City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: December 19, 2023
Agenda Item: 5.N
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Oles Gordeev, Acting Director of Human Resources, Human Resources Department
Subject: Adoption of a Resolution Accepting Tentative Agreement and Authorizing the City Manager to Negotiate and Execute Side Letter of Agreement with the Coalition of Santa Monica Employees (Coalition)
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of categorical exemption pursuant to Section 15324 (Class 24 Regulations of Working Conditions) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines;
2. Adopt the proposed Resolution (Attachment A) accepting the tentative agreement and authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and execute a Side Letter of Agreement with the Coalition of Santa Monica Employee (Coalition).
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Summary
In accordance with the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA), the City and the Coalition of Santa Monica Employees (Coalition) have met and conferred and have reached a Tentative Agreement (TA) on the terms and conditions of medical benefits for miscellaneous employees.
Discussion
The overall policy of the City has been to maintain competitive benefits and working conditions in a high-cost geographic labor market to attract and retain a high-quality workforce to serve our community across a wide range of specialized services. Since most, though not all, City jobs are comparable to those in other competing municipal organizations, the City has traditionally looked to full-service cities in our region of similar size and financial strength for labor market comparisons.
The Coalition represents all City employees, with the exception of Police and Fire. On June 23, 2020, the City and the Coalition entered into an Umbrella Agreement governing medical benefits. The terms of the Umbrella Agreement are set to expire on December 31, 2023.
The substantive change to be effectuated to the Umbrella Agreement by this Amendment will shorten the time new hires are eligible for medical benefits, as follows:
• The current rule in the Umbrella Agreement is that the effective date of medical benefits for employees hired by the City is the first day of the month following 30 calendar days of employment. Effective January 1, 2024, the new rule will be that the effective date of medical benefits for employees hired by the City is the first day of the month following an employee’s date of hire.
The City met and conferred with the Coalition in accordance with the provisions of the MMBA, and the parties have reached a tentative agreement to amend the Umbrella Agreement with the proposed term.
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The terms of the proposed amendment to the Umbrella Agreement continue to keep the City in alignment with our 11 comparable peer cities while simultaneously preserving a level of benefits that will keep the City competitive in a tight labor market. Peer cities include Anaheim, Beverly Hills, Burbank, Culver City, El Segundo, Glendale, Inglewood, Pasadena, Redondo Beach, Santa Barbara and Torrance. The City of Los Angeles and County of Los Angeles may also be included as a comparable agency depending on the classifications being surveyed.
Environmental Review
The negotiated changes to medical insurance coverage are categorically exempt pursuant to Section 15324 (Regulations of Working Conditions) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines. Class 24 consists of actions taken by regulatory agencies to regulate employee wages, hours of work or working conditions where there will be no demonstrable physical changes outside the place of work.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
The recommended action contained in the Amendment presented in this report does not result in an additional financial impact to the City. The annual cost of fringe benefits for each budgeted position is already included in the City’s adopted budget.
Prepared By: Oles Gordeev, Acting Director of Human Resources Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. 12.19.23 Coalition Roll-Over Resolution