Agenda Item #12.1
For Council Meeting of: December 13, 2022
CITY OF SANTA ROSA
CITY COUNCIL
TO: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: AMY REEVE, DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES
HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT
SUBJECT: AMENDMENT TO THE CITY CLASSIFICATION AND SALARY PLAN MODIFYING THE SALARY RANGE OF MULTIPLE POSITIONS AND ADOPTION OF THE CITY’S SALARY PLAN AND SCHEDULE AGENDA ACTION: RESOLUTION
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended by the Human Resources Department that the Council, by two resolutions: 1) approve a 5% equity increase to multiple positions, to include classifications historically linked to those previously identified for recruitment and retention adjustments; 2) pursuant to the City’s minimum wage Ordinance, ORD-2019-14, approve increases to impacted temporary and seasonal employee pay scales to meet or exceed the City’s minimum wage of $17.06 per hour and preserve the salary structure of other classifications within that temporary and seasonal group effective January 1, 2023; and 3) approve and adopt the City’s Salary Plan and Schedule as required by California Code Regulations Title 2, Section 570.5 - Requirement for a Publicly Available Pay Schedule.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Amendments to the City’s classification and salary plan require City Council approval. Staff recommends the following amendments for Council approval:
Increase the salary for the classifications listed below by 5%, effective January 2, 2022.
Supervising Traffic Signal Technician
Senior Traffic Signal Technician
Traffic Signal Technician
Electrician
Plan Check Engineer
Additionally, pursuant to the City’s minimum wage Ordinance, ORD-2019-14, adopted on October 22, 2019, the minimum wage will increase to $17.06 per hour, effective January 1, 2023. There are several classifications in temporary and seasonal employees which will be impacted by the increase to the minimum wage, and the base range for those classifications is required to be at least $17.06 per hour. Additionally, there are proposed adjustments to other higher level classification salaries within the temporary and seasonal classifications which are being adjusted to preserve the existing salary structure.
BACKGROUND
During the recent round of labor negotiations, the City and Teamsters 856 mutually identified the Electrical Services classifications as having ongoing recruitment and retention issues, including: multiple failed recruitments, employment offers to qualified candidates being rejected due to compensation, and insufficient candidate pools with a lack of qualified candidates possessing the minimum qualifications for the classification. Those adjustments were presented and approved by City Council.
After further discussion with Teamsters 856, it was mutually agreed that the Traffic Signal Services teams operate within the same Electrical Services section and organizational structure, and therefore should have been included in the original adjustment. Additionally, the Plan Check Engineer was reviewed for comparison against other engineering professional positions, and it was determined that this stand-alone classification should receive the salary adjustment to maintain parity with similarly situated classifications.
California Code of Regulations, Title 2, Subchapter 1, Employees’ Retirement System Regulations section 570.5 requires a member agency’s pay schedule to be approved and adopted as a standalone document detailing the pay rates for each agency position.
PRIOR CITY COUNCIL REVIEW
City Council adopted Ordinance ORD-2019-014 on October 22, 2019, establishing minimum wages to be paid by employers in the City of Santa Rosa.
City Council reviewed the related report for the Electrical Services and Engineering classifications, and approved corresponding recruitment and retention adjustments on July 26, 2022.
On September 27, 2022, Council approved Resolution RES-2022-198 adopting the most recent Salary Plan and Schedule.
ANALYSIS
During the last contract negotiations, the City and the Union identified several classifications that had ongoing and significant recruitment and retention issues marked by failed recruitments, rejections of offers to qualified candidates, and/or a lack of a qualified applicant pool. As a result, the City brought a number of market adjustments to Council for approval on July 26, 2022. Council approved the salary adjustments, effective January 2, 2022, by Resolution RES-2022-156, adopted on July 26, 2022. Subsequent to the meeting, the Union identified additional positions, which were historically linked to the identified classifications and requested they receive comparable adjustments to create parity.
The Traffic Signal Services and Electrical Services teams operate within the same Electrical Services Section and organizational structure, with similar job descriptions. Maintaining equity and continuity between the Traffic Signal and Electrical Service team is appropriate until the City-wide Classification and Compensation Study is completed.
The Plan Check Engineer position is included after further review and comparison of duties, education and licensing requirements. It is similar to other engineering service job descriptions and is appropriate to include to ensure continuity among the professional engineering series On January 1, 2023, the City of Santa Rosa minimum wage will increase to $17.06 per hour pursuant to Santa Rosa City Code Chapter 10-45 and Ordinance ORD-2019-14, impacting several temporary and seasonal employee pay scales. In addition to increasing pay for classes whose pay rates are currently below the new minimum wage, the proposed adjustments include increases for higher level temporary classifications to preserve the salary structure.
According to Council Resolution 23615, “The City Manager is authorized to set and change any rate of pay that is necessary to best meet the needs of the City for any temporary, seasonal, or recurrent position.” However, some of our temporary staff are members of CalPERS, which requires that pay rates for all CalPERS members be approved by the governing body in an open meeting. In order to fully comply with California Code Regulations section 570.5, a Salary Plan and Schedule is attached reflecting the aforementioned salary increases for Council’s approval and adoption.
FISCAL IMPACT
This action results in an ongoing cost to the General Fund of approximately $94,000 per year. The current year cost will be paid for from existing appropriations and future costs will be included as part of budget development beginning in FY 2023-24.
Funds for the increase to temporary salaries were appropriated in the previously adopted budget for this fiscal year.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it is not a project which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378.
BOARD/COMMISSION/COMMITTEE REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Not applicable.
NOTIFICATION
Not applicable.
ATTACHMENTS
Resolution 1 - Equity Adjustments
Resolution 2 - Salary Plan and Schedule / Exhibit A – Salary Plan and Schedule
CONTACT
Amy Reeve, Director of Human Resources, Human Resources Department, [email protected]; (707) 543-3070
AMENDMENT TO THE CITY CLASSIFICATION AND SALARY PLAN MODIFYING THE SALARY RANGE OF MULTIPLE CLASSIFICATIONS PAGE 3 OF 3