Personnel Committee

PERSONNEL COMMITTEE Monday, February 16, 2015 6:00 P.M. The Personnel Committee will hold a meeting on Monday, February 16, 2015, at 6:00 p.m. in the Village Hall, 123 N. River Street, Waterford, WI. AGENDA Call to Order Approval of the Minutes 1. Review and act on January 19, 2015 minutes. Old Business 2. Review and provide a recommendation on personnel manual modifications relative to health insurance. a. The Village specifically did not sign the new agreement from Central States proposed in 2013 because they did not have a way to digitally modify the agreement to reflect that only regular full time employees are eligible to receive health insurance and that the regular full time employee have the option of enrolling in the health insurance program. The Village legal counsel amended the agreement originally signed from 2007 with this language, 2013 signatures lines and rates for the next three years. The Committee and Village Board approved this document, signed and submitted to Central States for renewal in 2013. b. In March of 2014 President Roanhouse received the correspondence requesting new contracts be signed to comply with changes in Act 10 and Wisconsin state laws that did not exclude participation of part time employees or allow regular full time employees to elect to participate in the insurance program. This was the first time the Village President received direct e-mail correspondence from Central States, an unusual method for them to communicate with the Village. c. The matter was brought to the Personnel Committee for review with the following provided by our attorney: 1. The Village is the only community that the Village’s legal counsel is aware of that allows for these exceptions. Central States typically requires that every employee (part time and full time be required to enroll in their health insurance program regardless of whether or not they desire too). 2. The Village’s legal counsel recommended the Village do one of two things: Option 1: not respond Option 2: respond that the Village will only sign a new agreement if the language required by the Village relative to full time employees and the participant’s option to enroll is inserted in the document 3. Legal counsel preferred option 1 so that the Village could gauge Central States level of importance regarding the matter. d. On September 29, 2014 the Village recently received correspondence from Central States with new agreements that do not exclude part time employees and allow full employees the option to elect the insurance. This matter was again reviewed by legal counsel and an e-mail was prepared and sent to the Village’s Central States Field Representative. e. On 11-11-14 the Administrator received communication from Central States legal counsel explaining that he had received the e-mails sent to the field representative and that they were unable to respond until they met with the Trustees of the fund to seek guidance on how to proceed. A phone call also took place on 11-12-14 between the Village and Central States legal counsel. The Village provided Central States with a copy of our personnel manual which defines the difference between regular full time, regular part time and limited part time employees. Central States was also informed that the Village department heads and supervisors are responsible for monitoring the weekly hours of regular part time employees to ensure they are not exceeding and average of 30 hours per week to fall under the requirements for ACA. It was suggested by the Village that this practice be implemented into the personnel manual if that would provide Central States assurance that the Village would adhere to that practice. f. Central States confirmed that this method was acceptable to the fund for proceeding for the duration of the existing contract.  g. Legal counsel conferred with staff on the necessary updates to the manual. ACA requires the Village to audit payroll monthly to verify part time employees are working 130 hours a month or less (no more than 30 hours average per week). This is the same reporting requirement Central States will be seeking for their assurances of proceeding as our health insurance vendor. There is only one employee that we are aware of that is in conflict with the required numbers of hours, the Village’s Fire Chief. While the contract for services with the Fire Chief specifies 27 hours per week as a part time exempt employee, the Fire Chief has works on average 45-50 hours of week since beginning with the Village in February of 2014. While the Fire Chief does not seek participation in the Village’s health insurance program, he would be eligible to receive it. h. Pages 6, 18, 19 and 36 of the manual were modified to reflect responsibilities for both the employee to adhere to their designated employment classifications and the supervisor’s role in ensuring their employees are in compliance with the manual every payroll cycle. Staff has developed a reporting mechanism to calculate the monthly hours and stability period of one calendar year to ensure part time employees are not exceeding 1560 hours annually. It is important to note that ACA requires a monthly review and stability period (staff recommended one calendar year). Should a part time employee exceed the hours, the Village would be required to offer insurance in the following year. The manual reflects that the Village may require the employee to cover all or some of the premium cost. It also specifies that if a part time employee qualifies for insurance, but elects not to participate, that they do not receive the $4,000 opt out payment.  The Committee is requested to provide a recommendation on the manual amendments and provide more specific guidance on whether the Village will require the part time employee to pay some or all of the premium cost. 3. Update on Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for gear. a. Pursuant to the Personnel Committee and Board’s approval to move forward with a joint application between the Eagle, Mukwonago, and Waterford fire departments, and MOU was drafted to also specify how turn out gear would be cooperatively shared and repaired if needed.  This is informational only. No action required. New Business 4. Review and provide a recommendation on certification level and associated tasks for firehouse trainer. a. The Chief has found an individual to teach the firehouse software to the membership over the next four months. It will be needed for personnel to insert their timecard information initially, but then for staff to also learn how to track calls, training etc. The individual is recommended for hire by the Chief at a rate of $25 per hour, working 4 hours per week (2 hours on training/2 hours on data manipulation) for approximately 4 months. The Chief is recommending that the individual be approved as an employee, similar to a trainer, for the department who receives a set dollar amount for compensation. This position would not be responding to calls, but dedicated solely to training and implementation of the firehouse software.  The Committee is requested to provide a recommendation. 5. Review and provide a recommendation on reviews for the fire and rescue department. a. The Fire Chief was hired in 2/14 and with the approval of the Committee and Board, reviews were not completed. The Fire Chief is recommending that reviews be completed for the fire officers this year. After the fire officers go through the experience of being reviewed, the Chief will then train them on how to review with the approved forms so that they can then perform reviews of their crews in 2016.  The Committee is requested to act on the recommendation. Adjourn There may be a quorum of Village Trustees present, which would constitute a public meeting of the Village Board Jerry Filut Chairman Please note that, upon reasonable notice, accommodations can be made for the needs of disabled individuals through appropriate aids and service. For additional information or to request this service contact the Clerk’s Office at 534-3980. Posted 2/13/14, 5:00 p.m.  Personnel Committee Unofficial Meeting Minutes January 19, 2015 – 6:00 p.m. Present: Bell, Filut, Pollnow Excused: Allen and Vaccaro Also present: Rebecca Ewald Filut called the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m. Pollnow moved and Bell seconded to approve the December 15, 2014 minutes. Motion carried. The Administrator updated on the personnel manual modifications that the Village will be required to make to continue providing coverage with the Village’s insurance carrier, Central States Health and Welfare Fund. Legal counsel conferred with staff on the necessary updates to the manual. The amendments were received on 1/15 and will be reviewed by staff for implementation procedures and then sent to Central States for review. We anticipate the final recommendation presented to the Committee at the February meeting. ACA requires the Village to audit payroll monthly to verify part time employees are working 130 hours a month or less. This is the same reporting requirement Central States will be seeking for their assurances of proceeding as our health insurance vendor. There is only one employee that we are aware of to date that is in conflict with the required numbers of hours, the Village’s Fire Chief. While the contract for services with the Fire Chief specifies 27 hours per week as a part time exempt employee, the Fire Chief has works on average 45-50 or more hours of week since beginning with the Village in February of 2014. While the Fire Chief does not seek participation in the Village’s health insurance program, he would be eligible to receive the $4,000 opt out payment specified in the manual. For the last several decades a secretary for the fire and rescue department has provided the Village with documentation for purposes of processing payroll for the fire and rescue members. The Fire Chief is recommending approval of an expansion of the firehouse software for purposes of documenting payroll for fire and rescue employees, an additional annual expense of approximately $400 to be paid for out of 2% dues. The process for tallying payroll in the past has been delegated to the secretary without cross check or involvement of the Treasurer who oversees the processing of payroll. This can lead to errors and omissions. The Treasurer and eventually Deputy Treasurer would be trained on the utilization of software in addition to members to complete their time sheets and submit for payroll. This creates redundancy in our system and greater transparency for documenting payroll moving forward. As the Committee is aware, Central States Health and Welfare fund has required the Village to amend the Personnel Manual to clarify our procedures for accounting for part time employees to ensure compliance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). ACA requires a monthly calculation of hours for part time employees to ensure compliance. Preliminary discussions with personnel counsel have also stressed the importance of maintaining greater transparency and documented procedures for fire and rescue payroll moving forward. Both the Chief’s request and Village’s need to ensure proper documentation for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and our health insurer provider also adds to the need for this transition for the fire and rescue department to occur as soon as possible. Filut moved and Pollnow seconded to recommend moving forward with the amendment of the firehouse software contract to include the payroll module. Motion carried. The contract was to be reviewed and brought to the Board with the personnel manual changes. Filut updated on the retirement notice of the village officer and how the village board is proceeding with evaluating how to provide future service during first shift. Pollnow moved and Bell seconded to recommend approval of the position description and utilization of the Sheriff’s office auxiliary group to fill the position in the interim. Motion carried. The Administrator refreshed the Committee that the Village received a grant from the Wisconsin City/County Manager’s Association in the amount of $1,200 for an intern. Per the Hiring Policy & Procedure adopted in 2014 the Administrator solicits applications, interviews and approves the new employee. An advertisement was distributed to accredited Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) programs on January 13. The Administrator will proceed with hiring for the position. The intern will report to the Administrator, but assist on topics of Public Works & Utilities and Fire and Rescue Department as deemed appropriate by the Department heads and Administrator. Pollnow moved and Bell seconded to adjourn the meeting at 6:32 p.m. Motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Rebecca Ewald Village Administrator