As you know, the City of Brentwood Personnel Rules and Regulations Manual serves as the employee handbook as well as a general operating policy manual.
The Human Resources Department continually reviews the manual to identify needed amendments and clarifications based on changes to City policies/programs, in response to new situations not addressed in the manual, or employee questions for interpretation, etc. At this time, staff is recommending the following revisions as highlighted in the attached City of Brentwood Rules & Regulations manual. (Note that all page references in the summary below are referring to the Tracked Changes Document linked below).
- Article I, Section C, Americans with Disabilities Act (Page 2 - new section added) - Outlines the City's policy specifically related to Americans with Disabilities Act and declares the City's intent to comply with federal and state laws as well as guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
- Article II, Definitions (Pages 3-9) - Added eight definitions related to Americans with Disabilities Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendment. Added Holiday Weekend definition as it relates to the expansion of holiday pay to the holiday weekend in Article X, Section G.
- Article VI
- Section E, Residency Requirements (Page 15) - Removed 60-mile residency requirement for sworn public safety employee. Mutual assistance agreements have been established with neighboring police and fire and rescue departments making it no longer necessary for employees to live in such proximity. Also, a recent state law change significantly restricts a local government's ability to place residency requirements on public safety employees.
- Section I, Recruitment of Applicants for Employment by Current Employees (Page 16)
- The first change is related to the amount of the monetary incentive paid to employees for recruitment of applicants. The program currently offers a monetary incentive in the amount of $100 which is received in two increments by employees who refer a candidate for a position who is then hired and stays through their six-month probationary period. The recommended restructure of this program is intended to increase utilization by adding a more significant monetary incentive of $1,000 to be paid to the referring employee in two increments (25% at completion of the first 60 days of employment and 75% at successful completion of the six-month probationary period).
- The second change is related to the process in which referrals are made. Currently, the applicant is required to include the name of the referring employee on the job application when applying for a vacant position. Moving forward, referrals will be made by way of a referral form from the referring employee with the potential applicant's contact information and a general statement personally affirming their personal knowledge of the applicant's demonstrated character and work ethic.
- Article X
- Section F, On-Call; Emergency Call-outs (Page 27) - two changes are included to this section.
- The first change addresses the minimum hours of guaranteed pay or compensatory pay from two hours to three hours for an emergency call-out. The pay rate remains at one and one-half times the regular rate of pay.
- The second change provides clarity on how the call-out pay policy should be implemented when multiple callouts occur. The policy is currently being interpreted as the employee receiving an automatic two hours (changing to three hours) of pay for every call-out received by that employee. The new language specifies subsequent call-outs during the same minimum three-hour timeframe cannot exceed the minimum three-hour timeframe unless the work itself exceeds it.
- Section G, Holiday Pay (Page 27) - Expands Holiday Pay to include the Saturday and Sunday that are contiguous to a City-observed holiday on a Friday or Monday. Pay for work on the defined holiday weekend will be equal to two times the employee's normal rate of pay, regardless of hours worked during that work week.
- Section H, Longevity Pay (Page 28) - Increases longevity pay from $40 to $60 for each year of service.
- Section J, Emergency Medical Technician Pay Incentive Program (Page 29) - the purpose of the previous Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Pay Incentive Program was to encourage sworn personnel of the Fire and Rescue Department to obtain emergency medical training and certification from the State of Tennessee and Williamson County Medical Center. However, the minimal-level requirements no longer serve the City of Brentwood citizens and provide no motivation for the employee to seek out higher levels of training. The proposed changes below are more in line with industry standards for entry level positions and provide increased compensation for those certifications requiring a broader scope-of-practice. They will also make the City more competitive when searching for talent.
- Current Emergency Supplemental Incentive Program:
- Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) is minimum-level requirement within 12 months of employment. There is no practicing or non-practicing status and no additional supplement.
- Any non-practicing public safety employee with a state license beyond EMR is compensated $900/year
- Practicing EMT Basic (EMT-B) is compensated $1,500/year
- Practicing Advanced EMT (AEMT) is compensated $2,100/year
- Practicing Paramedic (EMTP) is compensated $4,500/year
- Proposed changes to the current program include:
- EMT-B is now the minimum level requirement (within 18 months if not at time of hire)
- All EMT-B required to complete Williamson County Emergency Management System “practicing” status
- No supplement for EMT-B or non-practicing status of any level
- AEMT supplement increased to $3,250/year
- EMTP supplement increased to $6,500/year
- Section K, Commercial Driver's License Incentive Pay (Page 30 new section added) - In February 2022, new federal regulations went into effect regarding entry-level commercial motor vehicle (CMV) requiring drivers to successfully complete training provided by a school or other entity listed on the Training Provider Registry. The new regulations significantly increase the time commitment and the cost to obtaining a CDL which is needed for operating most equipment in the operations of departments at the Service Center. The CDL incentive pay is intended to compensate annually those employees who receive and maintain their CDL for the purpose of benefiting of the City.
- Section L, Public Safety Dispatcher Certification Pay (Page 30 new section added) - This change provides an incentive pay for Public Safety Dispatchers who have achieved professional certifications recognized by the National Emergency Number Association or the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials-International. The incentive is tiered based on the level of certification obtained. The industry-oriented training benefits the City of Brentwood and the services it provides as well as makes the City more competitive in the current labor market.
- Section P, Custodian Supplement Pay (Page 32 new section added) - this change reflects a supplemental pay in the amount of $2.00 an hour to be paid to any full-time Parks maintenance employees who are regularly assigned to maintain parks restrooms and other custodial duties. This particular job responsibility previously fell to part-time employees but the difficulty the City has experienced retaining part-time staff has resulted in its inability to keep the facilities up to City standards.
- Section Q, Acting Officer in Charge Supplemental Pay (Page 33 new section added) - Occasionally, the Police and Fire & Rescue departments have shifts for which a sworn, non-supervisory employee is required to step up into an "in-charge" role which may require a high-liability response. Currently, those employees are not being compensated for taking on this additional responsibility. This change provides employees, as stated above, an acting pay supplement of $30 per calendar day to compensate them for taking on the additional high-liability supervisory role.
- Section R, Police Officer Transportation Allowance (Page 33) - Currently it is stated the effective date of the police officer transportation allowance will follow one year of City service and the satisfactory completion of the initial probationary period. Because the new General Employee Transportation Allowance (Section S) effective July 1, 2022, provides employees, other than sworn police officers, an annual transportation allowance effective immediately upon the date of hire, the effective date of the Police Officer Transportation Allowance will need to reflect the same language.
- Section S, General Employee Transportation Allowance (Page 33 new section added) - Commute costs are increasing for City employees with rising fuel costs and long distance commutes. This new supplemental pay provides full-time employees, other than sworn police officers and City employees with assigned City-owned vehicles, an annual transportation allowance to be received in 26 equal installments. This allowance will be prorated for employees who work a non-standard or hybrid schedule requiring fewer than five weekly commutes and will not apply to employees who are eligible for a city take home vehicle. Part-time employees will receive a reduced amount as long as they are in an "active" status.
- Article XIV, Section B, Vacation Leave (Page 50) - This change allows for new hires to be advanced the first five vacation days during the first month in which they are in paid status for at least 80% of the month. Monthly accruals will begin at month six and continue thereafter. This change is a positive recruitment tool and eliminates the need for new hires to take time off without pay. If an employee takes more time than they would have accrued over the course of the first five months and separates from employment the City will attempt to recoup the costs according to T.C.A. Section 50-2-110.
- Article XV
- Section E, Retiree Health Insurance Program (Page 68) - In lieu of coverage under the City's group health insurance plan, retired employees eligible for coverage may otherwise elect to receive a cash allotment to purchase insurance elsewhere. This changes the amount of the cash allotment from 40% to 100% of the calculated COBRA coverage rate for individual coverage in the lowest priced group plan for current employees. This change is intended to create a greater incentive for a retiree to consider the cash payout option instead of coverage under the city plan. Employees who elect this option benefit the city by eliminating all potential claims liability in return for a fixed annual payment.
- Section M, Dental Reimbursement Program (Page 73) - Changes the maximum reimbursement amount from $700 to $1000 per fiscal year (July 1 - June 30). All costs are reimbursed on a dollar for dollar basis. Deletes the requirement that a maximum of $100 every six months must be used toward routine preventive care and all other costs are reimbursed at only 50%.
There are a few other minor edits intended to provide greater clarity or improve readability. Should you have any questions, please contact the Human Resources Director. |