Discussion and possible action on any and all matters regarding authorization for employee vacation accrual payout.  (Tadeo A. De La Hoya, City Manager)

As COVID-19 cases continue to increase, vacation hours have not been used by city staff. Employees were encouraged to stay home, to limit travel outside Yuma County, and were recommended to avoid travel outside of the United States. Therefore, they were unable to take vacations as a safety measure to protect themselves and others. Currently, there are employees, mostly from public safety, who have already maxed out their vacation hours and are losing accruals, and yet are unable to take time off. Employee Vacation Buyback is a benefit that is utilized by employees to supplement their family's finances and is a good incentive for employees who do not use their vacation hours, as it is their prerogative.  The Employee Buyback benefit is done twice a year, limited to twenty (20) hours. 

At this moment, there are about sixty (60) employees who are already losing or will begin losing vacation hours starting June 30, 2020. Unfortunately, 35% are currently losing vacation hours, and 65% of these employees will start losing accrued hours shortly after. About 56% of these employees are part of our Police and Fire Departments. Our public safety departments have, for some time, been short-staffed. Once this pandemic subsides, and these employees decide to take time off, we could be faced with a loss of our Police force of about 39% and 22% in our Fire Department.

City of San Luis employees have begun to contract COVID-19, with public safety departments being the most affected as they are constantly exposed to this disease. Unfortunately, the number of confirmed cases keeps rising, and now more than ever, these essential employees are needed to serve the community.  

The other portion of employees losing hours are part of essential departments, including Public Works, Finance, and other equally essential departments. Employees who are loosing or will begin losing accrual time have served and been loyal to our community for over ten (10) years, some having been working for the city for over twenty (20) years. These employees make up more than 50% of those who may be affected by losing accrual time.

City employees cannot be forced to go out and travel, nor can they be punished because they are unable to take vacations. We also do not want to encourage travel, as cases keep rising all around the region. The State of California has over 160,000 cases, with Los Angeles County with over 70,000 cases. Other close destinations include the State of Sonora, which currently has more than 5,000 cases and Baja California, with approximately 7,000 confirmed cases.

The San Luis Employee Vacation Buyback Program has served as a benefit for our employees. It has helped retain employees and bring in necessary talent with the skills, knowledge, and experience to our organization. It also serves as an incentive to retain employees who might be lured by higher salaries in other organizations.

Overall, it is critical to ensure that employees are available to serve our residents when needed, so we can continue to provide the best customer service. We must be conscious of how the decisions made will be viewed by employees. In these times of crisis, employee morale and job satisfaction are more important than ever. Any action perceived by employees as overly harsh during this challenging time could cause significant morale issues in the workplace.

For these reasons, the city administration wants to make sure that the City of San Luis employees are  able to sell back (as per policy already allows)  for some of their vacation accruals. City Administration is seeking approval from the Mayor and City Council to transfer up to $80,946.00 from City Council Contingencies GL account #100-110-81000 to the accounts of the affected departments to cover for Employee Vacation Buyback payments of the affected sixty (60) employees.

City Administration acknowledges that during these uncertain times, this action might not be able to be taken in the future and that a permanent solution needs to be sought as recommended by the Finance Department.  However, for the time being, it is requested that this payout be done during this fiscal year as the bottom line of the budget totals allows to and that vacation accrual caps be increased.  The City of San Luis should acknowledge those employees with good attendance and not force them to forfeit or let go of their accruals when staffing needs are crucial.  It is also a prerogative for city administration to understand that vacation is not mandatory, and to understand that some of these sixty (60+) employees have been unable to take time off due to this pandemic.