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Human Resources Board of Chilmark
August 3, 2017 APPROVED MINUTES
Present: Jennie Greene, Chair, Bruce Golden, Max McCreery. Chuck Hodgkinson, Employee Representative, Donald Leopold
Not present: Jim Malkin, Selectmen’s Representative (attended at 9AM), Steven Flanders
Public/ Board or Comm. Members:
Staff: Jennifer Christy, Admin. Asst., Ellen Biskis, Accountant, Diana DeBlase, Asst. to the BOS/Receptionist
Meeting called to order at 8:00AM
- HR Subcommittee Update re Classification & Compensation Study:
- Ms. Greene opened the meeting and introduced the topic.
- Mr. Hodgkinson summarized the required task of the Board regarding regular compensation studies and gave a short history of the three-year process to produce an updated classification and compensation study.
- Mr. Hodgkinson noted that he is issuing a new summary and charts due to the fact that there are areas that were incorrect on the documents sent in an earlier email to prepare for the meeting.
- Mr. Hodgkinson discussed the highlights of the two page summary, specifically noting the reasoning behind the proposed percentage change between grades, the absence of a way to evaluate professional positions accurately in the grading process and specific positions that may not have comparisons in other towns.
- Mr. Leopold inquired if the Board had determined a position where the Town wanted to come out on in relation to compensation as compared with the mean of other island towns. It was noted that a recommendation on this had not been made. It was also noted that the Board will need to determine their recommendation on this topic for the final draft.
- Mr. McCreery inquired why a mean number was identified rather than a median. It was noted that a mean number is a more useful number.
- Mr. Hodgkinson distributed the wage scale comparison charts. Brief discussion occurred.
- Mr. Hodgkinson distributed the Wage Scale Comparisons vs. Other Towns. Mr. Hodgkinson identified particular areas of interest in the chart highlighting specific positions that are currently underpaid and/or overpaid as compared with the mean of other Towns. Brief discussion occurred.
- Mr. Hodgkinson noted the seasonal positions and their comparable COLA increases as compared with year round positions.
- Mr. Leopold noted the “inversion” of the mean of Chilmark’s lowest step with Chilmark’s top step as compared with other Towns.
- Ms. Biskis noted that the charts and the summary are a draft and she would encourage the Board to use these numbers and comparisons as information to develop a full recommendation. She noted that the Board should continue to keep in mind that the Police Chief position was just filled and during that process the wage offered was based on a simple evaluation of island police chief salaries. She recommended that the Board keep this in mind when the final recommendation is made for all positions.
- Mr. Hodgkinson distributed the ‘New Wage Scale Impact-Current Employees’ chart. Brief discussion occurred. Particular positions that represent outliers were discussed.
- Ms. Biskis noted that another part of the process in this review is the Board’s process in grading positions. She noted that certain positions benefit from a grading process that awards points for Occupational Hazards, Manual Skills, Physical Environment and Physical Effort but other positions, that do not rate highly in these areas, do not benefit in a comparable way from evaluation in areas such as Education/Knowledge, Judgement & Initiative and Accountability.
- Mr. Hodgkinson noted that there does appear to be a bias in the evaluation/grading process that benefits positions that have occupational hazards, manual skills and physical effort, as defined in the Municipal Position Evaluation Manual.
- Ms. Biskis noted that she has developed an additional chart.
- Mr. Hodgkinson noted that the recommendation from the Board will need to be issued before the end of August in order for it to be ready for the Special Town Meeting in October.
- Ms. Biskis distributed a chart titled ‘FY18 Revised Wage Chart-FY18 -1%COLA’. She noted that the yellow highlight is an internal note regarding a position that does not get a regular pay schedule.
- Mr. Leopold asked if Ms. Biskis could produce a chart that would show the increase in year two.
- Ms. Biskis reiterated the need to review the results and then review each position to make sure the accuracy of the numbers in the chart reflect the Board’s views on the position compensation.
- Mr. Leopold inquired about the ‘charter’ of the subcommittee. It was stated that the subcommittee did not originally have as its task to reevaluate or regrade the various positions that need reevaluation. Discussion occurred.
- It was suggested the positions that need reevaluation (Exec. Sec., Town Acct., Town Clerk…) would possibly be ‘held out’ and then regraded in time for the FY19 budget process.
- Mr. Hodgkinson stated he would develop a report for presentation to the BOS that the Board may review.
- Minutes:
- May 4, 2017: These minutes were reviewed and approved as written.
- June 1, 2017: These minutes were not reviewed and will be reviewed at the next meeting of the Board.
Meeting adjourned at 9:09AM
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