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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Report - November 4, 2020 H-06AGENDA ITEM Homb &% CITY OF LODI COUNCIL COMMUNICATION TM AGENDA TITLE: Adopt Resolution Approving Side -Letter Agreement Amending the Memorandum of Understanding Between the City of Lodi and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Regarding Overtime for Employees MEETING DATE: November 4, 2020 PREPARED BY: Human Resources Manager RECOMMENDED ACTION: Adopt resolution approving side -letter agreement amending the Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Lodi and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, regarding overtime for employees. BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The Lodi Electric Utility is experiencing an unprecedented amount of attrition and has experienced significant difficulty attracting qualified journey -level Lineworkers. The labor market is extremely competitive for journey -level Lineworkers and other Utility positions. Journey -level Lineworkers have the potential to make significantly more money in overtime wages at another Utility that offer unlimited amounts of overtime and the ability to work 6 days a week. Human Resources has been recruiting for the position of Electric Lineworker, on a continuous basis, for the past several years. We have been able to hire a few qualified Lineworkers; however, many of the applicants who apply are from out of state where the operations are different and the climbing skills are non-existent or the applicants have insufficient work experience. In 2016, Council approved the addition of the Apprentice position in an effort to fill journey -level Electric Lineworkers by hiring and developing entry-level staff. The Apprentice program is a three and one-half year process and successful participants obtain their journey -level status at the completion of the program and by completing the required working hours. Unfortunately, two of the three Apprentices who recently graduated from the Apprentice program elected to leave the City within a few months after completing the program. The employees have elected to go to another Utility where they are able to work six days a week with unlimited overtime for the forseeable future. Lodi Electric Utility cannot provide this same opportunity to earn the overtime income offered by this Utility. With recent cost of living increases, Lodi's base wage is competitive with other Utilities; however, the opportunity to work unlimited overtime has resulted in several resignations over the last 12-18 months. The reduction in staffing is negatively impacting Lodi Electric Utility's ability to complete necessary maintenance on the infrastructure. Pre -planned or scheduled overtime is currently paid at the rate of one and one-half the regular rate of pay and emergency overtime is paid at double time. The proposal is to pay all overtime at the double time rate. Staff believe that this increase to the overtime rate of pay will attract qualified journey -level Lineworkers and may prevent additional resignations. NKN4�:0:41_ r �. NO ffil - - - I Cq MM EF The Lodi Electric Utility Director will manage the amount of pre -planned or scheduled overtime to ensure the maintenance work is performed as needed and to eliminate or reduce pre -planned overtime should the fiscal situation change. Staff recommend approval of the side -letter agreement to amend the IBEW MOU to pay all overtime at the double time rate. FISCAL IMPACT: Approximately $155,000 annually. FUNDING AVAILABLE: No General Funds are used in the Electric Utility. Salaries and benefits are funded with enterprise funds and are available in the current Lodi Electric Utility budget in the following funds: Engineering (50061500) Operations (50061000) Warehouse (50061510) Construction/Maintenance (50064100) Substations (50064200) Metering (50064400) Troubleshooters (50064500) Andrew Keys, Deputy City Manager/Internal Services Director Adele Post, Human Resources Manager Side Letter Agreement Amending the Memorandum of Understanding Between the City of Lodi and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers January 1, 2019 — December 31, 2021 This Agreement is entered into and effective as of November 5, 2020, between the City of Lodi, a municipal corporation ("City"), and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). RECITALS WHEREAS, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between IBEW and the City has a term of January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2021; and WHEREAS, Article 3.1 of the IBEW MOU addresses overtime compensation paid to IBEW employees; and WHEREAS, the City is experiencing an unprecedented attrition rate in the Electric Utility and is unable to attract and retain qualified journey level Electric Utility workers at a rate needed to fill current vacancies to maintain critical system maintenance and repair; and WHEREAS, representatives from the City and IBEW have met and conferred in good faith to discuss the modification of the MOU and agreed to amend the overtime compensation; and NOW THEREFORE, City and IBEW agree to amend Article 2, 3, and Article 5, as follows: ARTICLE II - COURT APPEARANCEs✓JuRY DUTY 2.1 The IBEW Local 1245 concurs with the existing City policy which provides that no deduction shall be made from the salary of an employee while on jury duty. 2.2 If an employee covered by this agreement is required by subpoena to appear in court or to give a deposition as a result of an action taken within the scope of employment with the City, that employee will receive his/her full pay while so doing with no loss of time if he/she is on regular duty. If the employee is not on duty, the City agrees to compensate that employee at on and one ha4 two times his/her regular pay for the time spent in any appearance as required by this article. As a prerequisite for payment to off-duty employees, the Electric Utility Director or his/her designee must be notified in writing of the off-duty appearance within seventy-two hours after the employee is subpoenaed or otherwise notified of the required court appearance. 2.3 Voluntary grand jury service such as that service in San Joaquin County is not covered by Jury Duty leave. 2.4 Swing and Graveyard Shift employees called in for jury duty for a second consecutive day will be reassigned to the Day Shift, Monday through Friday for the remainder of the jury duty. ARTICLE III - OVERTIME 3.1 Overtime work is work performed by an employee at times other than those normally required for his/her employment and includes time worked as follows: in excess of forty hours in a work week, 2. in excess of nine hours in any work day, 3. time worked outside of regular hours of work on a work day, 4. time involved on non -work day, and time worked on a holiday. Overtime, except as provided for in Article V, Section 5.1 shall be compensated as follows: 1. Preaffanged at the fate of one and one half times the sb7aight time rate of pay. Preafrange wME shall mean th4 the employee was netified of the wer4 prior- to the end of the preeediag regular- wer4day. All other- wME shall be eensider-ed "nen pr-eaffa-aged" or- 2 2—All ether overtime prearranged and emergency, will be paid at the rate of two times the straight time rate of pay. The time worked in exeess of 12 , e-ut ve hours and ,.,,.,t:,,uing „#:l the employee is dismissed fiem stieh wofk shall be paid at the fate of �we times the employee's str� time rate „firay-. Any time worked on a holiday will be paid at two times the employee's rate of pay. 3.2 The City may change the hours of work as stated in 25.1 after consultation with the employees and the employee organization involved, provided however that no change or alteration of hours or schedules will be made for the sole purpose of avoiding the payment of overtime. 3.3 Employees who are required to report for work on their non -work days, or holidays, shall be compensated at the overtime rate for actual hours worked, but in no event shall they be paid for less than two hours. 3.4 Any employee reporting for prearranged work wholly outside of his/her regular hours on a regular work day shall be compensated at the overtime rate for actual time worked, but in no event shall he/she be paid for less than two hours. 3.5 Any employee refusing to work on a holiday after having received forty-eight hours of such work scheduling, and having failed to secure a replacement with management approval, shall not be compensated for that holiday. 3.6 Overtime shall be distributed as equally as possible among those employees in the same classification who voluntarily sign the biweekly overtime call -out list. The City reserves the right for emergency call -out work to first call employees on the list who meet a 30 -minute response time requirement. The City retains the right to call any qualified City employee to fill in crews after the overtime list is exhausted. No employee shall be required to trade time for the purpose of avoiding payment of overtime. 3.7 Employees may exchange work days with other employees in the same classification provided: both employees are agreeable to the exchange; and 2. neither employee work more than forty hours during the work week involved; and the exchange receives management authorization. 3.8 When, at the request of the supervisor in charge, an employee reports for prearranged work: On work days outside of his/her regular work hours he/she shall be paid overtime compensation for actual work time in connection therewith, provided however, that if any such employee continues to work into or beyond his/her regular work hours he/she shall be paid overtime compensation only for actual work time up to his/her regular work hours. 2. On non -work days or on holidays he/she shall be paid overtime compensation for actual work time in connection therewith. For the purpose of this section prearranged notice has been given by the end of his/her preceding work period on a work day. 3.9 Subject to the following limitations, any employee eligible for overtime pay may choose to accept compensatory time off (CTO) in lieu of cash compensation for earned overtime. CTO will be granted at the applicable overtime rate for each hour of overtime earned. 3.10 The maximum accumulation of CTO at any time shall be limited to 240 straight time hours, but will be reduced to 120 hours and paid at the current regular rate of pay in the first full pay period in January of each year. The employee may request to reduce his/her accumulation to an amount below the mandatory reduction to 120 hours. In addition, an employee may request pay off of any portion of his/her compensation on the first of April, July and October. 3.11 An employee shall decide whether earned overtime will be recorded as overtime, CTO, or an equivalent combination prior to submission of their next time card. Such decision shall be irrevocable subsequent to the submission of the time card. 3.12 An employee's request to use accumulated CTO shall be granted at the sole discretion of the department supervisor with due consideration to both the wishes of the employee and the efficient conduct of City business. Two working days' notice is required. However, if the supervisor feels the workload is such that shorter notice is acceptable, he/she may grant CTO accordingly. ARTICLE V - STANDBY DUTY 5.1 Employees assigned to standby duty for emergency calls shall receive straight time pay for each standby period as follows: On work days On non -work days On observed holidays December 24 (When Observed) Other Electric Distribution Employees Operators 3 hours 3 hours 4 hours 3 hours 8 hours 6 hours 5 hours 4 hours For call -outs related to paid standby duty, the employee will be compensated at the rate of twoone and one haM times the straight rate of pay, with a two-hour minimum for the first call, in addition to the appropriate standby pay (no offset). This applies to all types of standby assignments. However, when it becomes necessary for the employee on standby to become part of a crew, he/she will be compensated at the rate of two times the straight rate of pay for all hours worked as a member of such crew. For purposes of this provision, a crew shall be defined as three or more employees engaged in a common task. When it becomes necessary to dispatch a crew to accomplish the emergency work, every effort will be made to dispatch an entire crew so that the employee on standby duty can be released from that situation and be available to respond to additional calls. If the Electric Distribution Operator is unable to dispatch an entire crew and the standby employee is required to work as a member of the crew, the standby employee will be paid at the rate of two times the straight time rate of pay, commencing at the time the last attempt was made to contact an employee from the call out list i.e. "once through the list." In the case where the above situation is the first call of the standby period, the employee on standby duty shall be paid no less than an amount equal to two hours at the time and one half rate of two times the straight rate. In situations that require two employees to accomplish the emergency work, the employee on standby duty will be paid at the rate of twoone and one times the straight rate for all hours worked. In addition to the "Standby Duty Pay" (above) the employee on standby shall be paid at the rate of twoone R• one times the straight time rate of pay for time worked on emergency calls. The first call -out will be paid at two hours minimum at the ^��o�i—erate of two times the straight rate of pay. Subsequent calls will be paid for actual time worked at the ever -time rate of two times the straight rate of pay. The time worked in excess of 12 consecutive hours and continuing until the employee is dismissed from such work shall be paid at the rate of two times the employee's straight time rate of pay. STANDBY ELECTRIC TROUBLESHOOTER OR TROUBLESHOOTING SUPERVISOR: The Standby Electric Troubleshooter or Troubleshooting Supervisor will be the swing -shift Electric Troubleshooter, going off duty at 1800 hours. This duty will begin at the end of the first day worked on swing shift (1800 hours) and will continue to the day shift following the last day worked on the swing shift (0700 hours), for a period of 13 hours per day. Holiday standby shall be the 24 hours starting at 0700 hours on the day of the holiday and continuing to 0700 hours on the day after the holiday. Troubleshooters may work a 9/80 schedule. The Standby Electric Distribution Operator and Electric Troubleshooter will be provided a cell phone stipend or a City provided cell phone and must be available during their standby duty by the answering service. 5.2 Employees assigned to standby duty (example: the Trouble Truck) on an observed holiday shall receive eight hours straight time pay for that day in addition to the regular holiday pay. Time worked on an emergency call shall be paid at the rate of twoone and one i, times the straight time rate of pay with a minimum of two hours (there will be no offset on standby pay), subsequent calls will be paid for actual time worked. 5.3 If an employee assigned to standby duty is called for emergency work more than once in a twenty- four hour period from midnight to midnight, minimum overtime compensation, at the rate of two times the straight rate of pay, shall be paid only for the first call outside of such employee's regular work hours on work days or at any time on his/her non -work days; for subsequent calls overtime compensation, at the rate of two times the straight rate of pav, shall be paid for his/her actual work as herein provided. For the purpose of this section, concurrent calls or successive calls without a break in work time shall be considered as a single call. If by reason of a call an employee works less than two hours and into his/her regular work hours such call shall not be considered as a first call for the purpose of the wAnimttm overtime compensation. The City and the Union agree that should any issues arise resulting from this side -letter the parties agree to mutually resolve the issue. All other provisions of the MOU remain in full force and effect. CITY OF LODI, a municipal corporation Stephen Schwabauer Date City Manager Adele Post Date Human Resources Manager ATTEST: Jennifer Cusmir Date City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM: Janice D. Magdich Date City Attorney IBEW Sheila Lawton Date Business Representative RESOLUTION NO. 2020-261 A RESOLUTION OF THE LODI CITY COUNCIL AMENDING THE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE CITY OF LODI AND THE INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS THROUGH A SIDE -LETTER AGREEMENT EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2019 THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2021 WHEREAS, the Lodi City Council approved a successor Memorandum of Understanding with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW 1245) on August 21, 2019, that provided for overtime wages to be paid at the rate of one and one-half the rate of regular pay for pre -planned overtime; and WHEREAS, the City wishes to amend the language to allow for all overtime worked by IBEW members to be paid at the double time rate of pay instead of at the rate of one and one-half the rate of pay; and WHEREAS, it is recommended that Council approve the revisions to the Memorandum of Understanding with IBEW 1245 through a Side -Letter Agreement. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Lodi City Council that it does hereby approve the attached Side -Letter Agreement (Exhibit A) between the City of Lodi and IBEW 1245. Date: November 4, 2020 I hereby certify that Resolution No. 2020-261 was passed and adopted by the Lodi City Council in a regular meeting held November 4, 2020, by the following vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS — Chandler, Nakanishi, and Mayor Kuehne NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS — None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS — Mounce ABSTAIN: COUNCIL MEMBERS — None OSENNIFE USMIR City Clerk 2020-261 Exhibit A Side Letter Agreement Amending the Memorandum of Understanding Between the City of Lodi and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers January 1, 2019 — December 31, 2021 This Agreement is entered into and effective as of November 5, 2020, between the City of Lodi, a municipal corporation ("City"), and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). RECITALS WHEREAS, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between IBEW and the City has a term of January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2021; and WHEREAS, Article 3.1 of the IBEW MOU addresses overtime compensation paid to IBEW employees; and WHEREAS, the City is experiencing an unprecedented attrition rate in the Electric Utility and is unable to attract and retain qualified journey level Electric Utility workers at a rate needed to fill current vacancies to maintain critical system maintenance and repair; and WHEREAS, representatives from the City and IBEW have met and conferred in good faith to discuss the modification of the MOU and agreed to amend the overtime compensation; and NOW THEREFORE, City and IBEW agree to amend Article 2, 3, and Article 5, as follows: ARTICLE II - COURT APPEARANCES/JuRY DUTY 2.1 The IBEW Local 1245 concurs with the existing City policy which provides that no deduction shall be made from the salary of an employee while on jury duty. 2.2 If an employee covered by this agreement is required by subpoena to appear in court or to give a deposition as a result of an action taken within the scope of employment with the City, that employee will receive his/her full pay while so doing with no loss of time if he/she is on regular duty. If the employee is not on duty, the City agrees to compensate that employee at two times his/her regular pay for the time spent in any appearance as required by this article. As a prerequisite for payment to off-duty employees, the Electric Utility Director or his/her designee must be notified in writing of the off-duty appearance within seventy-two hours after the employee is subpoenaed or otherwise notified of the required court appearance. 2.3 Voluntary grand jury service such as that service in San Joaquin County is not covered by Jury Duty leave. 2.4 Swing and Graveyard Shift employees called in for jury duty for a second consecutive day will be reassigned to the Day Shift, Monday through Friday for the remainder of the jury duty. ARTICLE III -OVERTIME 3.1 Overtime work is work performed by an employee at times other than those normally required for his/her employment and includes time worked as follows: in excess of forty hours in a work week, 2. in excess of nine hours in any work day, 3. time worked outside of regular hours of work on a work day, 4. time involved on non -work day, and 5. time worked on a holiday. Overtime, except as provided for in Article V, Section 5.1 shall be compensated as follows: All overtime, prearranged and emergency, will be paid at the rate of two times the straight time rate of pay. Any time worked on a holiday will be paid at two times the employee's rate of pay. 3.2 The City may change the hours of work as stated in 25.1 after consultation with the employees and the employee organization involved, provided however that no change or alteration of hours or schedules will be made for the sole purpose of avoiding the payment of overtime. 3.3 Employees who are required to report for work on their non -work days, or holidays, shall be compensated at the overtime rate for actual hours worked, but in no event shall they be paid for less than two hours. 3.4 Any employee reporting for prearranged work wholly outside of his/her regular hours on a regular work day shall be compensated at the overtime rate for actual time worked, but in no event shall he/she be paid for less than two hours. 3.5 Any employee refusing to work on a holiday after having received forty-eight hours of such work scheduling, and having failed to secure a replacement with management approval, shall not be compensated for that holiday. 3.6 Overtime shall be distributed as equally as possible among those employees in the same classification who voluntarily sign the biweekly overtime call -out list. The City reserves the right for emergency call -out work to first call employees on the list who meet a 30 -minute response time requirement. The City retains the right to call any qualified City employee to fill in crews after the overtime list is exhausted. No employee shall be required to trade time for the purpose of avoiding payment of overtime. 3.7 Employees may exchange work days with other employees in the same classification provided: both employees are agreeable to the exchange; and neither employee work more than forty hours during the work week involved; and the exchange receives management authorization. 3.8 When, at the request of the supervisor in charge, an employee reports for prearranged work: I . On work days outside of his/her regular work hours he/she shall be paid overtime compensation for actual work time in connection therewith, provided however, that if any such employee continues to work into or beyond his/her regular work hours he/she shall be paid overtime compensation only for actual work time up to his/her regular work hours. 2. On non -work days or on holidays he/she shall be paid overtime compensation for actual work time in connection therewith. For the purpose of this section prearranged notice has been given by the end of his/her preceding work period on a work day. 3.9 Subject to the following limitations, any employee eligible for overtime pay may choose to accept compensatory time off (CTO) in lieu of cash compensation for earned overtime. CTO will be granted at the applicable overtime rate for each hour of overtime earned. 3.10 The maximum accumulation of CTO at any time shall be limited to 240 straight time hours, but will be reduced to 120 hours and paid at the current regular rate of pay in the first full pay period in January of each year. The employee may request to reduce his/her accumulation to an amount below the mandatory reduction to 120 hours. In addition, an employee may request pay off of any portion of his/her compensation on the first of April, July and October. 3.11 An employee shall decide whether earned overtime will be recorded as overtime, CTO, or an equivalent combination prior to submission of their next time card. Such decision shall be irrevocable subsequent to the submission of the time card. 3.12 An employee's request to use accumulated CTO shall be granted at the sole discretion of the department supervisor with due consideration to both the wishes of the employee and the efficient conduct of City business. Two working days' notice is required. However, if the supervisor feels the workload is such that shorter notice is acceptable, he/she may grant CTO accordingly. ARTICLE V - STANDBY DUTY 5.1 Employees assigned to standby duty for emergency calls shall receive straight time pay for each standby period as follows: Other Electric Distribution Employees Operators On work days 3 hours 3 hours On non -work days 4 hours 3 hours On observed holidays 8 hours 6 hours December 24 (When Observed) 5 hours 4 hours For call -outs related to paid standby duty, the employee will be compensated at the rate of two times the straight rate of pay, with a two-hour minimum for the first call, in addition to the appropriate standby pay (no offset). This applies to all types of standby assignments. However, when it becomes necessary for the employee on standby to become part of a crew, he/she will be compensated at the rate of two times the straight rate of pay for all hours worked as a member of such crew. For purposes of this provision, a crew shall be defined as three or more employees engaged in a common task. When it becomes necessary to dispatch a crew to accomplish the emergency work, every effort will be made to dispatch an entire crew so that the employee on standby duty can be released from that situation and be available to respond to additional calls. If the Electric Distribution Operator is unable to dispatch an entire crew and the standby employee is required to work as a member of the crew, the standby employee will be paid at the rate of two times the straight time rate of pay, commencing at the time the last attempt was made to contact an employee from the call out list i.e. "once through the list." In the case where the above situation is the first call of the standby period, the employee on standby duty shall be paid no less than an amount equal to two hours at the rate of two times the straight rate. In situations that require two employees to accomplish the emergency work, the employee on standby duty will be paid at the rate of two times the straight rate for all hours worked. In addition to the "Standby Duty Pay" (above) the employee on standby shall be paid at the rate of two times the straight time rate of pay for time worked on emergency calls. The first call -out will be paid at two hours minimum at the rate of two times the straight rate of pay. Subsequent calls will be paid for actual time worked at the rate of two times the straight rate of pay. The time worked in excess of 12 consecutive hours and continuing until the employee is dismissed from such work shall be paid at the rate of two times the employee's straight time rate of pay. STANDBY ELECTRIC TROUBLESHOOTER OR TROUBLESHOOTING SUPERVISOR: The Standby Electric Troubleshooter or Troubleshooting Supervisor will be the swing -shift Electric Troubleshooter, going off duty at 1800 hours. This duty will begin at the end of the first day worked on swing shift (1800 hours) and will continue to the day shift following the last day worked on the swing shift (0700 hours), for a period of 13 hours per day. Holiday standby shall be the 24 hours starting at 0700 hours on the day of the holiday and continuing to 0700 hours on the day after the holiday. Troubleshooters may work a 9/80 schedule. The Standby Electric Distribution Operator and Electric Troubleshooter will be provided a cell phone stipend or a City provided cell phone and must be available during their standby duty by the answering service. 5.2 Employees assigned to standby duty (example: the Trouble Truck) on an observed holiday shall receive eight hours straight time pay for that day in addition to the regular holiday pay. Time worked on an emergency call shall be paid at the rate of two times the straight time rate of pay with a minimum of two hours (there will be no offset on standby pay), subsequent calls will be paid for actual time worked. 5.3 If an employee assigned to standby duty is called for emergency work more than once in a twenty- four hour period from midnight to midnight, overtime compensation, at the rate of two times the straight rate of pay, shall be paid only for the first call outside of such employee's regular work hours on work days or at any time on his/her non -work days; for subsequent calls overtime compensation, at the rate of two times the straight rate of pay, shall be paid for his/her actual work as herein provided. For the purpose of this section, concurrent calls or successive calls without a break in work time shall be considered as a single call. If by reason of a call an employee works less than two hours and into his/her regular work hours such call shall not be considered as a first call for the purpose of the overtime compensation. The City and the Union agree that should any issues arise resulting from this side -letter the parties agree to mutually resolve the issue. All other provisions of the MOU remain in full force and effect. CITY OF LODI, a municipal corporation IBEW Stephen Schwabauer Date Sheila Lawton City Manager Business Representative Adele Post Date Human Resources Manager ATTEST: Jennifer Cusmir Date City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM: Janice D. Magdich Date City Attorney Date