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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/26/1993 City CouncilO(J484G MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON ~" July 26, 1993 The Work Session of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas was called to order at 7:10 p.m. on the 26th day of July, 1993 at City Hall with the following Council roll call: William Manning, Mayor Present Mike Lynch, Councilman Absent Toby Pollard, Councilman Present Joe Agnew, Councilman Present Tom Bogan, Councilman Present John Dillard, Councilman Present Joel Marks, Mayor Pro-tem Absent and with five present, a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: 1. REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF THE FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE ACT (FMLA) Margaret Burkett advised the council this act should help workers to balance family and work, going on to say she does not believe we will have very many employees use this statute. Ms. Burkett said the City is mandated to adopt the policy, and there are two ---- decisions the council will need to make regarding the policy. Going on, Ms. Burkett said they will need to decide if employees will be allowed to continue to accrue sick time and vacation time while they are out on sick leave. Ms. Burkett also said the council will have to decide if the city will make employees take their accrued sick and vacation time while they are out so they can continue to be paid. There followed a general discussion regarding the act and it's effect on our employees and the city in general. Ms. Burkett explained this is to be fair for all employees, going on to say this covers not only maternity leave but it allows time off for adoptions also. After a lengthy discussion, it was generally agreed the policy should require employees to take their paid leave up front. Ms. Burkett said she recommends allowing employees to accrue sick and vacation time for up to 60 days, stating that if an employee is off longer than 60 days then they will cease to accrue time. Ms. Burkett advised the council this policy must be the same for all employees whether they are off on worker's compensation injuries or other injuries or illnesses. Ms. Burkett said other cities vary from zero accrual to accrual indefinitely. After a lengthy discussion all council generally agreed to allow accrual for a period of 30 days and no more. 2. REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF THE PROPOSED DISABILITY/INJURY POLICY AND OTHER AMENDMENTS TO THE PERSONNEL POLICY AND PROCEDURES MANUAL -~ Margaret Burkett advised the council that our personnel policy is open ended when it comes to persons being off work for extended periods of time. She went on to say that currently there is no specified length of time an employee may be off before their job is in jeopardy. Ms. Burkett said we need to adopt a policy that sets a definite limit to the amount of time the city will hold a job open while an employee is out sick or injured. She explained that when an employee is out for an extended length of time, it often puts a hardship on the department to cover that position and that if our policy allowed the city to fill that position after a certain length of time, the hardship would be eased somewhat. She did recommend giving the employee a hardship separation and advising them they would be considered for the next available opening, with preferential treatment. Realizing this is a hard stand to take, Ms. Burkett said she could see both sides of this issue, reiterated that the city must do what is best for its operations. Ms. Burkett recommended holding a position open for 6 months and after that time, giving the employee a hardship separation, and offering them the next available opening. After lengthy discussion it was generally agreed that the disability/injury policy should state that a position will be held open for 6 months, the employee will then be given a hardship separation, with the option to apply for the next available opening, with preferential consideration. After further discussion, the council agreed that accrual of sick and vacation time will be allowed for a period of 60 days while an employee is out for sickness or injury. This will apply to both the FMLA and the Disability/Injury Policy. Ms. Burkett also told the council that currently the policy states that applications may be considered eligible for consideration for a period of 60 days and if there is another opening within that period, those applicants may be considered to fill that opening. Ms. Burkett suggested that period be extended to at least 90 days, stating there have been several instances when that would have been beneficial and prevented the city from having to advertise again. After discussion, it was agreed the applications will be considered eligible for a period of 6 months, but that if the department so desires, the position may still be advertised. Ms. Burkett said it has been discussed in the past that department heads be required to attend exit interviews. The Mayor and Council all agreed that should not be a requirement, but if the employee chooses to have the department head present, then they should be. 3. REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF THE OPERATIONS OF MUNICIPAL COURT Bill Hall gave a brief background regarding the concerns surrounding the operations of court. Mr. Hall reminded council there have been numerous complaints that the judge acts as defense council for the defendants and that there is a concern regarding the number of dismissals. Mr. Hall also noted the high cost of providing a magistrate for arraignments, noting Judge Hollifield is contracted to perform this service, since Judge Williams cannot be available for that purpose. Mayor Manning said there are some options, (1) circuit judge (shared with surrounding cities), (2) same system as current, with a judge that will do arraignments, (3) 3 oo484a multiple judge system. Patti Ristagno, Municipal Court Clerk said she would prefer a primary judge that would perform all the duties with a good flexible back-up judge. Chief Stewart agreed that a primary judge is necessary for consistency. All council agreed that the primary judge should be able to pick the person to serve as his alternate (back-up) with council approval. It was noted that both the primary and the alternate judge would have to be formally appointed by council and officially sworn in. The City Manager, Ms. Ristagno and Chief Stewart were directed to put together a contract for the primary judge that would reflect the duties he/she would be expected to perform and that he/she would be responsible for acquiring an alternate, when necessary and would be responsible for payment to the alternate. Mayor Manning called another work session for 7:00 p.m. on August 2, 1993, prior to the regular session at 7:30 for the council to review the contract and stated that after approval, staff will be directed to advertise for the position and interviews will be held again. William W Manning, Mayor ATTEST: Patti A. Hicks,TRMC, CMC/AAE City Secretary