REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 03/16/2022
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Human Resources Department
SUBJECT:
Title
Memorandum of Understanding with the Corona Supervisors Association, Revised Resolution for the Management/Confidential Group employees, and Position Library Updates including part-time positions and other classification updates.
End
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
City Council consideration of the updated Memorandum of Understanding with the Corona Supervisors Association. The updated Memorandum of Understanding includes base pay increases, medical allowance changes, changes to current opt-out amounts, the addition of the Juneteenth holiday, changes to the merit increase date, discipline process, grievance procedure, and other Memorandum of Understanding re-writes to clarify the current language. The updated agreement will be effective January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2024. The City Council will also consider approval of the revised Resolution governing the compensation and benefits on the Management/Confidential Group employees and the updated Position Library and Compensation Plan and repealing all prior plans, including Resolution No. 2022-016, and budgetary adjustments associated with the proposed changes.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council:
a. Adopt the Corona Supervisors Association Memorandum of Understanding effective January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2024.
b. Adopt Resolution No. 2022-022, a resolution of the City Council of the City of Corona governing compensation and benefits of non-represented Management/Confidential Group employees.
c. Adopt Resolution No. 2022-020, a resolution of the City Council of the City of Corona, California, approving the City of Corona Position Library and Compensation Plan and repealing prior plans, including Resolution No. 2022-016 to implement salary range increases for members of the Corona Supervisors Association, moving part-time employees to the new salary table, adjusting salaries for the part-time positions of Police Cadet, Parking Enforcement Officer, City Management Fellow, Animal Care Attendant, and Library Assistant, along with the addition of the Public Information Officer classification.
Body
BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
The California Meyers-Milias-Brown-Act (MMBA) requires the City to meet and confer, in good faith, with its bargaining groups on all matters relating to employment conditions and employer-employee relations, including, but not limited to wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment. Pursuant to the MMBA, the City began negotiations with the employee associations in April 2021.
The Corona Supervisors Association (CSA) represents miscellaneous supervisory positions.
The original MOU for CSA expired on June 30, 2021. The CSA MOU was extended through November 15, 2021, due to significant re-writes to MOU provisions and consideration of a classification and compensation study that the City had a consultant prepare in anticipation of negotiations.
Pursuant to the MMBA, the City has been negotiating with CSA for a successor MOU. After meeting and conferring in good faith, the City has reached an agreement with CSA for a new MOU that will expire on December 31, 2024.
ANALYSIS:
The negotiation process with CSA involved multiple meetings to discuss terms and conditions of employment. Significant re-writes of the MOU language were completed to (1) simplify and clarify language, (2) incorporate prior side letters as needed, and (3) to reorganize the structure of the MOU document.
In addition, the City completed a classification and compensation study of all positions throughout the organization. The results of the study were used as the basis for determining salary adjustments for all classifications.
Highlights of the Terms of New CSA Memorandum of Understanding:
a. Term of the Contract: The new agreement is for a three (3) year term, beginning January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2024.
b. Salary: With approval of the agreement, a new salary table will be implemented for the association with five (5) distinctive steps for each of the positions. The new salary table will be updated each year to reflect the following base pay increases:
i. Effective the pay period following March 16, 2022, City Council approval, each position that is 4.01% or more below the 60th percentile of the market comparators, according to the compensation study (updated for salary adjustments provided to other agencies in July 2021) will receive half of the amount of the difference to get them to the 60th percentile. For those positions less than 4% out of market, the base pay of those positions will be increased by 2%. Changes are effective March 26, 2022 (pay-out date of April 15, 2022).
ii. Effective at the beginning of the pay period following January 1, 2023, base pay adjustments will be made as follows: (1) positions 4% of more below the 60th percentile of the market comparators will receive the second half of the amount of the difference to get them to the 60th percentile and (2) positions less than 4% out of market will receive a 2% base pay increase.
iii. Effective the beginning of the pay period following January 1, 2024, a base pay increase of 2.50% will be implemented.
c. Medical Allowance: Effective the first full pay period following January 1, 2022, the City’s maximum contribution toward medical coverage will be $2,048.39 per month for employee plus two or more dependents coverage, $1,546.10 per month for employee plus one dependent coverage, and $773.17 per month for employee-only coverage.
d. Opt-Out: For employees that provide evidence of alternative medical coverage and opt-out of the City’s medical plan, the monthly cash payments will be reduced as follows: Employee + 2 of more dependents - from $1,000 to $600, Employee + 1 dependent - from $750 to $400, and Employee Only - from $450 to $200. Employees who opt out in 2022 and 2023 will receive additional annual leave hours to be paid in two payments. Hours earned from approval of the agreement through December 16, 2022, will be paid on December 22, 2022. Hours earned from December 16, 2022, through December 29, 2023, will be paid on January 5, 2024. The additional leave hours provision will sunset on December 29, 2023.
e. Holiday:
i. Approval of the new agreement includes observance of the Juneteenth holiday.
ii. Holiday hours valued at ten (10) hours instead of eight (8) hours
f. Promotion/Merit Increase Date: Effective with promotions on or after January 1, 2022, the agreement includes changing the current process for employee merit increases. For an employee promoted to a higher classification within the bargaining unit, their anniversary date shall change to the effective date of the promotion.
g. Discipline Process and Grievance Process to include advisory arbitration.
h. Bilingual: Available to those who pass the bilingual test. Re-certification every 3 years for all members.
i. Shift Differential: Updated the shift differential section to revise the start times of the swing and graveyard shifts to provide compensation based on the employee’s shift start time. This will change the current practice of compensating for hours worked during the day and changing the rate when hours cross into a different shift. Base pay increases were applied to the Police Records Supervisor and Public Safety Dispatch Supervisor to minimize any negative financial impacts from the revisions. The additional base pay increases will be effective March 26, 2022, and will not be phased in over two years, like the classification and compensation study.
j. Longevity: Convert longevity to a per pay period amount to assist with reporting requirements from California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS). Longevity is currently paid on an annual basis in September of each year. This item will be changed to 1/26th per payroll. Uniform allowance is currently paid on a quarterly basis for qualifying positions. This will also be converted to 1/26th per payroll.
k. Special Compensation: Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) Certification Pay: The Public Safety Dispatch Supervisor positions currently receive a flat rate of $313.75 per month above base salary for EMD certification pay. The EMD certification is a minimum qualification for the position. The additional compensation will be eliminated and incorporated into the base pay. The classification of Public safety Communications Manager will also have the EMD Certification added to base pay. The full adjustment will be effective March 26, 2022, and will not be phased in over two years, like the classification and compensation study.
l. Certification Pay: Classifications in the Utility Department specified in the MOU currently receive $1367.08 per month for earning a grade five (5) certification in Water Treatment, Wastewater Treatment, or Water Distribution received from the State of California. Effective March 26, 2022, this amount will increase to $1467.08 per month.
Highlights of the changes to the Management/Confidential Group Resolution:
a. Addition of the Public Information Officer classification. The Communication Coordinator was reclassified to Public Information Officer as the new title describes the work this position is performing which includes a higher level of knowledge and skill as well as responsibility for making program recommendations and decisions with a higher degree of authority and independence not typical of a coordinator classification. Additionally, the Public Information Officer supervises the classifications of Digital Journalist, Broadcast Specialist, and our planned Social Media Specialist Position.
b. The approval requirement for employees utilizing Executive Leave (Section 3.3.1) was updated to require approval by the employee’s Department Head or Designee which is aligned with the City’s Executive Leave Policy No. 01400-201.
Position Library Updates
State regulations for public employers require disclosure of position classifications and corresponding compensation. In an effort to ensure compliance, and for even greater transparency, the City Council has previously adopted and updated the Position Library and Compensation Plan, a document that includes a list of all authorized employment positions for the City and their corresponding compensation ranges (Plan).
The Plan provides added organizational efficiency and permits departments to continue streamlining operations without impacting service levels. Additionally, it allows members of the public to see what any given position, even those not currently filled, would be paid. To this end, it is important to note that this document is strictly a resource document of available employment positions, as the positions listed will not necessarily be budgeted or funded in any given fiscal year. A current list of full-time budgeted positions can be located on the City’s website.
Revisions to the Plan are highlighted on the attached redline version with the highlighted colors varying based on the reason for the change. Revisions to compensation ranges are highlighted in green. Revisions to both the classification title and range are highlighted with yellow. New positions are highlighted in blue. Salaries converted to the new salary table are highlighted in salmon. The compensation range changes will be effective the first full pay period following City Council approval, effective March 26, 2022. Along with the represented CSA group, there are changes for the part-time positions to move them to the new salary table. Additionally, five part-time positions were updated to reflect their alignment to current full-time positions, the addition of the Public Information Officer classification, and adding back three classifications that were inadvertently deleted from the March 2, 2022, Position Library.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The implementation of the new agreement with CSA, the revised resolution for the Management/Confidential Group employees, and the position library changes will result in an estimated cost of $263,654 for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2022. The department budgets will be adjusted accordingly based on the City Council approval.
Estimated fiscal impacts are shown below by fiscal year, through December 2024. Costs are estimated as employees filling the positions will change during that time period.
By Group and Fiscal Year:
Recurring Costs and General Fund Portion:
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
This action is exempt pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the Guidelines for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which states that a project is exempt from CEQA if the activity is covered by the general rule that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the action is not subject to CEQA. This approves the Memorandum of Understanding with the Corona Supervisor Association, revises the Management/Confidential resolution, and the position library and compensation plan, and there is no possibility that the approval of the report will have a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, no environmental analysis is required.
PREPARED BY: ANGELA RIVERA, CHIEF TALENT OFFICER
REVIEWED BY: JACOB ELLIS, CITY MANAGER
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - CSA MOU - Redline
2. Exhibit 2 - CSA MOU - Clean
3. Exhibit 3 - Resolution 2022-022 Management/Confidential Group Resolution - Redline
4. Exhibit 4 - Resolution 2022-022 Management/Confidential Group Resolution - Clean
5. Exhibit 5 - Resolution 2022-020 Position Library and Compensation Plan
6. Exhibit 6 - Position Library and Compensation Plan - Redline