Title
Discussion and Approval of Inflation and COVID Pay
Recommended Action
I move that the Board of Public Utilities approve the proposal as presented and forward to Council for final approval.
Utilities Manager Recommendation
The Utilities Manager recommends approval of the motion as presented.
Body
Background
The County's current work environment and our employees' compensation are currently being negatively impacted by both inflation and the ongoing impacts associated with the COVID pandemic. During the past few months, inflation has more than doubled and now has surpassed 8%. As part of this, fuel prices have almost doubled. COVID is still with us and continues to impact our work. In order to partially recognize and address these current impacts, we are proposing a one-time lump-sum Inflation and COVID payment. Because these factors tend to have a larger impact on lower paid employees as well as employees that commute from out of the County, the proposal recommends two tiers of payments, with the higher dollar amount provided to the tier more greatly impacted. In addition, there would be a third tier for temp and casual employees.
County Council gave Staff tentative approval of this proposal for non-union staff and direction for management to discuss with the exclusive representatives all 4 of our collective bargaining units about this concept and asked to return on May 24th to seek final approval from County Council. For DPU, both the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Plumbers and Pipefitters Unions have agreed to this proposal.
Proposal
Eligibility: Employees (regular, limited-term, temporary , and casual) that are active as of May 29th and remain active, and working or on approved leave, from May 29th through June 25th. The payments below are subject to tax withholding.
Tier 1 - $2,000
Non-Exempt Employees, and Exempt Employees with base salaries under $80,000.
Tier 2 - $1,000
Exempt Employees with base ...
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