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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-HRC-2003-02-24HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE Regular Meeting February 24, 2003 Members Present: Alderperson Peterson, Alderperson Cogan, Alderperson Mack, Alderperson Hershey, Alderperson Blumenthal Staff Present: Steve Thayer (Controller), Schelley Michell-Nunn (HR Director), Leslie Moskowitz (Mgr of Organizational Development), Denise Malone (Administrative Secretary) Others Present: Lynette Chappell-Williams, Paris Chappell-Williams Meeting called to order by Chairperson Peterson at 7:06 p.m. A. Agenda Review, Approval of Minutes & Announcements There were no announcements, changes or additions to the agenda. The Committee reviewed the minutes from the January 2003 meeting. After discussion, Alderperson Cogan made a motion to approve the minutes from the January 27, 2003 meeting. Seconded by Alderperson Mack. Motion carried 5-0. B. Employee Comments & Common Council Response. None. C. Chairperson’s Report. None. D. Affirmative Action Advisory Committee Update Chairperson Peterson reported that the February meeting of the Affirmative Action Advisory Committee was canceled. Alderperson Cogan volunteered to attend the March meeting of the Affirmative Action Advisory Committee. Human Resources Committee February 24, 2003 Page 2 E. Sub-Committee Updates 1. City Administrator Chairperson Peterson reported that the City Administrator Sub-Committee would be meeting Wednesday – February 26th and the material for that meeting had been gathered. Chairperson Peterson has received information from the HR Director and has spoken to the City Controller. Ms. Peterson also spoke with Nancy Shuler and wrote Tim Joseph about the interaction of their elected officials with the County Administrator. Ms. Peterson browsed ICMA website to find sample legislations to answer questions that were raised. 2. HR Budget Process Sub-Committee Chairperson Peterson reported that she would be contacting union representatives and Common Council members asking for volunteers to participate on this Sub- Committee. The Mayor and the HR Director would be ex-officio members. F, Personnel Items. None. G. Directors’ Reports 1. Residency Requirement HR Director Michell-Nunn mentioned that the Residency Requirement (RR) says the following regarding waivers: “In the event that a majority of Common Council, upon conferral with the Director of Human Resources and review by the appropriate standing committee of Common Council, determines that there is a lack of applicants which results in difficulty hiring or promoting a qualified person because of its residency requirement, the provisions of sub-sections 90-68(1) and 90-68(2) may be waived with respect to an incumbent of, or applicant to, a particular title.” Human Resources Committee February 24, 2003 Page 3 That being the case, the following questions have been raised: At what point should a waiver be requested? Who is responsible for requesting a waiver? To whom would the request for a waiver be directed? The language in the RR only mentions that department heads and deputies would be affected by this law. There are some positions that do not have deputy titles (i.e. Assistant City Attorney, Assistant Superintendent, etc.) but would assume responsibility in the absence of the department head. Was the intent of the language to include these positions? What about positions that are part-time? What about departments that have two deputies or assistants? After discussion, the Committee asked HR Director Michell-Nunn to write a memo and include a list of all department heads and deputies or position titles that would assume responsibility in the absence of the department head. The memo should present the issues and enumerate whom the RR should cover. A copy of the RR should also be attached to her memo. The Committee also discussed the need to bring the Charter up to date. 2. Engineers’ Grievance Update HR Director Michell-Nunn reported that Chairperson Peterson responded to the grievance submitted by the engineers and suggested that they follow their contract. The engineers requested a salary review, which was completed by Ms. Michell-Nunn. Ms. Michell-Nunn stated that based on the responsibilities of their positions and on the pay for similar titles, she did not find any reason to make a recommendation for a salary adjustment. In the review process, it did become evident that certain individuals were expected to work above and beyond the level of their job descriptions. Ms. Michell-Nunn spoke with Superintendent Bill Gray and outlined at least three options. 1) Discontinue the out of title work; 2) Reclassify the positions that are working out of title; or 3) pay stipend when out of title work is needed. Human Resources Committee February 24, 2003 Page 4 3. Bus Driver Vacancy The Committee inquired about the status of vacant Bus Driver positions. Ms. Michell-Nunn reported that only one position remains vacant. The Committee discussed TCAT’s program that would train individuals to get his/her CDL license prior to being hired and the possible consolidation of TCAT. H. Mayor’s Report. None. I. New Business 1. Employee Forum HR Director Michell-Nunn reported that there would be an employee forum on March 6th from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. The first hour of the forum would include a budget overview and updated information about the parking situation around City Hall. The second hour of the forum would be the question and answer session. Minutes would be taken of the meeting and distributed to the entire workforce. Flyers announcing the forum have been sent to each employee. Posters were sent to the departments. Employees are encouraged to sign up for and/or e-mail questions to Leslie Moskowitz prior to the forum. Forums would be held on a quarterly basis and at different locations. Holding forums at different locations would allow other employees to attend. Department heads and supervisors are encouraged to allow employees to attend, if at all possible. 2. 2003 Meeting Schedule The Committee discussed the 2003 meeting schedule for the HR Committee. The building would be closed for the 4th Monday of May due to it being Memorial Day. So, the meeting for May has been changed to Thursday - May 22nd. Human Resources Committee February 24, 2003 Page 5 J. Old Business 1. Diversity Discussion Chairperson Peterson invited Lynette Chappell-Williams to join the Committee. Introductions were made. HR Director Michell-Nunn highlighted the discussion from a previous Affirmative Action Advisory Committee (AAAC) meeting where Alderperson Mack expressed concerns. The AAAC is currently working on the Workforce Diversity Plan. Ms. Chappell-Williams, a member of the AAAC, is here to discuss and give more insight about the diversity plan. Ms. Chappell-Williams stated that the City has an Affirmative Action (AA) Plan but was unsure how much the plan was utilized. Many organizations, including municipalities, are moving away from just a strict, legal AA Plan to a Diversity Plan because 1) it is not really clear whether all municipalities are required to have an AA Plan; and 2) a Diversity Plan tends to be more inclusive. AA Plans focus on race, gender, disability status and veteran’s status, whereas Diversity Plans take into account the areas mentioned as well as sexual orientation, education, age, marital status, socio-economic status, geographical differences, etc. The areas are much broader in terms of the way that individuals could be different in the work environment. So, more of the workforce feels included in a diversity plan as opposed to an AA Plan. The AAAC has been working on developing a diversity plan that looks at a number of different areas, part of which looks at the demographics of the workforce and at ways to make sure that the areas that are not traditionally represented have good representation. The AAAC is also looking at what is considered climate issues, in terms of how do you create the environment in such a way that individuals feel that they are valued. Part of what the plan does is create an opportunity to think about how things currently operate that may or may not be consistent with creating a diverse, inclusive environment. Alderperson Mack mentioned that the AAAC expressed concerns that the diversity plan was not action oriented and would be discussing ways to make it a living document. Ms. Chappell-Williams stated that the plan is designed to give more of a vision or framework to use that would be implemented over a course of a number of years. Currently, the AAAC is developing action plans, what needs to be Human Resources Committee February 24, 2003 Page 6 done, and who would be responsible for that particular action (i.e. the Mayor, Common Council, management, employees, etc.), with the understanding that not all of the action plans would be accomplished in the course of a year due to budget constraints, etc. In answer to whether the action plans should be prioritized, Ms. Chappell-Williams responded that there are fourteen (14) attributes of the diversity plan and it would be impossible to accomplish them all in the course of a year. The City and/or the AAAC would need to decide which attributes are most important, taking into consideration budgetary constraints, which attributes have been accomplished and which attributes could be easily accomplished. HR Director Michell-Nunn stated that at the last AAAC meeting when Alderperson Mack was present, there was a discussion about the Residency Requirement. Common Council wants to establish policies that are consistent with City statements (i.e. diversity, vision, etc.) Is the Residency Requirement consistent with the diversity statement and the direction in which the City is headed? The Committee discussed the concerns of the AAAC regarding the RR. The AAAC was disappointed that Common Council did not address their concerns in the RR. Ms. Chappell-Williams stated that if there is a commitment to diversifying the workforce, recruitment is done from a broad area so that there is a pool of diverse candidates. When RR are imposed in a situation where there is not great diversity, especially for higher level positions where it makes more sense to recruit on a regional or national level, you limit the number of people from diverse backgrounds that could be included because of the restrictions. When there is a great deal of diversity in the immediate area, this is not an issue. Alderperson Mack asked the AAAC to take the RR and work within the legislation to write a report or make suggestions on what could be done to encourage diversity within that program. HR Director Michell-Nunn mentioned that when the RR was passed that CC did acknowledge the possibility that modifications may be needed at a later date. Ms. Michell-Nunn stated that she would address concerns regarding RR in her Director’s report. Human Resources Committee February 24, 2003 Page 7 Ms. Chappell-Williams stated that for each attribute the AAAC would identify specific goals, highlight the action to be taken and assign the individual(s) responsible for overseeing the action. For the plan to work, department heads would need to do their part and the HRC would need to decide what role they would play to make these goals a reality. After the AAAC has completed the above task, the plan would go before the Human Resources Committee (HRC). The time-line to complete the above task would be about six (6) months. Ms. Michell-Nunn stated that parallel to this process, Senior Staff is also working on strategic planning. They have identified 7 or 9 success indicators. One of those indicators is diversity. At some point in time, there would be a merging of the two processes. The entire workforce, Common Council and the Mayor would be involved and be held accountable in accomplishing these goals. Ms. Chappell-Williams mentioned that the City also participates in the Diversity Consortium, which is a group of employers (including TC-3, Ithaca College, Cornell University, Boces, ICSD and Tompkins County) working collaboratively with each other in addressing issues surrounding workforce diversity. The Consortium meets on a monthly basis and is looking for more/other creative options to increase diversity within the workforce of the listed employers, including involving the Chamber of Commerce. The Committee thanked Ms. Chappell-Williams for attending the meeting and sharing the information about the diversity plan. 2. Emergency Closing Policy After the Committee reviewed the Emergency Closing Policy, the following questions were asked: Should the Information Technology Department be listed as essential personnel? How would employees be notified of emergency closings? Why would the Superintendent designate employees and post a list of essential personnel and not the Fire Chief and Police Chief? Are all Police and Fire personnel essential? Ms. Michell-Nunn responded that not all employees of the Fire Department and Police Department are sworn personnel. Human Resources Committee February 24, 2003 Page 8 After discussion, the consensus of the Committee was that Alderperson Blumenthal would make the revisions to the policy and e-mail them to Ms. Michell- Nunn. K. Adjournment With no further business, Alderperson Blumenthal moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:55 p.m.