1996-1203_CVWD GENERAL EMPLOYEES_Closed Session Agenda Item CLOSED SESSION AGENDA ITEM March 19, 1996
TO. Board of Directors
FROM; Ray Auerbach, General Manager
SUBJECT: Proposed MOUS for General and Management Employees
SITUATION
At the last Board meeting in Closed Session, I presented a proposed fist of issues
that had been discussed with our employees in an attempt to reach a settlement in
regard to salaries and benefits for the 1995-96 fiscal year which is now two-thirds
complete. In a Closed Session on ,July 5, 1995, the board gave me some general
guidance in negotiating the MOUS. These general principals are listed below:
1 . No general salary increases such as Cost of Living increases.
2. Continue to bring the District and City benefits in compliance with each
other where applicable. The exception to this principal was that the Board
was opposed to providing the $130 per month health insurance
supplemental payment which is paid to unmarried City employees.
3. Make minor adjustments to personnel rules and regulations that do not add
substantial additional costs.
4. Resolve the retirement surplus issue at no cost to the District.
5. Pick up the increased health, dental and vision insurance premiums for the
1995-96 fiscal year.
The changes proposed to you at the last meeting were intended to comply with
these general principals although the Board had numerous questions about the
various issues. Listed below is a summary of the issues with more detail than
provided at the meeting.
1 . No changes in salary ranges.
2. The increase in health, dental and vision insurance benefits for 1995-96
totaled $4,400 for the fiscal year. On the savings side, by renegotiating our
life and long-term disability insurance, we saved $9,384 per year for a net
savings in insurance costs of $4,944.
3. The provision to add pro-rated vacation and holiday pay for our one
permanent part-time employee brings our policy into compliance with the
City's policy except that the City provides pro-rated vacation and sick leave.
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CLOSED SIESBION AGENDA.ITEM March 19, 1996
Proposed MOUS for General and Management Employees
We have chosen the holidays rather than sick leave since that is the most
common practice with other Orange County water agencies and private
industry.
4. The addition of the provision that allows employees to decline dependent
health insurance coverage if these dependents are covered under another
plan, and pays the employee a $130 per month incentive would save the
District approximately $1,500 per year if two employees elect this option.
5. The addition of a paid recuperation period that has been discussed is
expected to cost around $800 per year based on historic work patterns.
We are presenting a variation to this proposal that would provide a paid
recuperation period for hours worked in excess of 16 hours per day. For
example, if an employee worked 18 hours in one day, he/she would receive
a 2-hour paid rest period. This has the same basic effect as what was
originally proposed but is patterned after policies in several other Orange
County water agencies. In addition to formal policies in these agencies,
several other agencies state they treat these situations on a case-by-case
basis and informally provide the same benefit. Note: This change would
only be implemented if the 2-hour minimum call-out provision is revised to
eliminate overlapping minimums.
6. The provision that eliminates an employee from receiving multiple 2-hour
minimum call-out payments when the 2-hour periods overlap has been
included to clear up a section of our rules negotiated many years ago. This
problem was not anticipated when the rule was adopted, and the revision
could save up to $800 per year based on past history. Note: The
employees are unwilling to agree to this change without some offsetting
benefit which is why the paid rest period is being considered.
7. The addition of a provision to compensate the District's two foreman for
answering calls or pages and providing advice to their employees after hours
is expected to cost about $500 per year. These calls occur when our on-
call maintenance employees run into an after hours problem that they feel
they would like to discuss with a supervisor. The two foremen voluntarily
carry pagers and answer these calls now without any compensation. These
employees are non-exempt employees and would receive overtime pay of
they came in to analyze these problems. The difference between these
foremen and their closest counterparts in the City are that the City
superintendents are management employees and are paid approximately
$10,000 more in salary, but receive no overtime pay. The proposed rule
change is common in other water agencies for non-exempt employees.
Several agencies make similar payments for employees who respond to
alarms or other situations on laptop computers connected to their SCADA
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CLOSED SESSION AGENDA ITEM March 19, 1996
Proposed MOUS for General and Management Employees
systems.
S. The proposed distribution of over $57,000 held in the Orange County
Employees Retirement System's Unallocated Fund Balance has been an
unresolved issue for three years. The District was notified of these surplus
funds in late 1992 and has had discussions with the City and our employees
on how to distribute these funds, These funds can only be used to benefit
current and future retirees and cannot be used to reduce the District's
retirement contributions to the system. We have discussed several options
with our employees including one that would provide retiree medical
benefits similar to the plan instituted by Orange County to handle their
surplus funds. The problem with this option was that it requires more funds
than are available and would require additional contributions by the
employees or District. Our employees are not agreeable to contributing to
the plan or to dedicate a portion of future salary increases to the plan. The
District has 10 current retirees who would benefit from the proposed
distribution, including two that we know of that have serious health
problems. These employees are upset that this issue has not been resolved
and that they have not received any funds yet. The proposed distribution of
funds is patterned after the plan adopted by the OCTA, who also contracts
with the Orange County Retirement System. Other contract agencies who
have adopted similar distribution plans are the Orange County Cemetery
District, Orange County Sanitation District and Orange County Department
of Education. Those with fund balances that have yet to adopt plans are
the District and the City, the Orange County Transportation Authority, UCI
Medical Center and the City of Cypress.
FINAN-QIAL CONSIDERATIONS,
The proposed MOU provisions are estimated to cost $500 per year or less. As
stated at the last Closed Session, the previously agreed to increase in health,
dental and vision insurance was an additional $4,440, but savings in both life and
long-term disability insurance more than offset this increase,
ALTERNATE ACTIONS
1 . Direct the General Manager to finalize the MOUs based on the proposed
provisions.
2. Direct the General Manager to attempt to negotiate the MOUS on revised
provisions.
3. Request additional information.
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CLOSED-SESSION A TEND March 19, 1996
Proposed MOUs for General and Management Employees
REQQMME_NDATION
Although I understand the Board's reluctance to approve an MOU with a couple of
provisions that are questionable in your minds, I believe that this is a very good
compromise for the District, and I recommend that you approve it.
The District's employees have not pursued getting the $130 per month health
insurance benefit paid to single employees at the City. This issue alone is an
$11 ,000 per year item, and I am impressed that the employees have not pushed
for a benefit just because someone else has it.
Respectfully submitte ,
RayZAIudrbach ��
General Manager
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