REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Adopt a Resolution Amending the City's Salary Resolution and the Schedule of Pay to (1) update pay rates for Casual Employee Classifications to Reflect the January 1, 2019 Sunnyvale Minimum Wage, and for the City Council Stipend Amount; (2) Implement Formatting Changes to the Schedule of Pay; (3) Remove Classifications No Longer Used; and (4) Include Step 2 and Step 3 for the Casual NOVA Youth Worker Classification
Report
BACKGROUND
This Report presents for Council consideration a resolution amending the salary table of the City’s Salary Resolution in accordance with Section 3.80.040 of the Sunnyvale Municipal Code to:
• incorporate the minimum wage of $15.65 effective January 1, 2019 for applicable classifications;
• revise the City Council Stipend amount for 2019 in accordance with City Charter section 603,
• approve various formatting changes to improve readability and remove classifications that are no longer in use; and
• include two additional salary steps for the Casual NOVA Youth Worker Classification.
EXISTING POLICY
Council Policy 7.3.1 Legislative Management - Goals and Policies - Goal 7.3D: Maintain a quality workforce, consistent with state and federal laws, City Charter, and adopted policies in order to assure that City services are provided in an effective, efficient, and high quality manner.
Council Policy 7.3.1 Legislative Management - Goals and Policies - Policy 7.3D.1: Maintain a recruitment and selection process that ensures a highly competent workforce.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The action being considered does not constitute a “project” with the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378(b)(4) in that is a fiscal activity that does not involve any commitment to any specific project which may result in a potential significant impact on the environment, and section 15378(b)(5) in that it is a governmental organizational or administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect changes in the environment .
DISCUSSION
In accordance with the CalPERS requirement for a publicly available pay schedule (2 CCR Section 570.5), Staff is presenting the salary schedule with changes to be effective January 1, 2019. These changes include updating salaries of casual employees to comply with an increase to the Sunnyvale minimum wage and an increase to the City Council Stipend. Since the salary table is being reviewed, Staff is also recommending various formatting changes to increase the functionality of the table, removing certain classifications that are no longer in use, and adding a Step 2 and Step 3 for the Casual NOVA Youth Worker classification.
Minimum Wage
On April 12, 2016, the City Council adopted an ordinance amending Section 3.80.040 of the Sunnyvale Municipal Code to increase the City’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2018, and thereafter by a formula based on the CPI-U (RTC No. 16-0151). The 2019 calculated City minimum wage is $15.65.
To implement this increase for certain employee classifications in the City that currently have wage rates set below the 2019 minimum, the salary table of the City’s Salary Resolution must be updated.
Casual employee classifications have one to six steps. With the adjustments of casual employees’ hourly rates in alignment with the increase of the City of Sunnyvale minimum wage, the steps below the minimum wage will be eliminated and steps exceeding the minimum wage will not be increased. For example, the Casual Service Maintenance 1 position top step will be eclipsed by the minimum wage increase to $15.65 per hour in 2019. Consequently, the Casual Service Maintenance series will be restructured with the elimination of Casual Service Maintenance 1 effective January 1, 2019.
City Council Stipend
City Charter Section 603 provides for a cost of living adjustment annually on January 1, that shall increase the compensation of the City Council and Mayor by a percentage equal to the percentage increase in the preceding October’s 12-month rolling average of the Consumer Price Index-Urban (CPI), or successor index, for San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, as determined by the US Department of Labor. In no event shall the CPI-U compensation adjustment exceed 5%.
The percentage increase in the preceding October’s rolling 12-month average of the CPI-U San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward was 3.72%. Accordingly, the annual stipend rate for Councilmembers will increase from $29,580.12 to $30,680.52 and the annual stipend rate for the Mayor will increase from $39,440.40 to $40,907.64.
Formatting Changes
To improve the readability of the salary table, the following changes are recommended:
Regular classification table:
• Use landscape orientation.
• Add annual equivalent for hourly classifications.
• Use initial capitalization, rather than all caps for the classifications.
• Change suffixes from I/II/III to 1/2/3.
• Remove the column that indicates bargaining unit (the information is included in the Notes at the end of the table).
• Spell out abbreviations.
• Re-order Part-Time classification titles, so that the ‘Part-time’ is at the end of the title. Full time and part time classifications will sort alphabetically together.
Casual classification table:
• Use landscape orientation.
• Use initial capitalization, rather than all caps for the classifications.
• Change suffixes from I/II/III to 1/2/3.
• Spell out abbreviations.
• Remove duplicated classifications for casual v. seasonal. Casual and Seasonal will be denoted by the Job Code column being split (two columns).
• Sort by ‘Unit’ to group Project- and Recreation-specific classifications together.
Classifications for Removal
Several classifications are recommended to be removed from the Schedule of Pay to improve transparency. Many of these classifications were replaced over the years with general equivalents, such as the ‘Finance Manager: Accounting’ classification with the ‘Finance Manager’ classification, or the work previously done by the classification has been transitioned to another classification. The following classifications are not in use and are not anticipated to be used in the foreseeable future.
• Accountant-Confidential
• Administrative Aide/Grant Compliance Coordinator
• Assistant to the Director of Parks and Recreation
• Finance Manager: Accounting
• Hazardous Materials Coordinator
• Manager, Applications Development
• Manager, Bureau of Technical Services-Public Safety
• Operations Manager: Facilities
• Public Safety Records Coordinator
• Quality Assurance Officer
• Senior Human Resources Analyst
• Senior Management Analyst: Human Resources
• Senior Programmer Analyst-Confidential
• Superintendent of Trees and Landscape
• Water Meter Repair Worker
Casual NOVA Youth Workers
Staff is recommending that the Summer Casual NOVA Youth Worker classification include a Step 2 and Step 3. Previously, this Casual classification only had Step 1. The two additional steps will allow NOVA to pay above minimum wage for enrollees in the summer jobs program who have completed high school and/or are enrolled in community college.
FISCAL IMPACT
The increase in the City Council Stipend is approximately $8,100, and was accounted for in the FY 18/19 Recommended Budget. Forty-three current Casual employees will receive an increase from their current rate of pay due to the minimum wage change. Casual classifications are temporary and short-term by definition, and the number of hours that are worked can vary, therefore impact in the future will depend on the number of employees and hours worked. Departments that employ Temporary/Casual workers will absorb the cost increases due to this change within their existing budgets. It is not anticipated that this change will have any material impact on the City's financial position going forward.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made by posting the Council agenda on the City's official-notice bulletin board outside City Hall, at the Sunnyvale Senior Center, Community Center and Department of Public Safety; and by making the agenda and report available at the Sunnyvale Public Library, the Office of the City Clerk and on the City's website.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Adopt a Resolution Amending the City's Salary Resolution and the Schedule of Pay to (1) update pay rates for Casual Employee Classifications to Reflect the January 1, 2019 Sunnyvale Minimum Wage, and for the City Council Stipend Amount; (2) Implement Formatting Changes to the Schedule of Pay; (3) Remove Classifications No Longer Used; and (4) Include Step 2 and Step 3 for the Casual NOVA Youth Worker Classification
Staff
Prepared by: Michelle Ahlberg, Human Resources Manager
Reviewed by: Tina Murphy, Director, Human Resources
Reviewed by: Teri Silva, Assistant City Manager
Approved by: Kent Steffens, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
1. Resolution
2. Draft Salary Table