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The Clarkfield City Council discussed in earnest last Tuesday, during their regular meeting, city employee wage adjustments and policy changes.
The council agreed in principle to three employee policy changes presented by councilman Dave Biermaier at earlier meetings, yet did not take official action on either the policy changes or any possible wage adjustments; wanting to first field responses, on the possible changes, from city employees.
The city is considering three broad policy changes in regards to city employees, their insurance and overtime.
The first change affects ‘holiday pay’. If the new policy is accepted, hours worked on a holiday would still be paid at the time-and-a-half rate, but those hours will not be considered ‘worked hours’ in an employee’s work week. Currently, if an employee works a holiday, they are paid time-and-a-half for that day and those hours are counted against their work week; meaning, if an employee works over 40 hours that week—including the holiday—the overage is also paid as overtime.
The second policy change also serves to cut the amount of overtime the city pays. The change would guarantee that overtime with on-call days will be eliminated and replaced with a new work-week schedule that guarantees that if an employee works on a weekend, they will receive the following Friday off. In practice, this policy asserts that if an employee works a Sunday they would work the next four days—up to 40 hours—and receive that Friday off.
The final policy change would eliminate the city from paying employee health insurance and instead replace employee health insurance with a paid stipend that would reflect the cost of private pay insurance.
As for wages, the council did not seem to be considering across-the-board percentage increases as they have in the past, but instead are looking at individual employees and considering their current wages in relation to industry standards and performance.
Following discussion, City Administrator Scott Weske was tasked with alerting employees to the possible policy changes, synthesizing the possible policy changes and wage adjustments and presenting possible proposals to the council for a vote at their next regular meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 7.
Care Center Audit
Clarkfield Care Center Administrator, Paul Luitjens, presented to the council the Clarkfield Care Center’s annual audit for 2010-2011 prepared by the accounting firm Larson Allen of Minneapolis.
The audit showed that the Care Center’s net assets had increased in both 2010 and 2011. In 2010, net assets increased by $191,109, or 7.8 percent. In 2011, net assets increased by $142,466, or 5.4 percent.
The Care Center reported an operating income of $78,835 for 2011 and an operating income of $226,294 for 2010.
The audit report designates the Care Center as one of the more financially stable long-term elder care facilities within Larson Allen’s scope.
The Clarkfield City Council discussed in earnest last Tuesday, during their regular meeting, city employee wage adjustments and policy changes.
The council agreed in principle to three employee policy changes presented by councilman Dave Biermaier at earlier meetings, yet did not take official action on either the policy changes or any possible wage adjustments; wanting to first field responses, on the possible changes, from city employees.
The city is considering three broad policy changes in regards to city employees, their insurance and overtime.
The first change affects ‘holiday pay’. If the new policy is accepted, hours worked on a holiday would still be paid at the time-and-a-half rate, but those hours will not be considered ‘worked hours’ in an employee’s work week. Currently, if an employee works a holiday, they are paid time-and-a-half for that day and those hours are counted against their work week; meaning, if an employee works over 40 hours that week—including the holiday—the overage is also paid as overtime.
The second policy change also serves to cut the amount of overtime the city pays. The change would guarantee that overtime with on-call days will be eliminated and replaced with a new work-week schedule that guarantees that if an employee works on a weekend, they will receive the following Friday off. In practice, this policy asserts that if an employee works a Sunday they would work the next four days—up to 40 hours—and receive that Friday off.
The final policy change would eliminate the city from paying employee health insurance and instead replace employee health insurance with a paid stipend that would reflect the cost of private pay insurance.
As for wages, the council did not seem to be considering across-the-board percentage increases as they have in the past, but instead are looking at individual employees and considering their current wages in relation to industry standards and performance.
Following discussion, City Administrator Scott Weske was tasked with alerting employees to the possible policy changes, synthesizing the possible policy changes and wage adjustments and presenting possible proposals to the council for a vote at their next regular meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 7.
Care Center Audit
Clarkfield Care Center Administrator, Paul Luitjens, presented to the council the Clarkfield Care Center’s annual audit for 2010-2011 prepared by the accounting firm Larson Allen of Minneapolis.
The audit showed that the Care Center’s net assets had increased in both 2010 and 2011. In 2010, net assets increased by $191,109, or 7.8 percent. In 2011, net assets increased by $142,466, or 5.4 percent.
The Care Center reported an operating income of $78,835 for 2011 and an operating income of $226,294 for 2010.
The audit report designates the Care Center as one of the more financially stable long-term elder care facilities within Larson Allen’s scope.
