Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1282nd CSC Meeting (March)1282nd REGULAR MEETING OF THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION The 1282nd Regular Meeting of the Civil Service Commission was held on Wednesday, March 16, 2011. The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. Members Present: Charlotte S. Mahoney, Chairperson Harry C. Tatigian Ronald E. Campau Also Present: Nick Calleja, Chairperson, AFSCME Union Steven Schoonover, Vice -President, Local 1917 AFSCME Union Local 192 David Flahan, Custodian Robert F. Biga, Human Resources Director Joe Laura, City Councilmember Derrick L. Washington, Personnel Analyst II Gretchen Guisbert, Secretary III Chairperson Mahoney stepped down to second the approval of the minutes from the 1281` Civil Service Commission meeting of February 16, 2011, due to Commissioner Ron Campau being absent from that meeting. Upon a motion by Mr. Tatigian, seconded by Ms. Mahoney and adopted, it was 11-20 RESOLVED, That the minutes of the 1281" Regular Meeting held Wednesday, February 16, 2011, be approved as submitted. Commissioner Campau returned the gavel to Chairperson Mahoney. Upon a motion by Mr. Tatigian, seconded by Mr. Campau and unanimously adopted, it was 11-21 RESOLVED, That having reviewed letters from employees requesting to carry over excess vacation hours, the Civil Service Commission does hereby confirm the administrative approval of the following requests to carry over excess vacation hours into 2011; CARRYOVER NAME CLASSIFICATION APPROVED BY HOURS TO 2071 Linda Gosselin Commercial and Industrial Appraiser Dawn Borregard 73.75 Katherine Sitedet Assessing Clerk Dawn Borregard 36.75 Karl Peters Recreation Supervisor Linda McCann 38.00 Mark Eroh Custodial Foreman Kevin Maillard 71.50 Edward Gebnar Custodian Kevin Maillard 19.25 Fredric Grates Equipment Mechanic II Kevin Maillard 40.00 William Kuchera Equipment Operator II Kevin Maillard 41.00 Steven Makie Building Maintenance Supervisor Kevin Maillard 56.00 Sharon McGrady Account Clerk III Kevin Maillard 28.25 David Robertson Water Foreman Kevin Maillard 96.00 Cheryl Wallman Senior Engineering Inspector Todd Zilincik 104.50 David Dobiesz Senior Fire Equipment Mechanic Shadd Whitehead 84.00 Page 2 Brian Gnagey Scott Graham John Orzech Kevin Pilate Scott Rich Matthew Riesterer Jon Unruh John Unsworth Michael Fisher Ghada Bochenek Carol Guerriero Sally Howell Regina Zoratti Thomas Murphy Jason Sturos Tom Ambers Denise Bennett Tom Blauvelt Brian Carpenter Jennifer Doyle David Goldberg Jim Green Stephen Knapp Dan Loftus Daniel McCulley Ron McPhee Richard Ostrowski David Parrinello Keith Schoen Ronald Taig Barbara Vaden 1282°d Regular Meeting Fire Equipment Mechanic Fire Captain Fire Lieutenant Fire Lieutenant Firefighter Fire Captain Fire Lieutenant Fire Lieutenant Assistant City Attorney III Library Aide II Librarian II Library Aide I Clerk I Admin. Assist. -Facility Manager Recreation Supervisor Police Vehicle Maintenance Coord. Police Dispatcher Senior Police Officer Computer Administrator II Clerk II Senior Police Officer Senior Police Officer Senior Police Officer Systems Analyst II Senior Police Officer Senior Police Officer Senior Police Officer Senior Police Officer Senior Police Officer Senior Police Lieutenant Teller III March 16, 2011 Shadd Whitehead 8.00 Shadd Whitehead 24.00 Shadd Whitehead 72.00 Shadd Whitehead 96.00 Shadd Whitehead 24.00 Shadd Whitehead 13.25 Shadd Whitehead 60.00 Shadd Whitehead 68.00 Donald Knapp 54.00 Kathleen Monroe 2.75 Kathleen Monroe 23.50 Kathleen Monroe 0.50 Kathleen Monroe 23.25 Lyle Tmdell 31.50 Lyle Tmdell 29.00 Robert Stevenson 12.00 Robert Stevenson 16.00 Robert Stevenson 24.00 Robert Stevenson 40.00 Robert Stevenson 60.00 Robert Stevenson 32.00 Robert Stevenson 16.00 Robert Stevenson 8.00 Robert Stevenson 48.00 Robert Stevenson 8.00 Robert Stevenson 16.00 Robert Stevenson 16.00 Robert Stevenson 16.00 Robert Stevenson 8.00 Robert Stevenson 80.00 Dennis Wright 78.00 AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That no request from the above employees will be considered to carry over excess vacation into 2012. 11-22 RESOLVED, That having reviewed the Departmental Correspondence of February 11, 2011 from Tyrone Pickens, Senior Police Officer, as approved for submission by Robert Stevenson, Police Chief, requesting to carry over vacation days in excess of the maximum allowed by contract, based on a projected retirement date of February 11, 2014, the Civil Service Commission does hereby affirm the administrative approval of this request; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the employee is advised of the maximum number of days to be paid off at retirement as cited in the Livonia Police Officers Association Contract, Article 22.7, Vacation Accrual, and as set forth in Civil Service Commission Rule 25, LEAVES, Section 25.1 Annual Leave (Vacation), Paragraph (f); Page 3 1282°d Regular Meeting March 16, 2011 AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the employee is advised that the maximum number of days will be increased by the number of bonus vacation days earned in the last three (3) years prior to retirement for not using more than five (5) sick leave days annually, up to a maximum of nine (9) days; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the employee is notified it is the employee's responsibility to manage his vacation time to avoid losing excess accrued time prior to retirement by scheduling sufficient time off prior to retirement, subject to the operating needs of the department. 11-23 RESOLVED, that the Civil Service Commission does hereby confirm the administrative approval of the passing point of 70% out of a maximum score of 175 or the nearest lower whole raw score of 122 on the written test for Police Sergeant (1318 p.). 11-24 RESOLVED, that the Civil Service Commission does hereby confirm the administrative approval of the passing point of 70% out of maximum score of 175 or the nearest lower whole mw score of 122 on the written test for Police Lieutenant (1317 p.). The Commission received and filed the following: a. Status of Temporary Employees Report for February 2011. b. Non -Resident Report as of March 1, 2011. C. Current Open -Competitive and Promotional Eligible Lists as of March 1, 2011. d. Affirmative Action Report for February 2011. e. Removal of names from active eligible list report for the month of February 2011. f. Council Resolution from the meeting of February 9, 2011, with minutes to be approved February 23, 2011: #28-11, confirming the reappointment of Conrad Gniewek, to the Board of Review for a term of three years commencing February 17, 2011, and expiring on February 16, 2014. g. Expiring eligible list for the month of April 2011 — Superintendent of Public Service (Environment & Utilities) (928 o.c.). Chairperson Mahoney recommended that since Ms. Toy was unable to be present at the Civil Service Commission meeting, the Commission receive and fled a memorandum of March 3, 2011, from Robert F. Biga, Human Resources Director, regarding pension plan membership. If in the future Ms. Toy wishes to petition the Commission for action, the Commission will consider the request at that time. Nick Calleja, Chairman, AFSCME Union Local 1917, introduced himself and stated that David Flahan received a notice from the Civil Service Department stating that his appointment to the Custodial Foreman position would end due to a reduction in force and related bumpings, at the end of his shift on January 21, 2011. The letter further stated there Page 4 1282v° Regular Meeting March 16, 2011 were no positions within AFSCME Union Local 1917 to which he could bump and the only option for Mr. Flahan was to go to the position of Custodian where he held status. The union's argument is that both John Wojnar and Mark Eroh, who were affected by this bumping process, did not hold status in the positions that they bumped into. The request is that Mr. Flahan be given the same opportunity to bump. Mr. Calleja advised that a letter was received from Mr. Biga after the step 2 response that says according to Local 192 contract Article 57, General Article, paragraph C, Demotion of Supervisor Personnel Into Bargaining Unit Positions, Mr. Flahan could only return to a classification in which he held status and there was a vacancy. The only classification in which Mr. Flahan held status was a Custodian, which is where Mr. Flahan was placed. The union did not understand why Mr. Flahan had to follow the status rules and the other two employees didn't. Robert Biga, Human Resources Director, stated that Mr. Flahan has held status in two (2) classifications in the City; Custodian and Custodial Foreman. There was a reduction of a Water Foreman position. The employee in the Water Foreman position exercised his rights under the 1917 contract, Article 14, LAYOFFS, which states, "Layoffs will shall be made in conformity with the principle of seniority, i.e., the last one hired being the first one laid off, provided that the Employer will be able to retain those employees with the most seniority by reassigning them to other classifications IF they can demonstrate the capability to perform the duties of the classification by: A. Having worked successfully in the classification for at least one full year; OR B. Being able to pass the Civil Service examination for the classification and being able to pass a six-month probationary period in the classification." In Mr. Wojnars case, he had more seniority than Mr. Eroh, who was in a Parks Foreman position. Mr. Wojnar never held status in the classification. Under the 1917 contract, he didn't have to, but he had to pass the test. Fortunately we had recently given a test for Parks Foreman and the test was given to Mr. Wojnar which he passed. Therefore he was given the opportunity to bump Mr. Eroh. Mr. Eroh had less seniority than Mr. Wojnar and elected to bump another employee who had less seniority. That person was Mr. Flahan. Mr. Flahan was in a Custodial Foreman classification. Mr. Eroh couldn't take the Custodial Foreman examination because the company that created that exam was the Michigan Municipal League and they no longer give those tests. Mr. Biga checked the file and Mr. Eroh took and passed the Building Maintenance Foreman examination. Mr. Biga stated he looked at the Building Maintenance Foreman test and the Custodial Foreman test for content and the content overlapped. There were specific questions on the Custodial Foreman that did not appear on the Building Foreman, but Mr. Eroh passed the Building Foreman test. Mr. Eroh had experience as a Custodial Foreman on a temporary basis and Mr. Biga stated he made a determination that the passing of the Building Foreman written test and having prior experience was equivalent to Mr. Eroh passing the Custodial Foreman test. Mr. Biga then notified the union that was the case and Mr. Flahan was then bumped. Mr. Eroh took over as a Custodial Foreman and Mr. Flahan then wanted to bump. There was no one in the bargaining unit in a classification that he could bump into that was at or below his level he met qualifications for, so the only thing he could do was bump into the 192 bargaining unit. The 192 contract layoff provision is very broad and their employees can bump into other classifications where they can perform the work. Unfortunately, they also have a very specific provision in their contract that refers to demotion of supervisory personnel. The only Page 5 1282°d Regular Meeting March 16, 2011 place a person can go as a supervisor is in a classification in which they held status and a vacancy existed. The only classification that Mr. Flahan held status was Custodian. There was a vacancy because the Department had a full-time vacancy that they had budgeted that they hadn't filled yet and therefore that is where Mr. Flahan was placed. Mr. Biga stated provisions of both the 192 and 1917 contracts were followed. He added it was unfortunate that Mr. Flahan went from a foreman to the lowest paid position in 192, but that is all that could be done. Mr. Calleja reiterated the union's argument was that it was inconsistent, one individual had to take a test, one got a test waived and a test that had nothing to do with the same classification was waived for him to take a test, and this individual never got an opportunity to take a test. There is nothing consistent within the three. Mr. Calleja added they understood this was a unique situation and he knew the City didn't want this to happen, but they are just asking for consistency. Mr. Flahan was never given an opportunity to test or show that he could do a job. Mr. Biga asked Mr. Flahan what classification he would like to be tested for. Mr. Calleja replied that Senior Clerk was stated in the letter as the only position within the 1917 bargaining unit, but the letter stated Mr. Flahan did not ft the qualifications. Mr. Campau inquired if there were any vacancies and Mr. Biga responded no; Mr. Flahan would have to bump an existing individual. Mr. Biga stated the only classification Mr. Flahan asked him about was Code Enforcement Officer. Mr. Calleja advised that they didn't know what positions were open or not open and it was felt that should be presented by Management to the employees; they wouldn't know that. Ms. Mahoney clarified that Mr. Flahan wanted the Commission to allow him to take a test for Senior Clerk and assuming he passed the test, he would then be able to bump an existing Senior Clerk if that Senior Clerk has less seniority. Mr. Biga advised there was one (1) Senior Clerk with less seniority than Mr. Flahan. Mr. Tatigian stated the reason for this is because of the union contracts. In order for there to be a grievance, a provision of the contract that has been violated must be cited. He agreed there should be common sense and there is a question of fairness. Mr. Calleja agreed there is vagueness in the 1917 contract, but if you look at the other two (2) individuals that were affected by the bumping process, you can see where there is no consistency between the three individuals. Mr. Flahan stated the thing that bothered him was that a qualification was waived for him to be bumped. He was being told that he was not qualified to take a test. One of the qualifications that he had to meet when he got his job was he had to be a Custodian for a period of time. The person who had never been a Custodian was allowed to bump him. Mr. Calleja referenced the Parks Foreman and stated when Mr. Eroh got that position, the qualifications were changed to remove working in that department. Mr. Calleja reiterated that Mr. Flahan had less seniority than both Mr. Eroh and Mr. Wojnar, but both those individuals were able to bump into positions that they didn't have background in and Mr. Flahan questioned why he couldn't bump into something and then be able to prove himself. The request is simply to allow Mr. Flahan to take a test and see if he can pass it Page 6 1282°d Regular Meeting March 16, 2011 and then be given the six (6) month probationary period. Mr. Flahan's contention was that he was bumped unfairly. Mr. Biga advised Mr. Flahan the requirements for a Senior Clerk position are being able to type at 45 wpm, passing a written test and an interview. Mr. Calleja requested Mr. Flahan tell the Commission what his background is and Mr. Flahan informed them he had just short of 30 years in the Bell system, he was first and second level management for 19-% of those years in engineering and operations and in sales. He added he had no clerical experience but he could try. Ms. Mahoney clarified that the remedy requested for the grievance is that Mr. Flahan be allowed to take the Senior Clerk test and Mr. Flahan really would have liked to grieve the fact that he was erroneously bumped. Ms. Mahoney inquired if the Commission recommends Mr. Flahan is allowed to take the test and he doesn't pass the test, will this issue return? Mr. Calleja stated that if that occurred, it would not be presented by Local 1917; it would be up to Local 192. Upon a motion by Mr. Tatigian, seconded by Mr. Campau and unanimously adopted, it was 11-25 RESOLVED, That having reviewed AFSCME Union Local 1917 Grievance #1A and having discussion with Nick Calleja, Chairman, AFSCME Union Local 1917; David Flahan, former Custodial Foreman, and Robert Biga, Human Resources Director, the Civil Service Commission does hereby deny the grievance that Mr. Flahan was unfairly bumped from the Custodial Foreman position, and grants Mr. Flahan the opportunity to take the examination for Senior Clerk and if he passes, he be afforded bumping privileges. Mr. Biga requested that Mr. Flahan contact Mr. Washington to schedule the typing test and if he passes that he would take the written test. At the request of Charles Locke, President, AFSCME Union Local 192, and agreed to by Management, AFSCME Union Local 192 Grievances #11-02 and #11-06 were postponed for review until the April 20, 2011 Civil Service Commission meeting. Chairperson Mahoney notified Councilmember Joe Laura that NB -3 on the agenda was regarding the memorandum of March 3, 2011, from Robert F. Biga, Human Resources Director, regarding a pension plan membership issue that Laura Toy discussed with him. Ms. Mahoney advised Mr. Laura the Civil Service Commission does not have an official request from Ms. Toy for action and Ms. Toy was unable to attend the meeting, so the Civil Service Commission received and fled that information. Ms. Mahoney further advised that Ms. Toy could submit a request for Civil Service Commission consideration in the future. Mr. Biga advised the Commission that he would provide the information in his memorandum to Ms. Toy. Upon a motion by Mr. Campau, seconded by Mr. Tatigian and unanimously adopted, it was 11-26 RESOLVED, That having reviewed the letter of March 11, 2011, from Julie Novak, Librarian I, as approved for submission by Kathleen Monroe, City Librarian, requesting an unpaid medical leave of absence, the Civil Service Page 7 1282°d Regular Meeting March 16, 2011 Commission does hereby approve an unpaid medical leave of absence, not to exceed sixty (60) days, for the period March 30, 2011 through May 28, 2011, with the understanding that Ms. Novak is responsible during her unpaid medical leave of absence to pay the copayment for her medical insurance; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that should Ms. Novak not return to work for at least thirty (30) calendar days, after the approved sixty (60) day unpaid medical leave of absence, she will be responsible to reimburse the City of Livonia for any costs for benefits paid for Ms. Novak during her time off, in accordance with Section 25.6 (c), Insurance Premium Payments, of the Civil Service Commission Rules and Regulations and Final FMLA Regulations (29 C.F.R.), unless circumstances for not returning to work are beyond Ms. Novak's control. Upon a motion by Mr. Campau, seconded by Mr. Tatigian and unanimously adopted, it was 11-27 RESOLVED, That having reviewed the letter of March 4, 2011 from Jon Montayne, Custodian, as approved for submission by Kevin Maillard, Director of Public Works, requesting a ninety (90) day unpaid medical leave of absence, the Civil Service Commission does hereby approve an unpaid medical leave of absence, not to exceed ninety (90) days, for the period April 1, 2011 through June 29, 2011, with the understanding that Mr. Montayne is responsible during his unpaid medical leave of absence to pay the copayment for his medical insurance; also with the understanding that Mr. Montayne provide additional medical certification from his personal physician continuing his disability; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that should Mr. Montayne not return to work for at least thirty (30) calendar days, after the approved ninety (90) day unpaid medical leave of absence, he will be responsible to reimburse the City of Livonia for any costs for benefits paid for Mr. Montayne during his time, off in accordance with Section 25.6 (c) Insurance Premium Payments, of the Civil Service Commission Rules and Regulations and Final FMLA Regulations (29 C.F.R.), unless circumstances for not returning to work are beyond Mr. Montayne's control. Upon a motion by Mr. Tatigian, seconded by Mr. Campau and adopted, it was RESOLVED, That the meeting be adjourned at 5:55 p.m. Gretchen Guisbert, Secretary III Charlotte S. Mahoney, Chairperson Harry C. Tatigian, Commissioner Ronald E. Campau, Commissioner