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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Minutes - 1998-04-14 SCOUNCIL\1998-04-14-SPE APRIL 14, 1998 SPECIAL COUNCIL MINUTES CITY OF KITCHENER A special meeting of City Council was held at 4:15 p.m. this date and Chaired by Mayor C. Zehr with the following members present: Councillors John Smola, Jake Smola, T. Galloway, C. Weylie, J. Haalboom and M. Yantzi. Notice of this special meeting had previously been given to all members of Council by the City Clerk pursuant to Chapter 25 (Council Procedure) of the Municipal Code. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the terms of reference for the review of the City's Job Evaluation System with Scott MacCrimmon (MacCrimmon & Associates, Ottawa), who will be undertaking the review. Moved by Councillor T. Galloway Seconded by Councillor J. Haalboom "That an in-camera meeting of City Council be held following recess of this special Council meeting to consider a labour relations matter." Carried. The meeting then recessed at 4:16 p.m. to allow for an in-camera meeting of Council and reconvened at 4:50 p.m., Chaired by Mayor C. Zehr and with the following members present: Councillors John Smola, Jake Smola, B. Vrbanovic, T. Galloway, C. Weylie, K. Taylor-Harrison, J. Ziegler and M. Yantzi. Councillor B. Vrbanovic disclosed a pecuniary interest and abstained from all voting and discussion concerning the review of the City's Job Evaluation System as his wife is employed in the Information Services Division. Mr. Scott MacCrimmon was in attendance on behalf of MacCrimmon & Associates to present an outline of objectives and deliverables with respect to review of the City's current Job Evaluation System. A copy of the presentation, dated April 14, 1998 and entitled "A Review and Assessment of Job Evaluation and Pay Programs", was also circulated. Mr. MacCrimmon then reviewed the deliverables for the project comprising: recommendations to improve existing pay programs, specifically the Job Evaluation System and Salary Administration Policies and Procedures; analysis and report on how Kitchener compares to other similar sized employers in the areas of pay system and processes, and salaries; the feasibility of performance-based pay for non-union jobs; and, for all recommendations, an implementation plan and resource estimates. Mr. MacCrimmon then outlined the study steps and estimated timing, noting that it would take a minimum of 3 months to complete the project depending upon several variables. Mayor C. Zehr advised that a sub-committee of Council members had reviewed the list of deliverables in Mr. MacCrimmon's earlier written submission, dated November 25, 1997, and are recommending several changes including deletion of Item No.4 concerning a report on pay practices so that the study would only deal with pay policy at this time and not the actual rates of pay. He also noted that the sub-committee is recommending a change in the wording under Item No.5 so as to request the Consultant to comment only on the advisability of introducing a performance-based pay system for management/non-union employees. Mr. James Wellheuser appeared on behalf of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 791, and expressed concern over the process followed in selecting the Consultant. He noted that though the Union does not have a problem with MacCrimmon & Associates performing the study, 7 of the 9 Selection Committee members voted for KMPG and it appeared that this recommendation was reversed on the basis that the 2 dissenting votes were cast by Council representatives. He suggested that the Steering Committee was not given an opportunity to relate all of the reasons for the KMPG recommendation to Council prior to its making a final decision. Mr. Wellheuser indicated that he would forward the information received this date to CUPE Local 791 President Joe Sutherland for comment as he was unable to attend this date due to a prior meeting commitment. Mayor C. Zehr reminded the delegation that it is Council's perogative to accept or reject Selection Committee recommendations. He then outlined the proposed composition of the Review Steering Committee. SPECIAL COUNCIL M~NUTES APRIL 14, 1998 - 188- CITY OF KITCI:IENER Moved by Councillor J. Ziegler Seconded by Councillor K. Taylor-Harrison "That, in regard to the review and assessment of the City's Job Evaluation and Pay Programs by MacCrimmon & Associates, the 9 member Steering Committee be comprised of 5 members of Council, 1 member each from the non-union, management and CUPE Local 791 employee groups, and the Chief Administrative Officer, with Ms. Brenda Baker acting as a resource person; and further, That the following changes be made to the 'Objectives of the Assignment and Deliverables' section of the written submission of MacCrimmon & Associates, dated November 25, 1997: · Subsection 4 relating to a report on pay practices (pay policy line) be deleted in its entirety; · Subsection 5 be deleted and replaced with the following wording: "Based on experience and other municipal/corporate settings, comment only on the advisability of introducing a performance-based pay system for Management/Non-Union employees. A further detailed feasibility study may be required at a future date."; · Subsection 6 be changed to reflect the above change/deletion." Councillor T. Galloway referred to a past occurrence involving a Departmental re-organization where concerns were raised by Council that, despite the reduction of 1 senior staff position, the amount of the salary budget for the Department increased following re-organization, and that this led to Council's decision to re-visit the pay policy. He suggested that now that the term "pay policy line" is fully understood it is appropriate to remove this from the terms of reference. The motion by Councillor J. Ziegler, seconded by Councillor K. Taylor-Harrison, dealing with changes to the terms of reference for the Job Evaluation System review was then voted on and Carried. Councillor J. Ziegler questioned how the detailed issues previously raised by members of Council concerning the current Job Evaluation System would be addressed, and Mayor Zehr suggested that this should be done through the Consultant's interviews with individual Council members. Councillor Ziegler suggested that any such items should be outlined in resolution form as direction to the Consultant following the interviews referred to. Mayor C. Zehr questioned the impact on the study of the changes made this date, and Mr. S. MacCrimmon replied that the extent of the survey would be less involved and time consuming, though all of the steps would remain. He stated that Step 5 in his presentation of this date would now read "define pay policies and practices surveyed", rather than "design pay and pay policies survey". Step 8 would also exclude reference to pay trend lines. Mayor Zehr suggested that it would be appropriate for Mr. MacCrimmon to share with Council the issues raised by individual members during the interviews and suggested the addition of an interim discussion between the Consultant and Council prior to preparation of the draft report outlined in Step 9. In response to a further question from Mayor Zehr, Mr. L. Gordon advised that staff can fine tune the contractual arrangements with the Consultant based on the list of changes made by Council this date. Mayor C. Zehr then asked for volunteers to act as the Council representatives on the Steering Committee, but only 4 names were received to fill the 5 vacancies. Moved by Councillor K. Taylor-Harrison Seconded by Councillor J. Ziegler "That Mayor C. Zehr, Councillors T. Galloway, K. Taylor-Harrison and J. Ziegler, comprise the Council representatives on the Steering Committee for the Job Evaluation System review, with one additional member to be named at a later date." Carried. Moved by Councillor C. Weylie APRIL 14, 1998 SPECIAL COUNCIL 1VHNUTES - 189- CITY OF KITCHENER Seconded by Councillor T. Galloway "That the Mayor and Clerk be authorized to sign any necessary agreements in regard to the hiring of MacCrimmon & Associates, Ottawa to undertake a review of the City's current Job Evaluation System, with any advice in regard to the form of the agreement to be provided by the City Solicitor." Carried. Councillor B. Vrbanovic previously disclosed a pecuniary interest and abstained from all voting and discussion concerning the review of the City's Job Evaluation System as his wife is employed in the Information Services Division. On motion the meeting adjourned at 5:20 p.m. MAYOR CLERK