Council workshop prioritizes employee retention, asks staff to study time-off and benefits

Staff member (S1) opened the segment by flagging employees as the next major priority and noting last year’s compensation study and market adjustments. "Our next 1 that we're gonna tackle is our employees," Staff member (S1) said, asking tables to identify concrete actions under improve employee satisfaction, leadership development, and workplace safety.

Table reporters and council members recommended a mix of short- and medium-term steps: evaluate vacation and PTO accruals, explore front-loading time off for experienced lateral hires, and consider targeted benefits for retention. Committee member (S2) suggested combining sick and vacation into a single PTO bank, while Committee member (S9) urged that experienced hires be credited for prior service so they are not penalized on vacation accruals. Staff member (S8) cautioned that benchmark comparisons show current vacation accruals are low: "we are our our vacation accrual right now, 80 hours, is not meeting the benchmark standard." The council asked staff to return with options that distinguish public-safety accrual needs and the fiscal impacts of potential benefit changes.