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City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: CONSENT CALENDAR
Lead Department: Human Resources
Meeting Date: May 20, 2024
Report #:2403-2780
TITLE
Adoption of Revised Management and Professional Salary Schedule to Adjust the Salary of One Classification; Adoption of Administrative Revisions to the Management and Professional Compensation Plan; and Adoption of a Side Letter and Revised International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 1319 Salary Schedule for One New Classification; CEQA Status - Not a project
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that Council adopt:
1. A revised Management and Professional Salary Schedule to adjust the salary for one classification, Utilities Chief Operating Officer, effective upon adoption. (Attachment A)
2. A revised Management and Professional Compensation Plan to incorporate four administrative modifications. (Attachment B)
3. An International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 1319 (IAFF) Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) Side Letter (Attachment C) and revised Salary Schedule to include the salary for new Fire Life Safety Inspector, non-sworn classification effective upon adoption. (Attachment D)
BACKGROUND
1. Management and Professional salary reconciliation of Utilities Chief Operating Officer classification.
The purpose of this classification is to supervise division heads (Assistant Directors), develop and implement department and City policies and cross division cost sharing strategies. This position is responsible for ensuring compliance of Utility Operations with federal, various state, local and regulatory standards, and implements a cohesive vision of engineering, operations support, labor relations and other project and business development strategy to lead the Utilities department in the execution of critical and transformative operational strategic initiatives.
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The Utilities Chief Operating Officer reports to the Utilities Director and is a critical role to ensure the continuity of the Utilities services and the development of leadership across all divisions. This classification is vacant and has not been utilized since May of 2019 to use salary savings for employee development opportunities. The salary of the classification has not been updated since 2019; therefore, an update to the Salary Schedule is needed to bring the salary of the classification into alignment with Council-approved salaries of other Management and Professional classifications.
2. Administrative Updates to Management and Professional Compensation Plan The unrepresented Management and Professional personnel are provided the compensation and benefits outlined in the Management and professional Compensation Plan. This plan is periodically updated with revisions both administrative in nature and to address changes in compensation and benefits.
Staff recommends four Plan modifications/additions as described in greater detail in the Analysis section below.
3. International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 1319 (IAFF) – New “Fire Life Safety Inspector” non-sworn
In Fiscal Year 2023, City Council adopted a budget adjustment to provide for additional Fire Inspector positions to aid the department in completing the state mandated annual fire and life safety inspections. This action was anticipated to be cost neutral as inspection revenue was projected to align with expenses.
City staff and IAFF met and conferred on the addition of these positions and agreed to allow for the City to hire either sworn fire life safety inspectors or non-sworn fire life safety inspectors to ensure all existing buildings are adhering to fire and evacuation plans and drills. This report includes an updated Salary Schedule and MOA Side Letter incorporating the new “Fire Life Safety Inspector” non-sworn classification.
ANALYSIS
1. Staff recommends adopting the revised Management and Professional Salary Schedule to adjust the salary for the classification of: Utilities Chief Operating Officer.
This administrative adjustment is to reconcile the salary for this vacant classification that has not been updated since 2019. The maximum salary is recommended to be increased from $260,250 to $333,341. The adjustment in the salary range is equivalent to the previously Council-approved adjustments made to similar management and professional classifications since 2019 and will place the Utilities Chief Operating Officer salary directly between the Utilities Assistant Directors and the Utilities Director. 4 2
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2. Staff recommends adopting four administrative revisions to the Management and Professional Compensation Plan
Four changes to the Plan are recommended and summarized below; the specific red-line changes can be seen in Attachment B.
a. Hiring Incentive: Provide authority for Council Appointed officers to provide a one- time hiring incentive for critical Management and Professional personnel vacancies as needed. This would cost neutral option will be paid in accordance with internal operating policies & procedures under the City Manager’s authority, ensuring equitable standards for all departments. This discretionary pay will create an additional tool to the recruitment for key personnel to accomplish the Council established priorities, without adding to the Department’s ongoing budget. b. Working Above Classification: Amend the working out of class (also known as “Working Above Classification”) provision to provide guidance to managers when assigning working out of class. When providing working above classification opportunities, managers should consider all qualified and interested individuals within a work group. The guidance allows for a consistent approach across departments and work groups when assigning working out of classification duties. Such change helps ensure growth opportunities for all qualified and interested staff. c. Administrative restoration: At-Will Employees provision: Administrative restoration of language inadvertently removed from the Management and Professional Compensation Plan document regarding severance payments. When a revised Management and Compensation Plan was taken to Council for adoption on December 13, 2021, language was mistakenly removed; the language being restored outlines the severance payment process for At-Will employees who are terminated or asked to resign.
d. Discontinue stipend for Mayor/Vice Mayor: In compliance with state law, Council members designated as the Mayor or Vice Mayor will no longer be eligible for this stipend, as all Councilmembers compensation will be increased to the maximum allowed by the City Charter and state law, effective January 1, 2025.
3. Staff recommends adopting the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 1319 (IAFF) MOA Side Letter and Salary Schedule to add the Fire “Life Safety Inspector” non-sworn classification.
Staff met and conferred with IAFF to incorporate the non-sworn classification of Fire Life Safety Inspector to provide flexibility for the City to hire either sworn or non-sworn staff to conduct 4 2
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the State mandated fire and life safety inspections. Non-sworn personnel in these classifications are differentiated from the sworn classification in the latter may be called upon to perform life threatening firefighting activities in an emergency and must have prior experience as a Fire Fighter. The Side Letter and salary schedule (Attachment C) outline the compensation and benefits specific to the new classification. The salary and benefits are in alignment with non- sworn staff throughout the City. Because the classification will not perform any firefighting activities or perform any life-saving or rescue procedures, the compensation and benefits are at a reduced level from those of the Sworn Fire Inspector. Council previously approved this classification in the FY2023 budget (CMR 14352).
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
All actions described herein are either cost neutral or can be absorbed within the FY2024 adopted budget. Utilities financial plans will need to be adjusted to include the ongoing cost of the revised salary for the Utilities Chief Operating Officer classification, however, it is expected that this can be managed within expense savings during FY 2025 as needed.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
City staff will post the updated Management and Professional Compensation Plan and IAFF Memorandum of Agreement and updated salary schedules on the City’s website after Council adoption for public access. In addition, Human Resources will communicate the changes to the terms of the IAFF MOA and Management and Professional Compensation Plan to support and enhance recruitment and retention goals.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Council action on this item is not a project as defined by CEQA because revising MOAs, compensation plans, and salary schedules is a continuing administrative activity. CEQA Guidelines section 15378 (b)(2).
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Management and Professional Salary Schedule FY 24 Attachment B: Management and Professional Compensation Plan 2023-2025 Revised 2024 Attachment C: IAFF MOA Side Letter Agreement, 2023-2025 Attachment D: IAFF Salary Schedule 2023-2025
APPROVED BY:
Sandra Blanch, Human Resources Director