AGENDA #4d
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT:Consideration of Ordinance Granting Leave and Service Credits for Employees Who Served as Apprentices
DATE: May 21, 2001
We recommend amending the Personnel Ordinance to grant service credits to Town employees who are hired after completing an apprenticeship program through the Department of Labor and the Town.
Apprenticeship programs offer structured training and work experience through agreements between an employer, the apprentice, the NC Department of Labor, and an educational institution. The apprentice learns a trade on the job and works toward becoming a skilled worker in that trade after a prescribed period of time. The apprentice is paid an hourly wage which increases as he/she gains experience.
The Town has had one apprenticeship arrangement in recent years in which a Chapel Hill High School student worked in the Inspections Department while going to school to learn to be an Inspector. The student eventually became a certified Building Inspector and was hired to fill an Inspector vacancy.
We are currently working with high school staff to recruit another student for an apprenticeship in this inspections trade position.
During the first two years of the apprenticeship the current Building Inspections apprentice worked hours equivalent to a part-time employee, and in the later two years the apprentice worked hours equivalent to a full-time employee. However, because she did not fill a regular position until she completed the apprenticeship, she received no benefits and earned no leave or credit toward longevity payments for the time she worked as an apprentice.
We recommend a change to the Personnel Ordinance dealing with apprentices. This amendment would allow Town service credit, based on hours worked, to apprentices for each year he or she worked at least 1000 hours with the Town. This credit would be granted retroactively after the apprentice completes one year of service in a position for which the apprentice program provided training. The maximum amount of credit added would be up to two years worth of vacation and sick leave time and of credit toward Town longevity service.
We further recommend that, with the adoption of this Ordinance amendment, that the Town provide 2 years of leave and Town service time credits retroactively to the Inspections Department employee who was hired into a regular full-time position following completion of the apprenticeship program.
We believe this change to the Ordinance would recognize the service of apprentices with the Town, while potentially serving as an encouragement to complete the apprenticeship and work for the Town following that completion.
RECOMMENDATION
That the Council adopt the attached amendment to the Personnel Ordinance.
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 14-58 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL (2001-05-21/O-2)
BE IT ORDAINED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill, as follows:
Section 1. Article VII, Section 14-58, Personnel Rules and Regulations, Code of Ordinances of the Town of Chapel Hill is hereby rewritten to read as follows:
"Sec. 14-58 Eligibility.
Employees of the Town shall be eligible for various benefits, as specified in this Article or in policies developed by the Manager. (When used in this article, references to the terms “families or families”, “spouse” or “dependent” also include the domestic partners of Town employees and the dependents of domestic partners, as defined in Chapter 1 of the Town Code. For purpose of this section, domestic partners must provide documents demonstrating established financial and legal ties, such as a joint mortgage, health care power of attorney, beneficiary of will or insurance policies, or other similar financial and/or legal relationships.)
An employee who has completed a formal apprentice program with the Town and then served one year as a full-time employee in a position for which the apprentice program provided training will be credited with service time for the period of the apprentice program, as specified in policies developed by the Manager.
Section 2: This ordinance is effective upon adoption.
This the 21st day of May, 2001.