§ 34.110 MERIT SALARY INCREASES.
   Merit salary increases are not automatic and may be granted at six-month intervals to employees whose effective date of employment is before October 1, 1977, up to a maximum of five such increases, to be calculated from the effective date of employment. Employees whose effective date of employment is on or after October 1, 1977 may be granted merit salary increases at one-year intervals. Except as provided in § 34.113, an employee's salary may not exceed the maximum salary approved for his or her pay grade.
   (A)   Revisions to the pay plan, promotions, or reclassifications, are not considered as salary increases for purposes of calculating increase anniversary dates, and do not change an employee's increase and anniversary date.
   (B)   Merit salary increases will be granted only in recognition of “Fully effective” or better performance by written recommendation of the employee's department head and approval by the City Manager.
      (1)   An employee whose job performance does not warrant a merit increase will be re-evaluated every 90 days until their performance is rated “Fully effective” or above. During these periods the supervisor will counsel the employee on job performance insufficiencies and recommend remedial action. If a merit is denied on two consecutive 90-day extensions, the employee shall be terminated for ineffective job performance.
      (2)   If an employee's job performance improves to effective or above during the re-evaluation period, the employee may be granted his or her merit increase on a delayed basis, at the sole and exclusive discretion of the City Manager.
   (C)   Merit salary increases will be granted as follows until the employee's salary reaches the maximum of his or her assigned pay grade:
      (1)   0% of current salary for marginally effective performance,
      (2)   2% of current salary for fully effective performance,
      (3)   4% of current salary for very effective performance, and
      (4)   6% of current salary for outstanding performance.
   (D)   An employee who is granted a leave of absence without pay in accordance with § 34.132 (B), which exceeds 15 working days, shall have his or her increase anniversary date for merit and longevity-increase purposes extended by the duration of the leave. The new extended date will then become the employee's permanent increase anniversary date.
   (E)   An employee's job performance shall be evaluated annually on the employee's anniversary date, whether or not the employee's salary has already reached the maximum of the assigned pay grade.
('58 Code, § 11.85) (Ord. 69-85, passed 9-9-69; Am. Ord. 77-8, passed 12-14-76; Am. Ord. 77-74, passed 10-4-77; Am. Ord. 87-07, passed 10-28-86; Am. Ord. 91-81, passed 9-10-91)