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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-HRC-1999-06-28HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE Regular Meeting June 28, 1999 Members Present: Paulette Manos, Pat Vaughan, Tracy Farrell, Sara Shenk, Joan Spielholz Staff Present: Schelley Michell-Nunn, Denise Malone Others Present: Diann Sams, Bill Gray, Dan Higgins (WHCU) Paulette Manos called the meeting to order at 7:07 pm. A. Agenda Review and Approval of Minutes. Paulette Manos requested that an Executive Session item be added to the agenda prior to the Old Business. The minutes from the May 28, 1999 HR Committee meeting were not available for approval. B. Employee Comments. None. C. Committee Member’s Responses to Employee Comments. None. D. Chairperson’s Report. None. E. Sub-Committee Reports 1. Managerial Compensation (S. Shenk) Sara Shenk stated that ten Request for Proposals were received and was narrowed down to four for interview. The interviews will take place within the next two weeks. Most responses stated that they could do the work within six months or sooner. The cost ranged from $8,000 - $50,000. The Committee discussed the difference in cost and dates for interview. F. Work Environment Task Force Report (S. Michell-Nunn) The pre-test survey was given on Thursday – June 24th. Of the 40 randomly selected employees, 18 employees participated. Employees were allowed to jot down questions or confusions they had with the pre-test. A few adjustments were made due to the feedback. The feedback from Bob Rich was positive. Schelley thanked TCAT for providing bus transportation. The Committee asked what reason employees gave for not participating. Some employees had conflicts, others could not read or just did not show up for the pre-test. The Committee discussed ways to accommodate employees with learning disabilities. Human Resources Committee Meeting June 28, 1999 Page 2 The Work Environment Task Force met on June 17th to discuss definition of diversity, affirmative action, etc. Zelda Lockhart facilitated the meeting to help with these definitions. Another meeting has been scheduled for July 15th. G. Human Resources Director’s Report. None. H. Mayor’s Report. None. I. Executive Session The Committee went into Executive Session. After Executive Session, Tracy Farrell made a motion to approve the following resolution as amended. Seconded by Joan Sp ielholz. Motion carried 5-0. Administration and Communications Items C. DPW – Request to Appoint TCAT Manager of Operations and Maintenance WHEREAS, the personnel roster for TCAT has been modified to delete one Transit Systems Manager position and add a Manager of Operations and Maintenance position, and WHEREAS, the staff has reviewed the position within the City’s and Cornell’s organizations to rank the position and to recommend a salary for the candidate, and the appointment has been approved by the Board of Public Works and reviewed by Common Council’s Budget and Administration and Human Resources Committees; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That Common Council appoints Nancy Oltz to fill the position of Manager of Operations and Maintenance and recommends that the position be assigned to the Managerial Compensation Plan in the salary range of $42,334 to $62,664 and that the salary for Nancy Oltz be set at $54,000 annually, and be it further RESOLVED, That Common Council recommends that this salary be paid retroactively to January 1, 1999 in recognition of major changes made to this position in the fall o f1998 which have just recently been formally reviewed and adopted. J. Old Business 1. 1999 Picnic Update Pat Vaughan stated that the Picnic Committee met. This year the Picnic Committee consists of employees from different departments. The picnic is set for Friday - September 17th. There will be limited activities in the afternoon with new ones added. The Committee is sending out Requests for Proposals to caterers. Human Resources Committee Meeting June 28, 1999 Page 3 K. New Business 1. Recognition for City Employees The Committee discussed the draft of the law written by Patricia Dunn. After discussion, Sara Shenk made a motion to approve the law as written. Seconded by Tracy Farrell. Motion carried 5-0. Local Law No. _______________ of 1999 City of Ithaca A local law amending Chapter 90 of the City of Ithaca Municipal Code by adding a new Article XI regarding merit awards for City employees. BE IT ENACTED BY THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK AS FOLLOWS: ARTICLE XI MERIT AWARE BOARD 90-69. Findings. The Common Council of the City of Ithaca finds that the productivity, creativity and efficiency of city employees will be advanced by the creation of a mechanism for merit awards for city employees. It is further found that private employers often award exceptional service with a commendation or other appropriate incentive and the City desires to provide such individual incentive and rec ognition for exceptional service as provided and allowed by law. 90-70. Creation; Membership; Terms. There is hereby created a Merit Award Board within the City of Ithaca. The Board shall consist of the Mayor, a bipartisan committee of alderpersons and city employees as follows: 1. Annual Merit Award Board. The Mayor, the Director of Human Resources and five (5) alderpersons to be appointed by the Director of Human Resources. 2. Quarterly Merit Award Board. In the spirit of employees recognizing their peers , the quarterly merit award board shall consist of one employee from each of the following facilities: Police Department, Fire Department, Department of Public Works, Youth Bureau, Greater Ithaca Activities Center, City Hall the Director of Human Resources. The Director of Human Resources shall appoint the Quarterly Merit Award Board basing such appointment on the expressed interest of the employee for membership on the Board, recommendations from the employee’s peers and such other criteria as the Direct or of Human Resources shall deem appropriate. Human Resources Committee Meeting June 28, 1999 Page 4 The term of the office for a Quarterly Merit Award Board member shall be for one year commencing January 1st of the year of appointment. If for any reason a Quarterly Merit Award Board member is unwilling or unable to complete his or her full term, the Director of Human Resources shall appoint a replacement employee from the same facility as the Quarterly Merit Award Board member relinquishing membership to complete the term of the appointment of said member. 90-71. Duties of Merit Award Board Members. 1. Annual Merit Award Board. The duties of the Annual Merit Award Board members shall be to annually evaluate and select from the nominees one City employee , cross functional team or committee for recognition using the criteria listed in Section 90-72(1) of this Article. 2. Quarterly Merit Award Board. The duties of the Quarterly Merit Award Board members shall be, on a quarterly basis, to evaluate and select from the nominee one City employee, cross functional team or committee for recognition using the criteria listed in Section 90 -72(2) of this Article. 90-72. Criteria for Nominations. 1. Annual Recognition. A. Purpose. To publicly recognize individuals who have exhibited behaviors and performance levels above and beyond the call of duty. B. Criteria. The accomplishment or project nominated must have been completed within the twelve month period just prior to nomination. Nominations should consider whether the accomplishment or project has increased productivity, increased performance, improved productivity or positively influenced the work or community environment. C. Eligibility. Any City employee, cross functional team or committee. No elected official shall be eligible for nomination or selection. D. Nominators. Any employee, Alderperson or the Mayor may nominate an employee, cross functional team or committee for annual recognition by completing and submitting an Annual Recognition Award nomination form to the Department Human Resources. Nominations must be submitted no later than the first day of August of the year of nomination. Awards shall become a part of the official personnel file of the City employee. 2. Quarterly recognition. A. Purpose. To public recognize individuals for significant contributions. B. Criteria. The individual has demonstrated initiative and extra effort in accomplishing a task in a quality manner. Nominations should consider if the employee exhibits efficiency, sensitiv ity, respects differences, and appreciates others within the workforce and the community. C. Eligibility. Any City employee, cross functional team or committee. No elected official shall be eligible for nomination or selection. Human Resources Committee Meeting June 28, 1999 Page 5 D. Nominators. Any employee, Alderperson or the Mayor may nominate an employee, cross functional team or committee for quarterly recognition by completing and submitting a Quarterly Recognition nomination form to the Department of Human Resources. Awards shall become a part of the official personnel file of the City employee. 90-73. Instant Recognition Awards. 1. Purpose. In the spirit of employees recognizing their peers efforts in positively influencing the work environment, there shall be created an “instate recognition” award mechanism whereby any employee who has received five (5) Appreciation Cards for exceptional service in any given month shall be recognized with an award. 2. Criteria. The employee has enhanced th e work place by performing a kind act, accomplishing a task or project in a manner that exhibits efficiency, sensitivity, respects differences, and/or appreciates others. 3. Eligibility. Any City employee, as “city employee” is defined in the Charter of the City of Ithaca, Section C-110(A). 4. Procedure. Any City employee may recognize another employee by completing an Appreciate Card and submitting such card to the employee. The employee so recognized may submit five (5) such Appreciate Cards to the Department of Human Resources for an Instant Recognition Award. 90-74. Nature of Awards. The Annual and Quarterly Awards Boards, in consultation with the Director of Human Resources, may determine the nature and extent of the merit awards to be made under this chapter. The Director of Human Resources shall determine the nature and extend of Instant Recognition awards. 90-75. This law shall take effect immediately upon filing with the office of the Secretary of State. 2. Human Resources Department Intern Schelley Michell-Nunn stated that there are two ILR graduate interns working in the department this summer, Thyn Oo and Joshua Fowler. Thyn Oo is working on a variety of projects. The major project that Thyn is currently working on is development of a City wide training plan. Thyn sent out questionnaire to all employees. This questionnaire will identify potential topics that employees can be trained in or are interested in training others. The Committee discussed the different areas employees can train (i.e. civil service, Request for Proposals writing, etc.) Human Resources Committee Meeting June 28, 1999 Page 6 Josh Fowler is working on developing a performance management system. This system is designed to show employees how to find and utilize opportunities to develop their skills and engage in more effective behaviors. There will also be an evaluation component to this system that will summarize daily feedback from the supervisor to the employee. The interns will attend the next HR Committee me eting to talk about their projects. 3. Sexual Harassment Policy The Committee discussed the Sexual Harassment policy and some minor changes (i.e. changing Personnel Administrator to the Human Resources Director, etc.) Schelley stated that the Work Environment Task Force has collected data on this policy. The Committee suggested creating a sub-committee that would consist of members of the HR Committee and employees. This sub-committee would draft a Sexual Harassment Policy for the City. This draft policy would then be given to the HR Committee for review. Joan Spielholz and Paulette Manos volunteered to be on this new committee. L. Adjournment With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p m.