Stratford, Prince Edward Island
· adopted 2000-12-13
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| Town of Stratford - Council Policy | Town of Stratford - Council Policy | Town of Stratford - Council Policy | Town of Stratford - Council Policy |
|--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Name: | Personnel Policy (Tab 24) | Policy Number: 2000-HR-01 | |
| Committee: | Human Resources | Approval Date: | December 13, 2000 (amended on February 9, 2005; January 9, 2008; and November 12, 2014) |
## 1) Introduction
The Town of Stratford has an obligation as an employer to establish clear policies on the terms and conditions of employment for its' staff. Except where otherwise stated by contract with an individual employee, a group of employees, or by federal or provincial laws, this policy shall apply to all permanent (full time and part time) staff of the Town of Stratford.
## 2) Working Conditions
## a) Work Hours
Employee work weeks shall be as follows:
- Inside workers
- Outside Workers
- 7.5 hours per day, five days per week
- 8.0 hours per day, five days per week
The work week will normally be from Monday to Friday and the hours of work will be set by Council for all employees including staggered hours, where deemed necessary, to allow longer opening hours.
"If deemed necessary by the Chief Administrative Officer or designate, employees may be scheduled to work outside the normal hours of work set by Council, including evenings and weekends, as part of the regular work week."
Summer hours will be scheduled during the month of June to September inclusive to allow staff to leave earlier during the summer.
## b) Rest Breaks and Lunch Breaks
Each employee is allowed one hour for lunch, except for summer hours which will be one-half hour, and morning and afternoon rest breaks (coffee break) of 15 minutes each.
Lunch and rest breaks shall be scheduled by the Chief Administrative Officer or designate.
## 3) Employee Benefits
## a) Health, Life and Disability Insurance
Employees are required to participate in the disability insurance part of the Town's group health, life and disability insurance plan. Employees shall pay the full cost of the disability part of the plan. Employees are eligible to participate in the health and life insurance part of the Town's group health, life and disability insurance plan. The Town will pay 50% of the cost of the health and life insurance part of the plan. New employees are eligible to participate in the Town's group health, life and disability insurance plan after a three (3) month waiting period. The Town will review the plan and the plan provider and solicit input from employees on their satisfaction level with the plan at least once during every term of Council.
## b) Retirement Benefit
The Town will contribute up to 6% of an employee's base salary before taxes on a matching basis towards a Registered Retirement Savings Plan of the employee's choice.
## 4) Employee Leave
All leave, except for paid holidays, shall be requested and approved by the Chief Administrative Officer and/or designate on a leave application form.
## a) Paid Holidays
Employees are entitled to leave with pay for the following days:
| New Years Day | Family Day | Good Friday |
|---------------------|---------------|------------------|
| Easter Monday | Victoria Day | Canada Day |
| Gold Cup Parade Day | Labour Day | Thanksgiving Day |
| Remembrance Day | Christmas Day | Boxing Day |
| Family Day | | |
In addition, the office will be closed at 12:00 noon on Christmas Eve when it falls on a weekday. When any holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the holiday will be the following Monday.
## Personnel Policy
## b) Vacation Leave
Employees are entitled to annual vacation leave with pay as follows, based on the length of continuous service from the month in which the employee was hired:
| first and second year | one day per month (12 days/year) |
|-----------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|
| third to tenth year | one and one-quarter days per month (15 days/year) |
| eleventh to nineteenth year | one and two-thirds days per month (20 days/year) |
| twentieth year onwards | two and one-twelfth days per month (25 days/year) |
Vacation leave for individual employees must be scheduled and approved in advance by the Chief Administrative Officer and/or designate. Permanent seasonal employees will be paid vacation leave as a percentage of their pay calculated based on the above leave schedule. Vacation leave may be taken the month after it is earned and must be taken within twelve months of the time it is earned. In exceptional circumstances, the Chief Administrative Officer may allow vacation leave to be extended beyond twelve months. Employees may take other leave during vacation leave for sickness or bereavement where approved by the Chief Administrative Officer.
## c) Leave of Absence
A leave of absence, with or without pay, must be approved by Council.
## d) Bereavement Leave
Employees are entitled to up to four days leave with pay when a member of the employee's immediate family dies and up to seven days leave with pay if the employee must travel out of province. The actual amount of leave must be approved by the Chief Administrative Officer. Immediate family includes parent, brother, sister, partner, child, grandparents, mother-in-law, father-in-law, or any second-degree relative living in the same household.
Employees are entitled to one days leave with pay when any other member of the employee's family dies. Employees are also entitled to one-half (½) days leave with pay to attend a funeral as a pallbearer.
## e) Parental Leave
Employees are entitled to maternity and paternity leave without pay up to the maximum number of weeks specified in the Federal Employment Insurance Legislation. Parents returning from parental leave shall give the Chief Administrative Officer at least 10
## Personnel Policy
working days notice of the date they intend to return. For the birth or adoption of a child, one day sick leave will be granted under this clause.
## f) Educational Leave
One days leave with pay may be granted by the Chief Administrative Officer to allow employees to write examinations to improve their qualifications in the service of the Town.
## g) Sick Leave
Employees earn sick leave credits at the rate of one and one-quarter (1 1/4) days for each calendar month for which he or she works for at least ten (10) days. An employee shall be granted sick leave with pay up to the amount of sick leave credits earned when he or she is unable to perform his or her duties because of illness or injury. Leave must be approved by the Chief Administrative Officer and/or designate who must be satisfied that the employee is or was unable to perform his or her duties because of the illness or injury. A doctor's certificate may be required when the sick leave request exceeds three (3) consecutive workdays. Medical appointments do not qualify as sick leave.
For any period of illness or injury, an employee may use up to a maximum of seventyfive (75) sick leave days where credits are earned. If the employee's illness or injury continues beyond the 75 days, the employee must transfer to a government benefit program or the Town's long term disability benefit, if eligible. Council may approve an extension of the 75 days if sick leave credits are available and if the employee is not yet eligible for a government benefit program or the Town's long-term disability benefit
Sick leave credits may be accumulated to a maximum of two hundred (200) days. Employees who reach age 60 may take a lump sum payment of one-half (½) of their accumulated sick leave credits up to a maximum of seventy-five (75) days payment. At the discretion of the employee, the sick leave credit retirement payout may be held over to the following taxation year where allowed by taxation legislation.
In addition to the sick leave credits earned above, employees may take up to five (5) additional days sick leave in any given year to care for a sick child, spouse or parent and expectant mothers may take up to five (5) additional days sick leave for sickness associated with the pregnancy.
## 5) Employee Compensation
## a) Job Classification and Pay Plan
## Town of Stratford
## Personnel Policy
The Town has adopted a job classification and pay plan whereby each position is evaluated on the basis of skill, responsibility and working conditions and salaries are set with consideration given to internal equity, external equity, individual equity and consistent application of compensation throughout the organization.
The job classification and pay plan shall be reviewed annually by the Human Resources Committee and Council during the budget process and adjusted where necessary to allow for cost-of-living adjustments and/or internal, external or individual equity adjustments. Employee salaries are based on a salary range with steps minus 2 to plus 5. Employees who have the required job qualifications will normally start at step 0. Employees who achieve fully satisfactory performance in a year will be moved to the next step until step 5 is reached. Salaries shall be paid to employees bi-weekly in arrears.
## b) Overtime
Employees are required from time to time to work hours outside of the regular work week.
- i) Lieu Time
Employees who have to work outside of their scheduled work week to attend meetings; to travel to meetings, conferences or training; or to complete work on their own initiative are entitled to one hour of time-off-in-lieu for each hour worked outside of normal working hours.
Time-off-in-lieu must be scheduled in consultation with the employee's supervisor and must be used within one year of when it is earned, or it shall be forfeited. When an employee leaves the service of the Town, any accumulated Lieu Time will not be paid out.
## ii) Paid Overtime
Employees who have to work outside of their scheduled work week to attend call outs or as directed by their supervisor to work on projects, events, equipment or property maintenance, or other organizational requirement are entitled to one and one half hours pay for each hour worked outside of normal working hours.
Employees may, with the approval of their supervisor, bank paid overtime to be used later at the rate of one and one half hours for each hour worked outside of normal working hours.
## Personnel Policy
When paid overtime is worked during a stat holiday, the employee will also be paid the regular pay for that day.
When an employee has to leave home and report to work for paid overtime, the employee will be paid for a minimum of two hours pay at 1.5 times their hourly rate for that call out and each subsequent call out after two hours have passed since the previous call out.
When an employee leaves the service of the Town, any accumulated Paid Overtime will be paid out.
## il1) On Call Pay
Employees who are required to be available for calls shall be paid two and one half extras hours of paid overtime (2.5 x 1.5 hourly rate) for each week they are on call.
## 6) Workplan and Performance Reviews
At the beginning of each year, all employees will prepare a workplan in consultation with his or her supervisor. Employees will be evaluated at mid year to see how they are proceeding with the workplan and again at year end to determine if their performance through the year has been satisfactory. The process and forms for the workplan and performance reviews will be reviewed and approved from time to time by the Human Resource Committee. The Chief Administrative Officer shall be evaluated by the Mayor and the Chair of the Human Resources Committee.
## 7) Employee Training
The Town and the employees will work together to identify training that is required by employees from time to time to increase job knowledge and skills, enhance workplace safety etc. Employees shall take the training identified and the Town will pay the full cost of such training. Where an employee takes courses in addition to the training identified with the Town, the Chief Administrative Officer may approve a reimbursement of up to 50% of the cost of the course if it is relevant to the employee's position and if the employee demonstrates that he or she has passed the course.
## 8) Employee Hiring
New employees shall be hired on the basis of merit. All new employees are required to serve a six month probationary period and may be terminated without cause during that period if they are not considered suitable for the position. The Chief Administrative Officer may
## Personnel Policy
extend the probationary period for an additional period not to exceed one year total if necessary, to determine an employee's suitability for the position.
## 9) Clothing Allowance
## a) Protective Clothing
Where required by law or by the Chief Administrative Officer or designate for safety, staff will wear approved shirts, pants, jackets, hard hats, gloves, goggles, safety boots and other mandatory safety equipment. The Town will purchase this apparel.
- b) Promotional Clothing
Where staff would like to wear clothing adorned with the Town logo where it is not required for safety reasons above, the Town will contribute 50% of the cost of the promotional clothing. The Town will purchase blazers adorned with the Town logo for senior staff who represent the Town at official functions.
## 10) Town Vehicles
Town vehicles shall be assigned to employees by the Chief Administrative Officer or designate where required to carry out the business of the Town. Employees driving Town vehicles must agree that the employer may access current driving records where required for the purposes of insurance or verification of a valid driver's license.
Employees can not use Town vehicles for personal use or take vehicles home at the end of a workday unless prior authorization is obtained from the Chief Administrative Officer. Automobile accidents involving Town vehicles shall be reported to the supervisor immediately, who shall notify the Chief Administrative Officer, who shall notify the Town's insurance agent.
Employees are expected and required to abide by traffic laws and regulations. Traffic violations and associated fines or penalties are the sole responsibility of the employee operating the vehicle at the time of the infraction.
Logbooks and maintenance records must be kept by employees authorized to use Town vehicles.
## 11) Effective Date
Policy. This policy is effective on January 1, 2001 and replaces existing Policy # 1 - Personnel
## Town of Stratford