City council has agreed to try a new work schedule giving qualifying non-union employees and managers an “earned day off,” provided they work the equivalent of that day’s hours during the previous nine-day period.
Blending in the hours that would otherwise be worked on that 10th day during the nine days means there would be no loss of pay.
Human resources manager Terri Williamson, in presenting the proposal, said there would be no additional costs.
“This policy aligns with current trends and positions the City of Terrace as a forward-thinking and adaptable employer that meets the evolving need of exempt staff,” Williams said.
Qualifying employees and managers must have worked for the city for a minimum six months and have a demonstrated satisfactory job performance.
A day off must not affect their work obligations and another employee must agree to cover for the employee who is absent.
“Earned days off will be taken on a Friday unless another day off is mutually agreed by the employee and the City of Terrace,” adds a six-page policy paper.
“The choice of earned days off will be based on seniority.”
A participating employee’s schedule for the nine days of work will be 8.77 hours each day, a time period that includes a one-hour unpaid break.
The earliest start time for a work day is 7 a.m. and the latest end time is 5:15 p.m.
And when a statutory holiday falls on the scheduled day off, the employee may take off the day immediately following the holiday or another mutually-agreed upon day within the same pay period.
The policy does indicate the arrangement may not be workable for all exempt employees and it will undergo a three-month trial period.
For the moment, only the city’s 22 exempt and managerial employees will be eligible.
But the city is speaking with CUPE Local 2012 about how it might work with the city’s unionized workforce.
There will also be no effect on reducing overtime costs by employees working longer regularly scheduled hours because none of the 22 earn overtime pay regardless.
The approval for the trial period came at a March 25 council meeting through a motion from Coun. Sarah Zimmerman and seconded by Coun. Inder Dhillon.
“I think it’s worth being creative when it comes to supporting staff and making a work life balance better for folks,” said Mayor Sean Bujtas.
Zimmerman called the idea innovative, saying that COVID provided a lot of lessons surrounding workplace flexibility and benefits. “I’m excited to see what this trial looks like and trust that staff will be able to implement it across the board,” she added.