Minutes 04/30/1991 - Laserfiche WebLink

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April 30, 1991 A Quality Management Program has been initiated in response to the City's Strategic and Tactical Objectives. This is a continuous improvement program which will involve all City employees in the search for ways to eliminate wast~ in government operations and improve delivery of services to-our "customers" ~- the citizens. Workers ' Compensation In an effort to improve our control of Workers' I~ha~e' st,{ted to Compensation costa, ............. i~m~'nt some of the recommendations from a recently-concluded Workers' Compensation Study Committee. This program will involve, among other initiatives, a continuous contact and support relationship with our injured employees to facilitate their early return to work, and establishment of a contractual relationship with area health care providers to guarantee continued good services at competitive prices. Employee Benefits Like other jurisdictions in Hampton Roads, the financial situation of the City does not permit my recommendation of a General Wage Increase for City employees in this budget year, yet I believe we must recognize the strong contributions made by our employees when asked to assume new duties and heavier work loads because of consolidations and position eliminations. Therefore, in an effort to keep employees from experiencing a reduction in their pay checks, I am recommending that the City bear the cost increase of health insurance premiums for this budget year. I also recommend continuation of the anniversary date increases for those employees who are eligible, and partial implem~qt~a~io~f ~.?~nual~a!~ ~vey. For over a decade, the practice has been that City ~mployees have been allowed off for 1/2 day on Christmas Eve. Even though this practice has been ongoing, Christmas Eve is not a designated holiday in the City Code. In recognition of ~he history of this practice, my recommendation is for the City Code to be changed to formalize this holiday leave. In recognition of the hard work and dedication of the Portsmouth City employees, I also recommend that a new holiday be authorized, the: Friday following Thanksgiving. This addition brings the number of holidays that Portsmouth observes to 10 1/2 days. · Retirement Issues The well-being Of Portsmou~th's retirees has been, and continues to be, a major concern of my administration. I am pleased to recommend that the City match the Virginia Retirement System's 4.2% retirement pension increase again this year for our Portsmouth Supplemental and Fire and Police retirees. The Virgi~ia~Re~irem~nt~Sys~em (VRS) annually establishes a cost of i~in~ incr~a~e~or its participants based on a formula. Participants in the Portsmouth Supplemental and Fire and Police Systems have their rates established by ~ou. iWhile there is no requirement for the percentage increase for the participants, I recommend the same percentage increase as the participants in the YRS.