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Elk River'�W� <br />Municipal Utilities <br />UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING <br />TO: <br />FROM: <br />ERMU Commission <br />Wage & Benefits Committee <br />MEETING DATE: <br />AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: <br />November 13, 2018 <br />5.6 <br />SUBJECT: <br />Wage & Benefits Committee Update <br />ACTION REQUESTED: <br />Per the recommendation of the Wage & Benefits Committee, approve the following effective <br />January 1, 2019: <br />* 2.85%'4metro average" adjustment for lineworker pay group <br />0 3% cost of living adjustment for field, office, and management pay groups <br />0 Purchased Vacation Time Policy allowing the purchase of 40 hours of vacation per year <br />0 Employee funded vision insurance plan <br />0 Employer contributions to health savings account of $650 for single and $1985 for <br />family. <br />DISCUSSION: <br />On October 9, the W&BC held an open meeting for employees to submit wage and benefit <br />suggestions for consideration by the committee. The committee met on November 2 to review <br />and research topics from the open meeting. The committee also performed market analysis in <br />preparation for making a cost of living adjustment recommendation to the commission. The <br />committee also followed up on other miscellaneous outstanding issues. The committee submits <br />the following for commission consideration: <br />Employee 012en Wage & Benefits Committee Meeting <br />A number of requests were submitted to the committee by employees. The following items were <br />requested by field staff. "metro average" benchmarking for Lineworker position, create a <br />1�comp" time off policy, and increase on -call stipend. And the following items were requested by <br />office staff. additional vacation time, work day ending at 4:00 p.m., more frequent casual dress <br />days, and team building exercises during office meetings when time allows. <br />I . Metro Average - The metro average cost of living adjustment used for benchmarking <br />lineworker market pay compares base compensation of four metro municipals and three <br />metro cooperatives with ERMU. The comparison utilities are: The City of Anoka, The <br />City of Chaska, The City of North St. Paul, Shakopee Public Utilities, Connexus Energy, <br />Great River Energy, and Wright -Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association. <br />The projected 2019 metro average for base compensation would result in a 2.85% cost of <br />living increase for the ERMU lineworker pay group. This benchmarking system for this <br />group has produced stability in ERMU's market competitiveness for this pay group. The <br />Page I of 4 <br />I.-V <br />