City Council addresses job classifications, reclassifications at workshop
City Council delved deeply into a proposed resolution for six job reclassifications and three new classifications during a workshop meeting Tuesday night at the Nicholas Annex. Being a workshop, no vote or action was required on the resolution.
The classifications and reclassifications are aimed at rectifying inequities in job descriptions and compensation brought about primarily by departments trying to do more with less personnel after the economic recession. One of the positions would move a non-bargaining employee into a classification with a bargaining unit representation, which is a sticking point with some council members and the general employees’ union representation over the methodology being used in the case.
After much discussion on the case, City Manager John Szerlag offered to hold back the position change in the resolution in order to move forward on the others, but council preferred to go on with the whole package intact.
“I know that some of the inequities exist due to the economy,” said Councilmember Jim Burch. “What I want to know is when you discover someone is doing more job outside the classification, how is it being documented. I know a lot of it is trying to do more with less.”
Mayor Marni Sawicki said she is not comfortable with the resolution.
“I’m looking for consistency,” she said. “I don’t see how this is going to help solve the overall pay issues.”
She shared her concern about employees making as much as 47 percent of their base salary by earning “other pay.” Other pay kicks in when employees fill in for other employees who are out for extended periods for a variety of reasons or, in the case of the utilities department, stand-by pay for working weekend shifts over and above their regular shift.
“I’m told it’s in the $2.5 million range,” Sawicki said. “I think 27 percent of staff has been getting other pay. Why can’t some of it go the other 73 percent and are we treating everyone the same?”
In trying to explain the classifications, business manager Mike Ilczyszyn outlined the main issues are organizational, individual and comparison as well as benefits.
“It’s a matter of how do you get new people in the door and keep them when the private sector pay is higher than our midpoint?” Ilczyszyn said. “You do an analysis of the job position by seeing how much time, what percent, goes into each of the duties. You find out what that job has morphed into and justify the reclassification by what goes into it.”
The discussion came around to out-of-title pay, which is created by a temporary filling of another position with increased responsibilities.
“I am not good with out-of-title pay,” said Burch. “That can not be of systematic use. That’s a management problem if you use out-of-title pay for more than six weeks. It means you failed to plan properly. It should also be a trigger to indicate that the job should go to the next pay grade.”
Councilmember Derrick Donnell chimed in, “I’m looking for transparency here. I’m not comfortable yet. I don’t know why, it’s just a feeling, like something is not right.”
The three new classifications being sought are for assessment and billing manager, customer and field service manager and assessment supervisor. Reclassifications sought involve a computer technician, geo processing technician, code compliance section manager, utilities customer service coordinator, assistant customer billing services manager, and customer billing and assessments manager.
Szerlag told council he would address council issues with the resolution with a better narrative presentation and a timeline for action. He plans to bring it back before council at a latter date.