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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance No. 3163-2020011 Jcl KENAI CITY OF KENAI ORDINANCE NO. 3163-2020 Sponsored by: Administration AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA, AMENDING KENAI MUNICIPAL CODE SECTIONS 23.30.030 — PROBATIONARY PERIOD FOR EMPLOYEES IN THE CLASSIFIED SERVICE, TO REMOVE THE SIX-MONTH WAITING PERIOD FOR NEW EMPLOYEES TO UTILIZE ANNUAL LEAVE AND 23.40.060 — LEAVE OF ABSENCE WITH PAY, TO ALLOW FOR TRANSITION LEAVE FOR NEW POLICE OFFICERS UPON COMPLETION OF A PUBLIC SAFETY ACADEMY. WHEREAS, Police Officers are the only city employees that may be required to attend a 16 week academy prior to assuming full job duties; and, WHEREAS, amendments to KMC 23.30.030 and 23.40.060 are necessary to address leave for police officers that may be required to assist them in transitioning to full duty requirements following academy attendance; and, WHEREAS, KMC 23.30.030 prevents new employees from using their personal accrued annual leave within the first six months of employment, except in the case of sickness; and, WHEREAS, to address this issue, the Human Resources Director worked with the Police Chief to recommend amendments to the Personnel Code which would allow officers to use personal accrued annual leave and grant additional leave to officers to transition to duty responsibilities after completion of a full public safety academy; and, WHEREAS, an amendment to KMC 23.30.030, would allow new employees to use their personal accrued annual leave within the first six months of employment and would address a number of issues new employees encounter such as attending major life events that obligate employees away from work such as weddings or graduations, and funerals not covered under bereavement leave; and, WHEREAS, proposed amendments to KMC 23.40.060 allows for police officers who have completed an academy to receive 40 hours of leave to help with the transition to regular duties; and, WHEREAS, amendments to KMC 23.30.030 and KMC 23.40.060, addressing leave, will not require an increase to the adopted FY2021 Budget; and, WHEREAS, amendments to the Kenai Municipal Code to remove the six-month waiting period for new employees before using accrued annual leave and add a new section of Code to provide for transition leave for new police officers upon completion of a public safety academy is in the best interests of the City of Kenai. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA, as follows: [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED] Ordinance No. 3163-2020 Page 2 of 4 Section 1. Amendment of Section 23.30.030 of the Kenai Municipal Code: That Kenai Municipal Code, Section 23.30.030 — Probationary period for employees in the classified service, is amended as follows: 23.30.030 Probationary period for employees in the classified service. (a) All original appointments for employees in the classified service including those that result from transfers shall be tentative and subject to a probationary period of not less than six (6) months consecutive service, except for Police, Fire, and Communications, which shall be normally twelve (12) months, subject to meeting criteria for certification which may be accomplished following six (6) months of service and except for seasonal employees whose probationary period is established by the term of the first season of employment. Promotional appointment probationary period shall, for all employees in the classified service, be not less than six (6) months. (b) In cases where the responsibilities of a position in the classified service are such that a longer period is necessary to demonstrate an employee's qualifications, the probationary period may be extended; however, no probationary period shall be extended beyond twelve (12) months, or eighteen (18) months for Police, Fire, and Communications, or one (1) additional season for seasonal employees. The employee shall be notified in writing of any extension and the reasons therefor. (c) [DURING THE FIRST SIX (6) MONTHS OF ORIGINAL PROBATIONARY PERIOD, A NEW EMPLOYEE (INCLUDING POLICE, FIRE, AND COMMUNICATIONS) SHALL NOT BE ELIGIBLE FOR ANNUAL LEAVE BENEFITS, BUT HE OR SHE SHALL EARN ANNUAL LEAVE CREDIT FROM THE FIRST DAY OF EMPLOYMENT AND MAY TAKE LEAVE FOR SICKNESS DURING THAT PERIOD TO THE MAXIMUM OF THE AMOUNT OF LEAVE ACCRUED.] [(D)] Upon completion of the probationary period, employees in the classified service shall be considered as having satisfactorily demonstrated qualifications for the position, shall gain regular status, one (1) step in pay raise, and shall be so informed through his or her supervisor. The employee's anniversary date shall be the first of the month in which the employee's original probation ends. Employees who have gained regular status at the effective date of the ordinance codified in this section shall have their anniversary dates changed to the first of the month in which the employee's present anniversary date falls. [(E)] (d) During the probationary period, a new employee hired in the classified service may be terminated at any time without advance notice, without cause, and without appeal. [(F)] (a) In the case of promotional appointments, the promoted employee may be demoted at any time during the probationary period without appeal; provided, that the probationary employee be reinstated in the class designation from which he or she was promoted, even though this necessitates the layoff of the employee occupying the position. Section 2. Amendment of Section 23.40.060 of the Kenai Municipal Code: That Kenai Municipal Code, Section 23.40.060 — Leave of absence with pay, is amended as follows: New Text Underlined; [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED] Ordinance No. 3163-2020 Page 3 of 4 23.40.060 Leave of absence with pay. (a) Employees may request leave of absence with pay for: (1) Witness or Jury Duty. When a City employee is called for jury duty or is subpoenaed as a witness, he or she shall not suffer any loss of his or her regular City compensation during such absence; however, he or she shall be required to transfer any compensation he or she receives for the performance of such duty to the City. Time not worked because of such duty shall not affect annual leave accrual. (2) Military Leave. Employees shall be eligible for military leave or associated benefits in compliance with State and Federal law. (3) Conferences, Conventions and Other Related City Business. Decisions concerning attendance at conferences, conventions, or other functions pertaining to City business at City expense shall be made by the department heads with the approval of the City Manager. Permission shall be granted on the basis of an employee's participation in or the direct relationship of the function to the City. Members of professional societies may be permitted to attend meetings of their society when such attendance is considered to be in the best interest of the City. (4) Death in the Immediate Family. Leave of absence with pay is provided to assist an employee who must be absent from work as a result of a death in the immediate family. The employee's absence would be for funeral attendance, or to handle matters arising due to the death of an immediate family member, that cannot practicably be taken care of outside of regular business hours. Upon the City Manager's approval, employees shall be entitled to the following leave, which will not directly affect their personal leave account: three (3) working days, up to twenty-four (24) hours maximum. a full public safety academy. Section 3. Effective Date: That pursuant to KMC 1.15.070(f), this ordinance shall take effect 30 days after enactment. ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA, this 2lstdayof October, 2020. BRIAN GABRIEL SR., MAYOR New Text Underlined; [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED] Ordinance No. 3153-2020 Page 4 of 4 ATTEST: J mie Heinz. CMC. Citv Clerk KENq� T S oG�oED � M Introduced: October 7, 2020 Enacted: October 21, 2020 Effective: November 20, 2020 New Text Underlined; [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED] KENAI City of Kenai 1 210 Fidalgo Ave. Kenai. AK 99611-7794 1907.283.7535 I www.kenaixity MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor Gabriel and Council Members THROUGH: Paul Ostrander, City Manager FROM: Stormy Brown, Human Resource Director David Ross, Police Chief DATE: September 23, 2020 SUBJECT: Ordinance No. 3163-2020 — Probationary Period for Employees in the Classified Service and Leave of Absence with Pay for New Police Officers The changes requested in this ordinance are intended to address two areas of Kenai Municipal Code which focus on new employees — annual leave availability for new employees in the classified service and adding a new type of leave for new Police Officers after they complete the Public Safety Academy and come into service for Kenai. Currently, KMC 23.30.030 prevents new employees from using their personal accrued annual leave within the first six months of employment, except in the case of sickness. This ordinance would amend that section to allow all employees the use of the personal leave which they accrued from the beginning of employment. This change will help address a number of issues that have come to light with new employees in recent years including but not limited to: 1. Vacations planned prior to hire, 2. Major life events like weddings or funerals not covered under bereavement leave, 3. Moving to Kenai or finishing the moving process after employment. This change is anticipated to benefit recruitment and make a positive early impression with new employees of the City and improve competitiveness with other employers in the area that do not require an employee to wait six months to utilize personal leave This ordinance also amends KMC 23.40.060 to provide a new type of leave for new police officers that have completed the full public safety academy (currently 16 weeks in Sitka), the equivalent of one week of additional leave upon completion of that academy. Newly recruited police officers are asked to leave their family and their home for three and a half months, working seven days per week in Sitka to complete a required police academy. This ordinance would give them 40 hours of annual leave called transition leave upon completion of that academy. Providing leave will resolve a common leave issue experienced by new officers. For example, if a new employee is hired from out of the area, it is common that they would leave their family where they are currently living until such a time as they complete the academy. Currently, upon completion of the academy, the new officer will often return to field training at the Kenai Police Department without reasonable time to get their family settled or moved to our area. The rush to get our new employee started following the academy attendance often causes additional stress for the officer and the family at a time when we want them to have a positive transition to a career protecting the Kenai community. We believe one week is a reasonable amount of leave to provide for the employee after a long and often stressful training academy, prior to more months of on the job training at the police department. The addition of this transitional leave also makes us competitive with other agencies in the state. This change is anticipated to help with the recruitment and retention of employees and to make a positive early impression with employees as they transition into their new job. Thank you for your consideration. Page 2 of 2 �� The City of Kenai I www.Lenai.city