OCEAN CITY – Officials say seasonal incentives, reclassifications and salary adjustments will support the town’s recruitment and retention efforts.
On Monday, the Mayor and Council had before them a request to adopt new general employee pay tables with a 3% increase, apply a 3% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) and 3.5% merit-based increase, reclassify two positions and adopt seasonal incentives. Officials said the recommendations were based on market conditions and affordability, among other factors.
“I’m very comfortable from a budget standpoint in moving forward with these recommendations,” said City Manager Terry McGean. “We wanted to get these to you sooner rather than later because a lot of these things we want to start advertising our seasonal positions based on the rates we are going to present to you today.”
In July, McGean, Budget Director Jennie Knapp and Human Resources Director Katie Callan started working with every department head and division leader to develop pay recommendations.
From those conversations, officials have recommended the adoption of the general employee pay tables with a 3% increase, a 3% COLA, and the application of a 3.5% merit-based increased based on the mid-point calculator.
“The total annual cost over budget is about $450,000, so the half-year cost is about $225,000,” Knapp said. “There are five employees who would be capped at the top of the new pay table.”
Based on those changes, Callan said general employees with at lease one year of service could expect an increase of 6.5%, as compared to 8% for police and 7.5% for fire and EMS.
“We are also in alignment with other government agencies, federal, state and local, who are ranging between 2 and 9%,” she added.
As part of the proposal, officials recommended a new minimum-wage grade for concession workers, golf cart attendants, interns and casual laborers.
They also recommended a reclassification for comfort station attendants and heavy equipment operators.
“These positions require a CDL, and those individuals are in very high demand,” Callan said. “A strategy we’d like to try out in order to not just attract but retain heavy equipment operators is to build in a level-two position to have a small career ladder for those individuals.”
Staff recommendations also include new seasonal incentives. Callan said staff has proposed a $250 sign-on bonus for vehicle maintenance techs, a starting hourly rate of $20 for beach patrol, a $250 annual stipend for part-time rescue swimmers, and sign-on bonuses for part-time EMTs and paramedics.
“Our fire department continues to struggle with attracting highly qualified part-time staff,” she said. “They would like to offer a small sign-on bonus of $250 for EMTs and $500 for paramedics, which are then tied to hours-worked thresholds. Specifically, at least 600 hours would need to be worked before it was paid and 300 of those hours must be on a holiday, weekend or at a special event.”
Council Secretary Tony DeLuca questioned if there would be pay increases for tram drivers. He noted that the transportation department struggled to fill those positions during the summer. Officials noted tram drivers would receive a 3% increase, as well as a 2% increase for returning drivers.
“All the existing sign-on bonuses are going to remain,” McGean said. “So tram drivers would get a $250 sign-on bonus plus the 3% COLA plus, if they are returning, an additional 2% merit increase.”
DeLuca also questioned the hourly rate for beach patrol.
“How does that compare to Delaware, Assateague?” he asked. “How does that compare to last year?”
Officials noted the starting hourly rate would increase from $18.45 to $20. Knapp noted that pay rate exceeded those of other jurisdictions.
“We are above all of them,” she said, “and none of the others pay overtime.”
DeLuca also questioned part-time salaries for the fire department. Knapp noted that part-time employees were scheduled to receive a pay increase and COLA, based on pay tables outlined in the union agreement.
“The fire department will be coming before you on the 31st with a pretty good new program to try and attract new part-time positions through incentive training. I think that will help make the difference,” McGean added. “We have to be very careful about what we do. Because those salaries are tied to the union, we are limited to what we can and cannot do with those. But I believe the training program they’ll bring to you on the 31st will make a big difference.”
DeLuca told staff this week he did not support a 3% COLA, as it gave raises to all employees regardless of performance. McGean, however, said a mid-point calculator of 3.5% was based on merit.
“In the past, because there was no COLA, the mid-point calculator of 3.5% was almost treated as one,” he explained. “What I told department heads was that now that we’re giving a COLA, the 3.5% should be much more based on merit.”
Councilman John Gehrig shared DeLuca’s concerns. He said he would rather see the town provide more to employees who deserve it than to new hires or poor performers. McGean said that was what the town was working toward.
“We’re coming in, realistically, as close as we can to that,” he said.
Officials noted, however, that the town continues to struggle with new hires. McGean said that was why staff had recommended an adjustment to the pay tables and a 3% COLA.
“We’re struggling now because we are having to bring in new hires close to the midpoint,” he explained. “So you can bring in somebody brand new who’s now making more than someone who’s arguably just as talented, just as good, who’s been here for five years. Unless we do something about shifting these scales up, we’re just going to become more and more a victim to that.”
Callan agreed.
“We’re having a really difficult time. Every offer is a counteroffer, a back and forth,” she said. “I think a majority of our employees do deserve a COLA and a little bit of a merit. I hate to withhold it from everyone because of the very few. We don’t treat our collective bargaining units with a merit. They get across the board [increases] and it wasn’t questioned.”
While he acknowledged Gehrig’s concerns about the cost-of-living adjustment, he said other things were being done to reward those good employees.
“It’s not just if you have a pulse, you get a raise …,” he said. “This is the combination of bringing everybody up to some extent but also allowing flexibility to reward or penalize our good and bad performers.”
For his part, Council President Matt James questioned if the fire department still struggled to recruit part-time employees. McGean said that was still the case, but that the department was exploring a new program that could help.
“We would hire a firefighter, straight out of school, and we would train them to be a paramedic-EMT in exchange for them working a specific number of hours for us on a part-time basis once they become certified …,” he explained. “I thought it was a great way to increase our part-time pool.”
James, however, argued that little had been done to hire part-time employees. He said he wanted to see the department’s recruitment efforts when they presented the new program at the Oct. 31 Mayor and Council meeting.
“Up until middle or end of August there was very minimal effort to hire part-time employees in the fire department,” he said. “So I’d like to see what has occurred since then.”
Callan argued that the fire department had made efforts to recruit part-time employees.
“Honestly, it’s not a lack of interest,” she said. “It’s once folks are on board, getting the hours worked because they are usually working other jobs that take precedence.”
After further discussion, the council voted 6-0, with Councilwoman Carol Proctor absent, to approve the pay table increases, reclassifications and seasonal incentives provided by staff.