As part of an ongoing assessment of the appropriate staffing structure to provide a high level of service to the community, staff is recommending the following changes to the City’s staffing allocation schedule and salary schedule to meet business needs.  It is recommended that City Council take the following actions:

1.  Adopt an ordinance to approve the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1245 (IBEW) A & B (Appendix F) salary schedules to reflect deletion of Electric Metering Systems Technician I/II (1031A, 1031B, 1033A, 1033B) and Electric Substation Technician I/II (1034A, 1034B, 1035A, 1035B) and the addition of Electric Metering System Technician  (1085A, 1085B) and Electric Substation Technician (1083A, 1083B), Electric Apprentice Metering System Technician (1086A,1086B) and Electric Apprentice Substation Technician (1084A, 1084B) effective February 26, 2022; and

2.  Adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager to sign the IBEW Side Letter regarding the Apprenticeship Program; and

3.  Motion to approve the attached city-wide allocation schedule effective February 26, 2022.

As part of the Municipal Code, the Human Resources Department is charged with maintaining the City’s classification plan. The Human Resources staff is continually evaluating staffing levels necessary to provide high service levels to the community. Staff reviews department workload and the allocation’s impact on meeting the City’s goals. Additionally, the level at which each of these positions would have to be staffed was analyzed.  Based on the analysis, staff is requesting the following staffing changes.

Electric Apprenticeship Program and Staffing Change

Over the last 20 years, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1245, (IBEW) and the City of Roseville have been engaged in an active and successful Apprentice-training program for the Line Technician series.  Through joint discussions during IBEW Union/City negotiations in 2019, the City agreed to explore creating two new Apprentice programs: Apprentice Electric Metering Systems Technician and Apprentice Electric Substation Technician. 

In partnership with IBEW, the Electric Department has created a program that is consistent with industry apprenticeship programs and accomplishes duties specified in the journey-level job specification for Electric Metering System Technician and Electric Substation Technician in a manner consistent with all safety and performance standards for the City of Roseville. The program coordinates extensive on-the-job (hands-on) and off-the-job related academic training.  The Substation Apprentice program will be a four-year program and the Metering System Apprentice program will be for three years.  The programs will consist of progressive steps that last six months per step. To progress forward in steps, the Apprentice will be evaluated and required to pass a series of competency tests throughout each six month period. Each step will constitute a higher level of responsibility and skill, and a monetary pay raise of 5% (above the previous step). All Apprentices remain on performance-based probation until successful completion of the program.

After successful completion of the Apprenticeship program and passing the test, employees will be promoted to the Technician level which will have a single step salary schedule.  The employee will be placed on probation as either an Electric Metering System Technician or Electric Substation Technician in accordance with City of Roseville Personnel Rules and Regulations.  A copy of the Apprentice Program is attached for reference. The training program will cost $9,030 for four years with a cost of $2,408 for Year 1.  The cost of moving existing staff to the single step salary schedules will have a fiscal impact for the remainder of the fiscal year of $46,403 with an annual impact of $134,052*.   The training program cost is included in the fiscal year 2021-22 (FY2021-22) Electric Department budget and the additional salary costs will be absorbed by salary savings from vacant positions.

Staff also requests that a vacant Electric Engineering Technician II position be reclassified to an Associate Electric Analyst position. The position reclassification will better align necessary skills and expertise with anticipated work activities within the Risk and Compliance Division of the Electric Department. The position is essential to the department's ability to meet the increasing complexity and sophistication of compliance and physical security requirements. This position will enable the division to meet new regulatory requirements, physical security standards, and energy billing settlements.

*This amount includes the estimated annual pension cost of $7,048.

To implement the Electric Substation Technician and Electric Metering System Technician Apprenticeship programs the following additions and deletions to the IBEW A and B salary schedules are proposed:

Delete

Job Title                                                                 Grade Code

Add

Job Title                                                                  Grade Code

Human Resources Department

Staff requests to transition a limited-term Human Resources Technician position to a regular Human Resources Technician position.  In 2019, a limited-term Human Resources Technician was create to cover increasing workload in the Risk Management Division. Having collected over $1 million in past due subrogation payments, this position continues to be needed to proactively manage collections for damaged assets and will be responsible for collecting an estimated $300,000 annually, in addition to additional workload that needed to be distributed in HR due to the growing organization.

Staff is also recommending a regular Human Resources Technician position to support increased recruitment and personnel transaction processing workload.  With this increase and continued growth of the City, staff is unable to meet reasonable turnaround times and expectations from other departments. In addition, hiring qualified candidates has become more challenging in the current employment environment, making recruitment efforts more difficult and time consuming. The implementation of Oracle (Human Capital Management system) brought efficiencies in reporting and tracking employee and workforce data but added complexity and increased transactional workload. Benefit and payroll entry is more detailed requiring a significant amount of staff time auditing, managing workflow, troubleshooting issues and providing support to infrequent department users. Adding an additional Human Resources Technician will allow staff to manage the increased demands and provide responsive support to departments and employees.

*This amount includes the estimated annual pension cost of $8,867.

The Human Resources Department will seek to offset the cost of this position with existing funds in the Human Resources Department budget for the remainder of FY2021-22. If inadequate funds are available, the Department will request funding from the General Fund contingency budget.

The Electric Department has adequate budgetary resources available in the Electric Fund FY2021-22 budget to absorb the $37,284 associated with the implementation of the Electric Substation Technician and Electric Metering System Technician Apprenticeship programs and the proposed staffing changes.  

The Human Resources Department staffing changes will impact the General Fund by $43,877 in the FY2021-22 budget and will have an ongoing annual General Fund impact of $126,756.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) does not apply to activities that will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, or is otherwise not considered a project as defined by CEQA Statute §21065 and CEQA State Guidelines §15060(c)(3) and §15378.  The proposed staffing changes meet the above criteria and are not subject to CEQA. No additional environmental review is required.

Goal E - Deliver exceptional city services

Goal F - Invest in well-planned infrastructure and growth

_____________________________
Dominick Casey, City Manager