To address widespread challenges recruiting and retaining city employees, the City and Borough of Juneau recently introduced a package of potential programs that aim to both attract more workers and retain them within the municipality for a longer period.<\/p>\n
The package of proposals was introduced at the Wednesday evening Assembly Finance Committee meeting, and according to City Manager Rorie Watt, it’s a multifaceted approach to the widespread recruitment and retention issues the city is facing.<\/p>\n
[Police union urges city action amid dwindling number of officers]<\/a><\/ins><\/p>\n “We’re in a period where the state is doing less and at the municipal level we’re trying to figure out how to fill those gaps and do more,” Watt said. “We’re losing, we don’t have workers — it’s a real, real problem.”<\/p>\n The city considers implementing a bigger sign-on bonus<\/strong><\/p>\n Information on a sign-on bonus was presented, and If OK’d, it would allow the city to offer up to a $40,000 sign-on bonus in exchange for a four-year commitment to CBJ.<\/p>\n The city already has a bonus program in place that offers up to a $10,000 bonus available to all prospective city employees along with a $25,000 sign-on bonus for paramedics hired with the Capital City Fire\/Rescue for a five-year commitment. However, given the major gaps in vacant city positions, Watt said a more robust and flexible system is a growing necessity for the city and something he thinks will only become more intense if nothing is changed.<\/p>\n “I really think that now is the time to do something, I do not think this issue will improve over time,” Watt said. “At the end of the day, we don’t have any new candidates and we need to find a way to move that needle.”<\/p>\n The city anticipates the cost to implement the program and provide bonuses would be paid by lapsing personnel funds accrued due to current vacancies, according to a memo outlining the proposal. <\/a><\/p>\n Along with the four-year commitment bonus, the city is also considering a possible lesser bonus for employees in exchange for a two-year commitment. If an employee leaves their position before their time commitment, the city is considering a pay-back policy or looking at awarding the bonus once the commitment time is complete, though proposal details are still preliminary and up for change.<\/p>\n Assembly member Waahlaal Giidaak Barbara Blake expressed concern about the potential impact the program could have on already existing employees, and asked if there was a way to implement a retroactive system to address employees who committed to the city prior to this proposal being introduced.<\/p>\n Dallas Hargrave, CBJ Human Resources & Risk Management director, said though the idea of a retroactive program was considered by the city, he said it was decided against it in favor of a more “multifaceted approach” via the other benefits offered in the package.<\/p>\n “One thing we talked about in the leadership workgroup was retention bonuses, but in the end, some of the other things included, like retirement benefits, child care, are probably better things to be doing for funds to appeal to our current employees,” he said.<\/p>\n Assembly member Michelle Bonnet Hale said she commends the proposal and its creativity to address the retention issues she said are largely a problem due to the state’s 2006 legislation that made Alaska the second state to switch from its defined benefit plan, more commonly known as a pension plan, to a 401(k)-style defined contribution retirement plan for teachers and public employee.<\/p>\n The change allows employees in city positions to leave their positions and continue to maintain their defined contribution plan, instead of the previous plan which offered guaranteed retirement benefits for government employees with payouts that were considered an employee’s salary, age and length of service.<\/p>\n The switch — which was generally supported by Republican legislators and opposed by Democrats — was largely pushed by lawmakers who were concerned with the underfunding of the state’s previously defined benefit plan.<\/p>\n “It has felt like at the city level we have been in a trap from the former Legislatures’ making,” she said.<\/p>\n The Finance Committee gave the OK for the city to move forward with developing the bonus program, and according to Watt, it will likely be decided at an upcoming Assembly meeting, though a date is unclear.<\/p>\n