===PAGE 1=== Town of Lunenburg Personnel Committee Minutes: March 9, 2022 – Zoom Meeting Attendees: Joanna Bilotta, Susan Andrews, Eric Arnold, Wendy Bertrand, Donna Fortune Also Present: Julie Belliveau, Asst. Town Manager/HR Director, Nancy Forest, Payroll & Benefits/Risk Manager, Barbara Lefebvre, Sewer Business Manager, Casey Burlingame, Building Commissioner Meeting began at 5:45pm with all attendees present, E. Arnold Committee Chair presiding Public Comment: No comment from either committee or the public attendees. Approval of Minutes: Sue Andrews advised group that the notes on the review of Section 17 of the SAP at the last meeting were omitted in the Minutes of the March 2, 2022 meeting, and would be added to today’s minutes. Motion by J. Bilotta to accept and approve the minutes of the March 2, 2022 meeting as presented, with the understanding that the notes on Section 17 of the SAP by laws would be included in the minutes of the March 9, 2022 meeting. Second: E. Arnold Roll Call Vote: In Favor: Joanna Bilotta, Susan Andrews, Eric Arnold, Wendy Bertrand Donna Fortune abstained as she was not present at this meeting. Ongoing Business: SAP by Law Review Group continued to review and assess the recommendations for changes to the Salary Administration Plan by-law. On February 16, 2022 the committee reviewed Section 17 of the SAP by Laws on Paid Vacations. The need to request summer vacation by May 1 was reviewed to understand the need for such a set provision, mostly due to the year-end fiscal closing being busy, and perhaps some budget issues in planning. The group felt it was not always clear what employees vacation requirements might be by that date. Motion W. Bertrand to amend language in Paragraph B of Section 17 to eliminate the reference to requesting summer vacation by May 1 of each year. Second E. Arnold Roll Call Vote: All in Favor ===PAGE 2=== Motion E. Arnold to amend the language in Paragraph C of Section 17 to accept the recommendation by legal counsel, but adding the word accrual in reference to being paid for “accrued” unused vacation. Second J. Bilotta Roll Call Vote: All in Favor Motion E. Arnold to amend the language in Paragraph F of Section 17, accepting most of the recommendations by legal counsel, but amending the beginning sentence to read, No vacation time may be used in advance of July 1 date on which it would normally be credited. Second: S. Andrews Roll Call Vote: All in Favor J. Belliveau reported that she had received answers, previously submitted to Legal Counsel regarding several areas of Section 16. Most notably the explanations of what different types of work groups were, and outlining what were considered hours of work and how time off was calculated for these groups. These seemed redundant as the section clearly outlined this issue. Motion by E. Arnold to delete Items I, II, III including their subsets of A, and B. in Section 16 Hours of Work, as they were redundant. Second W. Bertrand Roll Call Vote: All in Favor The committee reviewed the open items in Section 11 New Personnel. Previously the towns Legal Counsel recommended that certain references to the Personnel Committee noted in paragraph A be removed as it was not clearly stating the actual process used in new hiring. As the committee does have a role in certain new hire processes. Motion by E. Arnold to amend the initial sentence in paragraph A of Section 11 New Personnel to state “The hiring rate shall be the minimum of the rate range of the job for which the new employee is hired, unless the Town Manager recommends that paying the employee at a higher step, is necessary due to the employees qualifications and experience or marketing concerns. The Personnel Committee must vote to approve any recommendations above step 1. The final sentence will remain as noted previously. Second: J. Bilotta Roll Call Vote: All in Favor The committee then reviewed the open item in Section 5 Reclassification of Employees. The open issue was that it was unclear when any reclassified employee would then be eligible for their next step increase. The group identified that reclassified employees generally had pay adjustments also take place at the time of reclassification. This lead to a clearer understanding of what needed to be amended in this section to insure clarity. ===PAGE 3=== Motion by E. Arnold to amend the last sentence in paragraph A of Section 5, Reclassification of Employees to add: “Eligibility for a step increase of a reclassified employee would be granted one year from the date of reclassification.” Second: S. Andrews Roll Call Vote: All in Favor The Committee then reviewed the open items in Section 12 Grievance Procedure. This section has been one of the most complex to fully examine, as there have been several areas of broad debate. All in an effort to insure all employees have avenues to pursue to remedy grievances. Motion by E. Arnold to amend the first and second sentence in paragraph B in Section 12 Grievance Procedure to “If the grievance is not resolved by the decision of the Department Head, the employee may escalate the grievance to the Assistant Town Manager/HR Director. If unsatisfied the employee may file an appeal in writing with the town Manager within 10 days of receipt of the most recent decision.” Second J. Bilotta Roll Call Vote: All in Favor The committee also noted that a previously discussed and approved Paragraph B in Section 19 Sick Leave had been dropped from the current amended version, so just needed to be added back in. The committee then reviewed Section 18 Paid Holidays. All previous changes had been incorporated and the group then assessed the section again to insure its clarity. With all the previous changes made, the group found that paragraph A was now redundant and wasn’t needed. Motion by E. Arnold to eliminate Paragraph A in Section 18 Paid Holidays, as it was redundant and fully explained elsewhere in the section. Second J. Bilotta Roll Call Vote: All in Favor Previously the group identified that in several sections, we used the term “compensation formula”. This was previously voted on to no longer use that term as it did not reflect an appropriate action. Paragraph A in Section 20 Personnel Leave in the amended version of the SAP bylaws continued to include that phrase. It was just administratively missed in this amended version. No vote needed. In the same vote the reference to 8 hours of personnel time noted in Paragraph B of Section 20 was also to be amended to days not hours. This also was just missed in the current amended version so no vote needed. J. Bilotta brought up that she had reviewed the Town Charter with regard to the Town’s discipline policy. She felt that the topic was lightly mentioned there, with no outline of processes or steps that would be followed. The Personnel Committee, upon the recommendation of the Town Counsel had previously voted to delete Section 27 Discipline Policy from the SAP by laws. The recommendation identified that this policy was covered in the Town Charter, so was not required ===PAGE 4=== in the SAP bylaws. If this was not adequately covered in the Town Charter, the group might want to reexamine. Town Warrant J. Belliveau outlined what the committee would need to include in the warrant for the next town meeting. 1) Final SAP By Law submission 2) Several new positions we have previously voted on to add to the SAP and 3) Proposed new Salary Grid for 2023, 2024 and 2025. Our deadline for submission of our warrant is March 31, 2022 Proposed Salary Grid Due to our limited remaining time for this meeting, J. Belliveau outlined the general direction we had previously discussed and clarified our continued intent of creating a salary grid with fewer levels, but perhaps not less steps. She will prepare a proposal that we would examine at our next meeting. Public Comment The committee members had no additional public comments. B. Lefebvre raised the issue that many department heads were at the top of their grade and step, so only received whatever the COLA adjustment was each year and we should examine that issue. Next Meeting: We would continue reviewing the salary grid recommendations and the final SAP by law document that covers approved changes. Monday, March 14, 2022 Zoom Meeting 5:00pm Motion by E. Arnold to adjourn meeting at 7:35pm Second: J. Bilotta Roll Call Vote: All in Favor