City considers sick leave payout changes

On Monday at a special meeting of the Marianna City Commission, members mulled several changes proposed in a re-vamp of the city personnel policy manual.
Marianna city employees may be facing amendments that could make it less profitable to leave their sick leave on the books. And those seeking employment with the city may find it a bit less alluring if the policies proposed go through as written.
Currently, existing employees can accumulate sick leave, year-to-year, up to 60 days for full payment when they leave service under good terms.
Under a new policy being considered, employees would only be paid for a percentage of the sick leave they banked,  with the percentage based on their years of service. (See sidebar)
Under the policy being considered, employees hired after its adoption would not be paid for unused sick leave unless they have been working for the city at least 10 years. And, rather than moving up the scale, they would never get more than 25 percent of what they accumulated, year to year.
Monday night, the policy was interpreted to also mean that existing employees would be frozen on the scale at the year of service they had achieved when the policy was adopted. But that interpretation had changed by Tuesday morning.
For example, as of Monday night, the policy was being understood to mean that a person who worked 15 years for the city, and continued to work another five would never get the 20-year rate of sick leave payment, but would be stuck at the 15-year level. 
This met with protests from some city employees present at the meeting.
And by Tuesday, after talking individually with commissioners on the phone, City Manager Jim Dean said that, if the policy changes are adopted, existing employees would move up the scale year to year, instead of being frozen at their current level.
That change, he said, was the consensus of board members in trying to be as fair as possible to their current employees.
To an extent, another new related policy might make the change a bit more palatable. Under the new policy, employees could bank up to 75 days of sick leave, rather than 60, so they could save more sick days, to make up for getting a percentage rather than a full payout at 60 days.
City employees are also allowed, each year, to sell back six days of their unused sick time, rather than letting it roll over for payout at separation. Under the new policy, the city would only buy back three sick days per year.
Likewise, the city currently allows employees to sell back six days of vacation time each year. Under the new policy, this would be reduced to three days.
City Manager Jim Dean said at the meeting this change would save the city about $90,000 a year, by cutting the city’s annual buyout obligation in half.
Unused and unpaid annual leave would carry forward to subsequent years, but only up to 20 days. That’s two more than currently allowed, another bright spot for employees.
Most city workers earn eight hours per month of sick time, and another eight in vacation time. Some at the meeting Tuesday said they count on the annual buyout in November to augment their Christmas budgets.
Under the current policy, employees could sell 12 days in a combination of unused sick and vacation pay. If the policy is adopted as proposed, they could sell only six sick and/or vacation days.
In an unrelated major change of policy, the city is cutting several layers from the grievance procedures. Defining grievance as “an allegation that the city ... has violated a policy of the city of Marianna,”  the proposed grievance procedure involves just two steps — discussions and written communications between an aggrieved employee and his department head, followed by discussions and written communications between the employee and the city manager.
At the end of that process, “the decision of the city manager shall be final,” the proposed policy reads.
Under the current policy, the employee can have an attorney or other representative present during discussions with the department head. That provision is stricken from the proposed policy.
The proposed policy also strikes an existing third step, which involves calling a grievance committee to hear the complaint.
The policy is expected to be taken up again for consideration by the commission in early July.

Buyout sidebar

Under the new sick leave buyout policy being considered by the city of Marianna, no employee could be paid for more than 600 hours of sick time, regardless of how much they have accumulated.
Payout for existing employees under the proposed policy is calculated as follows:
• Employees with 10 years of service or less receive payment for 25 percent of their unused sick leave at separation.
• Those with 11 years of service get 30 percent of accumulated sick leave.
• Those with 12 years get 35 percent
• Those with 13 years get 40 percent.
• Those with 14 years get 45 percent.
• Those with 15 years get 50 percent
• Those with 16 years get 55 percent.
• Those with 17 years get 60 percent.
• Those with 18 years get 65 percent.
• Those with 19 years get 70 percent.
• Those with 20 years or more get 75 percent.
As written, the changes also mean employees who go to work for the city after the policy takes effect would never get more than 25 percent, and this only after 10 years service.