Fiscal Note
This Fourth Substitute ordinance amendment expands and extends the term of current wage and benefit guarantees to City employees on active military duty and could result in substantial increases in the costs associated with training and active duty pay supplements. The amount of additional cost would be entirely dependent on the frequency and duration of future active duty assignments for City employees, and cannot be predicted with certainty. However, had these amended provisions been in place during the past 3 years, the additional cost would have been approximately $98,000 per year.
Current City ordinances grant employees up to 3 weeks per year of paid leave for military training or other active military duty. During this 3 week period, the City has continued to compensate the employee as though they reported to work for their normal City job. The City also continues to make normal contributions to the employee's health and other insurance coverages, and the employee continues to accumulate vacation, sick leave and other benefits without interruption. Following the employee's return to work, and after they submit documentation of the compensation they received from the military during the leave period, the City deducts that amount from subsequent City payrolls. Thus, the employee is guaranteed that there is no interruption in the normal level of compensation during the military training leave and there is no net reduction in compensation as a result of participation in military training duties. (It is sometimes difficult to obtain the documentation of military pay from returning employees in a timely manner.) The cost of this 3 week military leave benefit has been approximately $36,000 per year during the last 3 calendar years.
This proposed Fourth Substitute ordinance amendment would extend paid military leave benefits from the current 3 weeks to cover the full period of training or active duty, regardless of length. This extension ...
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