Title
Discussion of Recruitment, Retention and Compensation Issues and Plans for Developing Alternative Responses
Body
Background
Over the past few months the County has been experiencing an increasingly volatile labor market. Recruitment and retention has become more difficult and previous problem areas have only worsened. The three primary causes are general labor shortages as a result of COVID, rapid inflation increase, and relatively large compensation changes with some of the County's labor competitors.
Vacancies have become severe in some divisions. Examples are:
Police - 7
Dispatch - 6
Fire - 23, either vacant or not available for shift, with 9 more eligible to retire
Transit - 9
Aquatics - 7
Gas Water Sewer (GWS) - 7
Information Management - 5
These vacancy levels have already begun negatively impacting the service level staff can provide and have increased costs where departments/divisions are contractually obligated to provide minimum staffing levels.
Some challenges are global - examples include :
CPI up 8.5% year over year in July
Smaller recruitment pools - labor shortage
More offers rejected due to lack of housing options
Many local government competitors pick up a portion of the employee required contributions to the Public Employers Retirement Association (PERA)
Some challenges are specific to divisions - examples include:
GWS and Electric - LANL has instituted aggressive ($10/hr) incentives to increase their trades labor pools from 200 to 300 employees
Police - City of Santa Fe - 16% increase; City of Albuquerque - 13% increase
Fire - City of Albuquerque - $15K paramedic hiring bonus; City of Deming - 9% increase
Transit - NCRTD, Santa Fe Trails, Park-n-Ride, LA Public Schools, LANL Taxi - 7-11% increases
Staff have already started allowing for higher levels recruiting and retention incentives and more flexibility to customize depending upon specific division needs. In addition, Council approved a one-time lump sum inflation pay this past June.
Staff will be working over the next couple of months to explore, develop and implement options to improve the County’s competitive position. This will include examining a wide variety of financial and non-financial options.
Some of the alternatives that we may be exploring include:
Financial
Wages
Minimum wage levels - current level is $15 / hr for regular positions
Pay structure adjustments for inflation
Other pay structure adjustments
Continued adjustment of recruitment and retention policy
Benefits
PERA - possible employer pick-up of a portion of the required employee contributions
Increase stability pay and potential other changes
Higher employer contribution % to group health premiums (currently 80%)
Sick/Annual/Comp leave payouts; leave bank changes; and / or other leave alternatives
Wellness program changes
Non-financial
Work Schedules
Alternative schedules, greater flexibility, tele-work
On the job training
Workforce development
Professional development
Mentoring
Collective Bargaining
Management has had initial conversations with all four collective bargain groups to share our perspectives. Management has some thoughts about solutions (global and division specific), identified areas that are likely to require some negotiation, and conveyed interest in coming to an agreement on a specific short list of items in the CBAs that are mutually agreeable to negotiate. The goal would be to simplify and accelerate any negotiations so that solutions can be implemented as soon as possible. Initial meetings to discuss scope of potential negotiations are already scheduled for the next week.
Next Steps
1. Survey employees to assess which options they feel might be most effective - early Sept.
2. Meeting with collective bargaining groups to agree on scope of negotiations for possible collective bargaining agreement (CBA) amendments - early Sept.
3. Meet with Council in closed session to discuss collective bargaining - Sept. 6 or possibly an alternate new meeting date
4. Conduct limited, agreed upon scope, CBA negotiations - mid Sept, until completed, hopefully no later than Oct.
5. If any alternatives require Personnel rule changes, bring those to the personnel board for consideration - Sept / Oct
6. Update financial projections and develop funding alternatives for consideration - Sept / Oct
7. Return to Council to consider action on proposed alternative(s) - Sept / Oct. This will include an updated status of negotiations and most recent labor market conditions.
Note - the Department of Public Utilities will also be bringing their sub-set of items to the Board of Public Utilities for consideration and approval within similar time frames.
Staff is seeking any initial feedback from Councilors.
Fiscal and Staff Impact/Unplanned Item
The FY 2023 Budget has approximately $46 million in the salaries line item for the entire County, which includes about $25 million in the general fund. As financial changes are considered, each 1% change in salaries would cost ~ $460,000, plus any related benefits. When staff returns with suggested alternatives, we will also present updated financial projections and suggested funding options.