Vacation policy needs to be revisited by city

Published 12:20 am Friday, October 3, 2008

Last week a problem came to light regarding overtime pay and comp time in the city of Snoqualmie. With no disrespect intended to any current or former employees of the city of Snoqualmie, it’s time the council set a policy that limits overtime, comp time (overtime hours paid in time off rather than money) and vacation accruals.

If we think about this in any business capacity, it would be tough to justify allowing any employee to accrue a substantial amount of vacation time. The idea is to get the employee out of the office or work environment to recharge their batteries. I’m sure there have been numerous studies that prove a lack of vacation can impair a person’s ability to do their job effectively. Heaven knows, I cherish every vacation day I get and some may argue that my job effectiveness is always impaired.

Many times I can justify, in my own mind, that taking a vacation is impossible, that the work load is too high. But in reality, there are few situations in which an individual taking a few days here or even a week or two there is going to really impact the ability of the business to continue operating.

The same can be said for the city of Snoqualmie. I would argue, as most might, that even fire and police operations can function on a daily basis when personnel take vacations. Some may say that it’s a matter of life and death. Well, if that’s the case, then funding levels need to be looked at to make sure city operations continue. Maybe another area needs to be looked at for reductions to make sure essential services are not impacted by vacations.

When a business looks at staffing levels, we tend to look at the impact of vacations on operations. We may even ask that no vacations be taken during certain times. Most businesses also limit the amount of vacation time that may be accrued, and I would venture to say it could be as much as 4-6 weeks, max. There may be additional limitations on such a length of time to prevent an employee from taking it all in one lump without approval.

Comp time is another matter. Are fire and police personnel considered exempt or nonexempt employees? I would imagine that officers are considered exempt as they may need to work more than a standard shift one week and possibly less the next week to even things out. It’s possible that a contractual agreement regulates comp time, but it would seem important that the city also put controls on the amount of comp time that can be accumulated each year.

Other city functions should be strictly controlled to limit the amount of vacation, comp and overtime to a bare minimum. If we are paying taxes to provide a certain level of service, it would seem our expectations would be to have it done in the most cost-effective manner. Yes, there are meetings that city personnel must attend as there are meetings that newspaper reporters must attend. On the day following the meeting, the reporter may show up late to make up for the previous day’s time. This policy seems natural for a city to embrace as well. If it’s said that nobody would be available the day after the council meeting, for instance, then too many people are going to the council meeting.

It all boils down to common sense with the taxpayer in mind. The Snoqualmie City Council needs to develop stringent policies on overtime, comp time and vacation accrual. Build it into each year’s budget so that significant accrual is not paid at some period down the road with increased pay rates, but at the time they are given to the employee. If nothing else, this would encourage employees to use their vacations each year and keep the accrual levels to a minimum. Few things are so important as to prevent a person from leaving their job to enjoy some time off.