(a) City of Moundsville Compensation Program. The City's Compensation Program consists of several elements as follows:
(1) Compensation philosophy. It is the City's philosophy to encourage and support organizational excellence through a combination of base pay and productivity incentives which will attract, retain, and motivate high performing employees and allow them to earn a better than competitive wage.
(2) Compensation plan. The City's compensation plan shall be administered by the City Manager, who shall develop pay ranges for each City position which take into account competitive market data and the strategic impact of jobs on the organization's mission and success. The City Manager, with Council's approval, shall have final responsibility for compensation decisions. However, the program may be managed with input and participation from managers and employees at various levels of the organization.
(3) Applicability. This article shall apply to, and is the sole authority for, setting rates of pay for the following categories of jobs and employees: General Fund and Grant-funded positions of the City of Moundsville, WV, except: members of Council; elected officials and their employees; the City Manager; Department Heads and those employees who have like status; the City Attorney and the attorneys reporting to him; employees or persons whose rates of pay are otherwise determined by general State law; employees or persons providing a specialized service under the supervision of a City of Moundsville activity who are paid from other than Federal, State, or General Funds (i.e. Security Guards provided to local businesses and producers, sponsors, or promoters, as well as "event personnel" provided producers, sponsors, or promoters, etc.); and other individuals who are exempt from the City pay system as defined in Section 155.01(c), its application to any of these activities, or any non-City agency shall be by mutual agreement between the City of Moundsville City Manager and the head of the agency/activity concerned.
(4) Additional responsibilities - City Manager,
A. The City Manager and Council shall maintain a system which ensures the currency of manning levels and provides for the establishment of positions authorized by the City Manager or his/her designee.
B. The City Manager shall provide technical advice and assistance in the areas of organizational structure, position management, writing of position descriptions, and pay administration.
(5) Responsibilities - Department Heads,
A. Department heads shall develop organizational structures and manning levels based on departmental goals and budget requirements.
B. Department heads shall be responsible for communicating a general description of duties and/or performance expectations for positions within their management area and shall ensure that the duties are necessary to the accomplishment of their mission.
(b) Categories of Positions.
(1) Permanent.
A. Permanent Full-Time (PFT). Positions needed on a continuing basis (i.e., one year or longer) and requiring a regularly scheduled work week of forty (40) hours or more.
B. Permanent Part-Time (PPT). Positions needed on a continuing basis (i.e., one year or longer) and requiring a regularly scheduled work week of less than forty (40) hours.
(2) When actually employed (WAE). Positions required on a temporary basis but the incumbents of which only work and are paid when actually needed.
A. WAE/Ten-Month Employee (TME): Seasonally employed Senior Laborer employees who work in the Parks Division on self-directed teams shall be classified as Ten Month Employees. Such employees will be paid at an hourly rate of pay to be determined by the Director of Parks and Recreation and the City Manager.
(3) Introductory employees. All new employees, except civil service employees, must successfully complete an introductory period of one hundred (180) calendar days before being classified as a full-time or part-time employee. If, at the close of the introductory term, the conduct or capacity of the introductory employee has not been satisfactory to the City Manager, the introductory employee shall be notified, in writing, that he or she will not receive appointment as such "full-time employee" or "part-time employee", and his or her employment shall cease.
(c) Establishing Hourly Rates.
(1) Establishing hourly rates for overtime purposes. Hourly rates for overtime purposes shall be based on one and one-half times the sum of the employee's straight time hourly rate.
(2) Federal minimum wage. So long as the City of Moundsville, WV continues to be subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act and employs individuals paid from Federal Grants requiring application of a Federal Minimum Wage rate, such Federal minimum wage shall apply to all individuals employed by the City, regardless of the source of funding of their position. Subsequent increases in the Federal Minimum Wage shall be automatically implemented on dates specified in the enacting legislation. Employees will move through the pay ranges as prescribed in this article or will have their pay adjusted with the implementation of another change in the Federal Minimum Wage. At such time that an employee's base salary changes due to a merit increase or to an increase in the Federal Minimum Wage rate, that date will become the effective date for subsequent pay increases, other than those prescribed under Federal Minimum Wage legislation.
(d) Promotions.
(1) Clerical/technical, managerial/professional and public safety employees. If the ranges of the old and new wage positions do not overlap, the employee shall be moved to the minimum of the new range or shall receive a five percent (5%) increase, whichever is greater.
(e) Demotions. The following pay-setting policies apply to permanent full-time and WAE employees who are demoted to positions at a lower pay range.
(1) Demotion for less than satisfactory performance or conduct. An employee who is demoted because of less than satisfactory performance or conduct from one position to another position in a lower salary grade shall have his/her pay reduced by seven percent (7%) or to the minimum of the new range, whichever results in the least loss of pay, and shall be given a new formal performance appraisal date (if applicable) as of the date of the demotion.
(2) Demotion through no fault/title changes. An employee who is demoted through no fault of his/her own (reorganization, reduction-in-force, reevaluation, or classification of his/her position, etc.) shall have his/her pay set at a rate within the range prescribed for the lower position which results in the least loss of pay but that does not exceed the maximum of the salary range, and shall retain his/her existing formal performance appraisal date. These actions shall be reflected as Title Changes in the employee's personnel record.
(3) Demotion based on employee request. An employee who requests and is granted placement to a position in a lower pay range shall have his/her pay set at the minimum of the new range or have his/her pay reduced by ten percent (10%), whichever results in the least loss of pay. The employee shall retain his/her existing performance appraisal date.
(4) Reassignments. An employee who is reassigned from one position to another position in the same salary range shall remain at the same rate of pay and retain the same performance appraisal date (if applicable) he/she had in the old position.
(f) Reclassification. When an encumbered position is assigned to a higher salary range, without a substantial change in duties and responsibilities, the employee shall retain his/her existing salary rate or have his/her pay set at the minimum of the new range, whichever is the greater amount. An employee affected by these provisions shall retain his/her existing formal performance appraisal date.
(g) Reinstatement. A permanent full-time employee who is reinstated within ninety (90) calendar days to his/her former position at the same pay range and title shall have his/her pay set at the rate he/she was paid at the time of separation plus any applicable adjustments made subsequent to separation.
(h) Managerial or Professional Positions. Employees filling positions assigned to Managerial or Professional pay ranges are expected to work such hours as may be necessary to accomplish their assigned responsibilities without additional compensation to that specified as the annual rate for the range of the position to which they are assigned.
(i) Overtime Policy.
(1) All City employees eligible for overtime pay under applicable laws will be paid overtime pay at the rate of one and one-half (1½) times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of eight hours in any one twenty-four hour work period or for all hours worked over forty hours in one work week, as further described below. Under no circumstances will there be pyramiding of overtime hours.
(2) A work week will begin at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday and end at 12:00 midnight on the following Saturday.
(3) A work day shall begin at 12:01 a.m. of one day and end at 12:00 midnight of the same day.
(4) Employees working irregular shifts will be eligible for overtime pay for all hours worked in excess of eight hours worked in a twenty-four hour work period beginning at the start of their regularly scheduled shift.
(5) All overtime hours worked in excess of forty hours in one work week, when such overtime is requested by the City Manager or the Department Head and such overtime is within the normal job classification of the employee, shall be subject to the contributory provisions of the pension plan and such time may be used to compute pension benefits.
(6) In emergency and unusual workload situations, employees may be required to work a reasonable amount of overtime. Such requests from management may not be denied unless an employee has a verified medical condition that permits him or her to refuse such overtime.
Employees must have a medical authorization from a recognized physician to refuse overtime deemed necessary by management.
Refusal to work overtime, without medical authorization, may result in disciplinary action if such overtime is deemed necessary to the orderly function of municipal government.
(7) When any City employee contracts out their services to individuals, fraternal organizations, social organizations, school boards, or other entities, such compensation received from those services shall not be used to compute pension benefits and no contribution from such compensation shall be paid into the pension plan.
(8) Under no circumstances will any employee of the City be asked or required to work more than sixteen (16) hours in any twenty-four (24) hour period.
(9) Department Heads will be required to keep a record of all overtime hours worked by their employees and such record shall be posted on a bulletin board in their department available to all employees.
(10) In so far as possible, each Department Head will strive to afford equal overtime opportunities to all their employees. Each Department Head shall strive to keep overtime hours within a sixteen (16) hour spread between the employee with the most overtime and the employee with the least overtime. Overtime hours refused by an employee shall be considered as hours worked for the purpose of this record keeping and the offering of overtime opportunities. (Passed 9-1-98)
(j) Holiday Pay.
(1) The City shall observe the following paid holidays. All full-time employees of the City, whether civil service or non-civil service, shall be granted the same holiday schedule. Said holiday schedule currently includes the following legal holidays:
A. The first day of January is "New Year's Day";
B. The third Monday of January is "Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday";
C. The third Monday of February is "President's Day";
D. The last Monday in May is "Memorial Day";
E. The twentieth day of June is "West Virginia Day";
F. The fourth day of July is "Independence Day";
G. The first Monday of September is "Labor Day";
H. The second Monday of October is "Columbus Day";
I. The eleventh day of November is "Veterans' Day";
J. The fourth Thursday and Friday of November are the "Thanksgiving Holidays";
K. The twenty-fifth day of December is "Christmas Day";
L. Any day on which a general, primary, or special election is held throughout the state, throughout Marshall County or throughout the City of Moundsville;
M. Any additional day or days granted on an ad hoc basis from time to time by resolution of Council.
Civil service employees will receive all election days declared by the State or Civil Service Board. Emergency services personnel designated by the Police and Fire Chiefs shall observe the actual holidays for pay purposes. All permanent full-time employees who actually work, or who are on approved sick or annual leave, on the last working day before the holiday and the first working day after the holiday shall be compensated for official holidays designated by City Council. WAE employees shall not be eligible for pay when they are excused from work due to a designated holiday. Permanent full-time employees not required to work on a designated holiday shall be excused from duty and shall be paid their normal straight time rate as if they had worked their normally scheduled work shift. (Passed 2-7-06)
(2) All eligible City employees will receive eight (8) hours of pay at their regular hourly pay rate for all legally designated holidays.
(3) When a holiday falls on an employee's scheduled day off, during a scheduled vacation period, during sick leave, during parental leave, during funeral leave, during an authorized leave of absence, military leave (not exceeding 15 days), authorized educational training sessions, out-of-town on official City business, said employees shall be compensated for that holiday at eight (8) hours of regular pay. Employees recalled to military duty on a full-time basis, employees on compensation, employees under disciplinary suspension, and employees incarcerated in any jail or prison will not be eligible for holiday pay.
(4) When a holiday falls during an employee's regularly scheduled shift, that employee must work the last scheduled day before the holiday and the first scheduled day after the holiday to be eligible for that holiday pay. Employees that miss the day before or the day after a holiday must have a doctor's excuse for those days to get paid for the holiday.
(5) Holidays declared by the Governor of West Virginia will not be observed as holidays by the City of Moundsville, unless it is decreed by the Governor that municipalities must do so.
(6) Pay for work performed on a holiday. Employees eligible for overtime pay under applicable laws required to perform work on a designated holiday which has been authorized and directed by an appropriate management official shall be paid one and one-half (1½) times their normal straight time rate for all hours worked on such holiday which falls within the employee's normally-scheduled work shift and eight (8) hours holiday pay at straight time. Hours worked over and above the employee's normal work shift shall be compensated as overtime in accordance with the provisions of this section.
The above categories of employees shall be compensated in accordance with the following provisions:
A. An employee shall be paid the premium holiday rate (e.g., one and one-half times their straight time rate) only if he/she actually works on a holiday, during his/her regular scheduled shift.
B. The majority of employees work a regularly schedule tour of duty consisting of eight (8) hours per day, Monday through Friday, with Saturday and Sunday as their normal days off. In their case, if a legal holiday falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday is treated as a legal holiday for pay purposes; if a legal holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is treated as a legal holiday for pay purposes.
(7) It is the intent of this article that those employees scheduled to work on the holiday will be paid their regular wage and also be compensated with an additional time and one-half pay. Those employees not scheduled to work the holiday will be compensated for eight hours straight time.
(k) Work and Pay Status During Inclement Weather. As a general rule all employees are expected to report for duty at their normal time and perform their assigned tasks for their entire scheduled tour of duty. Employees shall be given the option of taking annual leave or leave without pay if hazardous driving conditions exist and such employees are unable to report for duty:
As exceptions:
(1) When severe weather conditions develop during on-duty hours, employees will be given the option of leaving early without compensation.
(l) Longevity. Nothing contained herein shall be construed to deny present members of the Fire Department any accrued and accumulated longevity pay as of the effective date of the passage of this article.
Nothing contained herein shall be construed to deny present members of the Police Department any accrued and accumulated longevity pay. (Ord. 5-15-18)
(m) Longevity Pay. The City shall pay all full-time employees longevity pay as follows: Now and at the passage of this ordinance, employees who have two full years of completed service, shall receive seventy-five dollars ($75.00) per year longevity pay for each year of service beyond two years. Beginning July 1, 2023, employees who have two full years of completed service, shall receive one hundred dollars ($100.00) per year for each year of service beyond two years. Beginning July 1, 2024, employees who have two full years of completed service, shall receive one hundred twenty-five dollars ($125.00) per year for each year of service beyond two years. Beginning July 1, 2025, employees who have two full years of completed service, shall receive one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00) per year for each year of service beyond two years.
(Ord. 4-18-23)
(n) Former Employee.
(1) Any employee of the City whose job position is eliminated due to budgetary changes and at a later date is returned to employment shall receive the same salary, sick leave, vacation, longevity, and any other considerations given to a like employee not affected. This employee's original hire date, minus time suspended by budgetary considerations, shall be used in determining time of completed service.
(2) The above shall be in effect from the employee's recall date, not withstanding any waiting period or delay provided for in any other Policy Regulation.
(3) This shall apply to all present and former employees who qualify.
(o) Call Out Time. In the event a full-time employee is called out for non-scheduled work, the employee shall be paid for a minimum of three (3) hours at one and one-half times the employee's normal rate of pay. Non-scheduled work shall not be construed to include prearranged department, holiday, and weekend call out time.
Call out pay will not be paid in addition to hours actually worked. An employee can receive no more than one call out pay in any twenty-four hour period.
Department Heads shall keep an up-to-date record of all call outs, and as near as possible, distribute call outs evenly among employees in the same classification.
Call out lists will be made available by all department heads to the dispatcher.
Call out pay is intended to compensate employees for the inconvenience of being called out during their normal relaxation time away from work. Therefore, call out pay is a guaranteed number of hours of work but is not to be considered a gratuity and is not paid in addition to hours actually worked when call out results in more than three hours work.
If the minimum period overlaps into the employee's scheduled hours of work, he/she will be paid at the applicable rate only for the time actually elapsed between his/her report for call-out and his/her regular starting time of scheduled work.
Scheduled court appearances for police officers during off-duty times are to be considered as scheduled work, and the minimum three-hour call out time for non-scheduled work provided for above shall not be applicable thereto. For such court appearances during off-duty times, a police officer shall be paid a minimum of one hour compensation at one and one-half times the employee's normal rate of pay. Should the officer be required to work over an hour, the time is to be rounded up to the nearest quarter hour. (Ord. 4-6-99)
(p) Nepotism. The purpose of a nepotism policy is to establish a policy for the employment of immediate relatives in order to assure the reality and appearance of fairness in the best interest of the City.
It is the City's policy that immediate relatives will not be employed in regular full-time or regular part-time positions where:
(1) One relative would have the authority to supervise, appoint, remove, discipline, or evaluate the performance of the other.
(2) One relative would be responsible for auditing the work of the other.
(3) Other circumstances exist which would place the relatives in a situation of actual or reasonably foreseeable conflict between the City's interest and their own.
Where business necessity requires the limitation of employment opportunity of spouses, the means chosen to meet the business necessity shall be those which have the least adverse impact on spouses or members of either sex. For example: The exclusion should be limited to the job, work crew, shop or unit where the reason for exclusion exists, and should not bar the person from the whole work force, unless the reason applies to the whole work force. When it is necessary to exclude a person because of what his or her spouse does, then the employees will be asked to determine which spouse shall keep the job. The City may require one spouse to quit 60 days after marriage if they become in violation of this policy and a mutually-agreeable solution cannot be reached between the City and the employee.
Definitions: "Immediate relative" includes spouse, child, parent, brother, sister, grandparents, parent-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, grandchildren, aunts and uncles.
(q) Compensatory Time Off.
(1) Employees of the City of Moundsville may receive, in accordance with this subsection and in lieu of overtime compensation, compensatory time off at a rate not less than one and one-half hours for each hour of employment for which overtime is required pursuant to this section.
(2) The City may provide compensatory time under subdivision (1) of this subsection only pursuant to a written agreement arrived at between the City and an employee before the performance of the work and recorded in the City's record of hours worked and if the employee has not accrued compensatory time in excess of the limit prescribed in subdivision (3) of this subsection. Any written agreement may be modified at the request of either the employer or the employee, but under no circumstances shall changes in the agreement deny an employee compensatory time heretofore acquired.
(3) An employee may accrue up to four hundred eighty (480) hours of compensatory time if the employee's work is a public safety activity, an emergency response activity or a seasonal activity. An employee engaged in other work for the City may accrue up to two hundred forty (240) hours of compensatory time. Any such employee who has accrued four hundred eighty (480) or two hundred forty (240) hours of compensatory time, as the case may be, shall for additional overtime hours of work, be paid overtime compensation. If compensation is paid to an employee for accrued compensatory time off, such compensation shall be paid at the regular rate earned by the employee at the time the employee receives such payment.
(4) An employee who has accrued compensatory time off authorized to be provided under subdivision (1) of this subsection shall, upon termination of employment, be paid for the unused compensatory time at a rate of compensation not less than:
A. The average regular rate received by such employee during the last three years of the employee's employment; or
B. The final regular rate received by such employee, whichever is higher.
(5) An employee of the City who has accrued compensatory time off authorized to be provided under subdivision (1) of this subsection and who has requested the use of such compensatory time, shall be permitted by the City to use such time within a reasonable time after making the request if the use of the compensatory time does not unduly disrupt the operation of the City. For example, compensatory time off shall not be approved if the time off would require another employee to work overtime during such compensatory time-off period. Compensatory time must be used within one year from the time it was acquired.
(6) For purposes of this subsection the terms "compensatory time" and "compensatory time off" mean hours during which an employee is not working, which are not counted as hours worked during the applicable workweek or other work period for purposes of overtime compensation, and for which the employee is compensated at the employee's regular rate.
(7) The City Manager shall provide agreement forms and request forms to employees in order to implement the terms of this subsection, and shall have authority to take other reasonable actions in administering the provisions hereof. (Passed 7-22-09)