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Home My WebLink About2011-01-11; City Council; 20426; TEMPORARY MILITARY LEAVE BENEFIT ENHANCEMENTCITY OF CARLSBAD - AGENDA BILL AB# MTG. DEPT. 20,426 1/11/11 HR TEMPORARY ENHANCEMENT OF MILITARY LEAVE BENEFITS FOR EMPLOYEES CALLED TO ACTIVE DUTY TO COMBAT TERRORISM AND STRENGTHEN HOMELAND DEFENSES DEPT. HEAD c CITY ATTY. CITY MGR. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Adopt Resolution No. 2011-003 which provides for additional temporary partially paid military leave of absence and continued health, retirement and leave accrual benefits for City employees called to active duty with the armed forces by the President of the United States to combat terrorism and strengthen homeland defenses. ITEM EXPLANATION: In response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the President of the United States began calling up military reservists and members of the National Guard for an anticipated war on terrorism and to increase homeland defenses. As a result, on February 11, 2003, the Carlsbad City Council adopted Resolution No. 2003-042 which provided a temporary mechanism to supplement employees' military pay to equal their regular City gross biweekly wage at the time of activation and a continuation of health, retirement and leave accrual benefits. This temporary benefit was set to expire on February 1, 2004 but was extended through March 1, 2005 via Resolution No. 2004-077. The City of Carlsbad currently complies with federal and state Military Leave Laws and Codes for employees serving in the military reserve or National Guard. Under California law, employees who are recalled to active duty and have been employed with a public agency for at least one year are entitled to receive their salary for the first 30 calendar days while engaged in the performance of military duty, and compliance with state and federal law is generally sufficient for short term recalls. However, when reservists are recalled for significant periods of time, some employees and their families may experience financial hardship. A number of public agencies, including the City of Carlsbad, have passed resolutions to provide an additional temporary partially paid military leave of absence and a continuation of benefits for employees recalled to active duty to assist in alleviating the economic hardship for their employees (See Exhibit 2 for a summary of military leave policies from other San Diego County cities). Since February 11, 2003, there have been three (3) City of Carlsbad employees called to active duty, and an additional city employee has been called to active duty within the last thirty days. Should the City Council desire to continue its practice of providing additional temporary partially paid military leave of absence and continued heath, retirement and leave accrual benefits, staff recommends reinstating the enhanced military leave benefits that were provided in 2003 through 2005. The attached resolution would reinstate these temporary benefits effective January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2015. DEPARTMENT CONTACT: Julie Clark 760-602-2440 julie.clark@carlsbadca.gov FOR CITY CLERKS USE ONLY. COUNCIL ACTION: APPROVED ., DENIED CONTINUED WITHDRAWN AMENDED % D D D CONTINUED TO DATE SPECIFIC CONTINUED TO DATE UNKNOWN RETURNED TO STAFF OTHER -SEE MINUTES D D D D Page 2 The partial military leave pay would be the difference between the amount the employee would have received from his or her regular city gross biweekly wage (not including overtime) and the amount the employee receives from the military, including all allowances (Leave and Earning Statement). Health insurance, retirement and leave accrual benefits would be continued for the employee and his or her family, with the employee continuing to pay his or her respective portion of the benefit programs (including any premiums for dependent coverage). The partial military pay benefit would be subject to federal, state and Medicare taxes and, if applicable, would be part of the employee's W-2 wages at the end of the year. These provisions would ensure that the benefits for city employees and their families would not be interrupted. FISCAL IMPACT: The fiscal impact of this action is difficult to determine at this time. It is estimated that three or fewer employees of the City of Carlsbad may be called to active duty in the next year. Should this occur, the decision would be made to either leave the position(s) vacant or backfill the position(s) with other staff until the employee's return. Should the decision be made to backfill the position(s), existing funds in the affected department's block budget would be used to cover this additional expense. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: This amendment is statutorily exempt from CEQA pursuant to Public Resources Code Section 21080(b)(1). EXHIBITS: 1. Resolution No. 2011-003 2. Military Leave Policies - San Diego County cities 1 RESOLUTION NO. 2011-003 2 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, EXTENDING THE TEMPORARY 3 ENHANCEMENT OF MILITARY LEAVE BENEFITS FOR EMPLOYEES CALLED TO ACTIVE DUTY TO COMBAT 4 TERRORISM AND STRENGTHEN HOMELAND DEFENSES WHEREAS, the President of the United States has ordered military reservists 6 and members of the National Guard to active duty to combat terrorism and strengthen 7 homeland defenses; and WHEREAS, the City Council desires to continue to support employees called to active military duty by ensuring their pay and benefits will be continued equal to their regular City pay and benefits during their time of activation. 10 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council for the City of Carlsbad, California, as follows: 12 1. That the above recitations are true and correct. 13 2. That temporary partial military leave pay equal to the difference between the amount of the employee's regular pay, excluding overtime, and the employee's military pay will be provided by the City effective January 1, 2011. 3. That health insurance, retirement and leave accrual benefits will continue for the employee and family, with the employee continuing to pay for his/her respective 17 portion of the benefit programs during his/her military leave of absence. 18 4. That this temporary partially paid military leave benefit is in addition to the City's standard military leave policy to cover the period during which an employee is called and serves on active duty for this specific operation and will remain in effect until 20 December 31, 2015. 21 /// 22 /// 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED at a Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Carlsbad on the 11 th day of January, 2011, by the following vote to wit: AYES: Council Members Hall, Kulchin, Blackburn, Douglas, Packard. NOES: None. ABSENT: None. MATT MALL, Mayor ATTEST: . WOOD, City Clerk EXHIBIT 2 MILITARY LEAVE POLICY CITY Chula Vista Corona do El Cajon Encinitas Escondido Imperial Beach La Mesa Lemon Grove National City Oceanside Poway San Marcos POLICY -30 calendar days full salary per one fiscal year -if it exceeds 30 days, it becomes Normal Military Leave, after which the employee is entitled to the amount equal to the employee's normal biweekly gross pay offset by the amount of gross military pay for such duty -30 calendar days full salary per one fiscal year -if leave exceeds 30 days, council approves/extends pay difference between the employee's City salary and his/her military pay -full pay for 30 calendar days, provided leave doesn't exceed 180 days -30 calendar days full pay per one fiscal year -full pay for 30 calendar days, provided leave doesn't exceed 180 days -employees called to active duty military leave shall receive the difference between the amount the employee would have received from their regular gross biweekly City wage and the amount the employee receives from the military for up to 12 months -30 calendar days full pay per one fiscal year -full pay for 30 calendar days, provided leave doesn't exceed 180 days -employees called to active military duty will have their military pay supplemented by the City not to exceed their regular City pay for up to a year from the time they are called to active duty -full pay for 30 calendar days, provided leave doesn't exceed 180 days -full pay for first 30 days -after 30 days, council approves pay matching for first 6 months No response -30 calendar days full salary within one fiscal year -full pay for 30 calendar days, provided leave doesn't exceed 180 days •J\