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CCP 04-19-2004
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CCP 04-19-2004
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<br />eonstitute part of an overall employee compensation program, For instance, Minn. Stat. S <br />412.111 states that "The council may prescribe the duties and fix the compensation of all <br />officers, both appointive and elective, employees, and agents, when not otherwise prescribed by <br />law,l' <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The Attorney General has taken a very narrow interpretation of the term "compensation," and <br />has suggested that the term means only monetary compensation, However, the common usage of <br />the term certainly has meanings beyond just money. Webster's 3'd International Dictionary <br />defines the term to include "payment for services rendered," Webster's further defines payment <br />as "something given to discharge a debt or obligation or to fulfill a promise." Even the State <br />Publie Employee Compensation statute seems to imply that "compensation" includes more than <br />just money, For instance, Minn, Stat. S 43A.17, Subd. 9, states that compensation includes "all <br />other direct and indireet items of compensation, , ," Accordingly, if an employee recognition <br />award is truly an expected term of thc contract of employment, we believe a good faith argument <br />can be made to support it being a valid form of compensation. In order to meet the "public <br />purpose" and "authority" and to be considered part of the employee compensation package, a <br />city should: <br /> <br />I. Take formal action to adopt a program, preferably well in advance of any actual <br />expenditures, using language that specifies that the program is adopted as "additional <br />compensation" for work performed by the employees; <br />2. Develop a well thought out and modestly priced system that applies to all employees who <br />meet certain conditions. For example, "all employees who reach 25 years of serviee will . <br />receive a plaque, thanking them for their additional dedicated years of service to the <br />community." <br /> <br />Employee Events (e.g., holiday parties and summer picnics) <br /> <br />The OSA's report critieized Brooklyn Park for amounts spent on an annual holiday party and an <br />annual employee picnic, The Auditor also questioned amounts spent on food for employee <br />meetings. The Auditor concluded that the expenditures did not further a public purpose and <br />recommended that the eity discontinue expending public funds for employees' social events. <br />The OSA's report relied on an Attorney General's opinion from 1966, finding that "Any public <br />benefit that might result from the proposed soeial event is too remote and speculative to justify <br />this expenditure as being one for a public purpose." <br /> <br />With regard to both the Auditor and Attorney General's view, we offer a couple of observations. <br />First, as discussed above, the question of whether a public purpose is served by expenditure of <br />this nature, is largely a matter properly left to the discretion of individual city councils. As <br />discussed at the beginning of this memo, the concept of public purpose is an evolving coneept <br />that can change over time. Perhaps in 1966 the idea of expending city resources on events <br />designed to promote a happy and productive work force, was not seen as a reasonable <br />employment practice. However, in today's work environment, most human resouree <br />professionals would agree that employee job satisfaetion, and ultimately productivity, depends <br />on more than just the salary an employee receives from their employer. All employee benefits <br />are basically a form of employee compensation that, like all other forms, are designed to attract, <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />4 <br />
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