are some departments where use of this program will not be <br />appropriate. However, there are also some departments where the workload goes in cycles and in <br />such departments as the street/park or the building/environmental, there may be times whereby <br />some additional time off can be beneficial for both the employee and the city. <br /> <br />In review of the proposed attached policy, the department heads requested that it be kept simple <br />and brief with discretion placed in their hands. It was also discussed that the non-department <br />head exempt employees could have their wages converted to an hourly rate and get approval for <br />time off under this Voluntary Leave Program. In this regard, recent information from the <br />League of Minnesota Cities suggests that leaves for these types of positions only be granted in <br />eight hour blocks of time. <br /> <br />The city is establishing a new policy with this proposal and most everyone believes that it is <br />worth a try in order to help us through the immediate short-term budget challenges. If problems <br />arise with the policy, it ~vill be brought back to the City Council for review and reconsideration. <br /> <br />Recommendation <br />It is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached Voluntary Leave Policy ~vith the <br />understanding that this is a temporary program that runs through 2004. <br /> <br />S:\ CO UNCIL\ Pat~2003 \VoluntaryLeave.doc <br /> <br /> <br />