Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Comments <br />This issue is really at the root of all the significant concerns brought to our attention <br />during this study. We do believe that the department's employee contract, whether or <br />not its typical for a police department, allows too large of a liability for compensated <br />absences to accumulate, especially if limitation levels are exceeded. We further believe <br />this causes unintended negative incentives for the employees and causes inconsistent <br />funding requirements and budgeting problems. <br /> <br />We have been told that the cause of the growth in the liability, and the justification for <br />waiving certain limits, is due to the department's understaffing. Please understand that <br />this study does not address any staffing level concerns. If there is a problem with <br />staffing levels, then it should be directly addressed. Be careful not to create a worse <br />problem by shifting the impact of a staffing shortage into this unfunded liability. <br /> <br />A basic weakness to the existing plan is underlying incentive to the employee when you <br />have a significant pay-out upon termination of employment. Although this certainly is a <br />benefit to the employee, it cannot be realized without leaving employment, thus creating <br />the incentive for turnover. This might be evidenced by the three terminations <br />experienced in 2001, claiming over $38,000 in severance pay-out. Two of these officers <br />joined other police forces and the third went into private security. As the above table <br />indicates, the vested liability as of August 10, 2001 is only about $10,000 less then what <br />is was at the end of last year. There is an associated benefit to this turnover, as the <br />replacement employees are brought in at lower pay rates then the senior officers that left. <br />However, we have also seen more lateral moves, in which officers are not losing pay <br />seniority when changing employment to another police department. <br /> <br />Suggestions <br />The department should look carefully at future employee contracts to assure they are <br />designed to provide the benefits intended such as for employees to take vacations and <br />have sick leave available, but not to create large severance pay-offs. Because of the <br />nature of a police department, it would be reasonable to allow more accumulation of <br />benefits then an employee group that work a consistent business hour schedule, but <br />probably less then what is currently allowed. The department may want to consider <br />converting to a "Personal Time Off' (PTO) benefit plan, which combines the traditional <br />vacation and sick leave plans into one. PTO plans have been widely accepted by <br />organizations in recent years making it easier for employers to manage and more flexible <br />for employees to use. It also provides an additional benefit to those employees who <br />seldom get sick, while still providing ample time off for illnesses. If the department is <br />considering this accumulation of sick leave as a type of short-term disability income, <br />you may want to explore short-term disability insurance as an alternative. Usage ofPTO <br />by employees would need to be scheduled in advance just like current vacation policy, <br />accept in the case of illness. <br /> <br />If amounts of vacation, sick leave or PTO earned by employees are reduced to <br />approximate more closely the amounts typically taken off, then compensation would be <br />increased in a fair amount to the employee. This would cause an increase in current <br />