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Home My WebLink About12 SUPPLEMENTAL MILITARY PAY AND BENEFITSDocuSign Envelope ID: 6EA22186-1 F25-4BFA-9167-587106976A9F MEETING DATE: TO: FROM: SUBJECT: SUMMARY AGENDA REPORT NOVEMBER 7, 2023 NICOLE BERNARD, ACTING CITY MANAGER Agenda Item 12 Reviewed: Ds City Manager nB Finance Director 9 DERICK YASUDA, DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES SUPPLEMENTAL MILITARY PAY AND BENEFITS Adoption of the attached Resolution will authorize the provision of Supplemental Military Pay and related benefits to employees who have been involuntarily called to Active Duty in the United States Armed Forces and have exhausted their paid Military Leave pursuant to State law. RECOMMENDATION Adopt Resolution No. 23-54 to authorize staff to implement a policy on Supplemental Military Pay and benefits for City employees who meet specified criteria. FISCAL IMPACT This fiscal impact will vary based on the specific employee called to Active Duty. For FY 2023-24, the cost is estimated to be approximately $45,000. Currently, Staff is not requesting any supplemental budget appropriations associated with this action. Any supplemental budget appropriations will be incorporated with the mid -year budget process, which will be presented to the City Council in February 2024. BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION The City of Tustin has a long and proud history of supporting the United States military, from serving as the home of the Marine Corps Air Station Tustin from 1942 through 1999 to recently unveiling the Veterans Memorial and Veterans Sports Park at Tustin Legacy. A number of current and former City employees are military veterans, either by serving full-time in the military prior to joining the City of Tustin or volunteering as Reserves while working full-time for the City. Over the past few decades, the City has typically had up to three full-time employees serving in the Reserves at any given time. During labor negotiations with the Tustin Police Support Services Association (TPSSA) and the Tustin Police Support Services Management Association (TPSSMA), the associations asked the City to include language in their contracts that upon notice from the Association that a represented employee has been called to Active Duty, City staff will place on the City Council Agenda a Resolution to provide supplemental pay for the DocuSign Envelope ID: 6EA22186-1 F25-4BFA-9167-587106976A9F City Council Agenda Report November 7, 2023 Supplemental Military Pay and Benefits Page 2 employee if their military pay is less than their base pay with the City. A similar provision has been in the City's MOU with the Tustin Police Officers Association (TPOA) since 2005. Rather than address this situation only for certain employee associations and for specific employees at the last minute as situations arise, staff is proposing to adopt a Citywide policy to address the rare circumstances when one of our employees is involuntarily called to Active Duty in the Armed Forces. In accordance with the Military and Veterans Code of the State of California, the City of Tustin currently provides limited compensation and benefits to City employees who serve in the Reserves of the Armed Forces of the United States of America and have been ordered to report to duty. Specifically, the City continues a City employee's full pay and benefits during the first thirty (30) days of Active Duty or Temporary Duty in the military, up to maximum of thirty (30) days of paid Military Leave per fiscal year, as long as the employee has been employed by the City for at least one year immediately prior to taking Military Leave. Over the past two decades, it has been extremely rare that a City employee has been ordered to Active Duty for a period in excess of thirty (30) days. In the immediate aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, three of our employees were called to Active Duty for approximately one year between 2002 and 2005. Since that time, the City has not had a single employee called to Active Duty until this year. This year, a civilian employee of the Police Department was ordered involuntarily to Active Duty for a period of 12 months, which is causing a financial hardship for the employee. This occurrence is what prompted TPSSA and TPSSMA's request for supplemental Military Leave pay. Under the proposed Resolution, the City would provide supplemental compensation to a City employee who 1) has exhausted the thirty days of paid Military Leave per fiscal year provided by State law and 2) has been involuntarily ordered to Active Duty for a period in excess of thirty days. For purposes of this Resolution, "involuntarily" ordered to Active Duty means the employee is called to Active Duty without their consent and without requesting that they be provided with orders from the military. An employee who meets these criteria would be eligible to receive Supplemental Military Pay in an amount equal to the difference in their base salary with the City and the base salary with the military. In addition, the employee would be permitted to remain enrolled in the City's health insurance plan and supplemental insurance policies, with the same contribution from the City as when the employee was working prior to being called to Active Duty. DocuSign Envelope ID: 6EA22186-1 F25-4BFA-9167-587106976A9F City Council Agenda Report November 7, 2023 Supplemental Military Pay and Benefits Page 3 DocuSigned by: pry I D C�02T �94�� Director of Human Resources Attachment: 1. City Council Resolution No. 23-54 DocuSign Envelope ID: 6EA22186-1F25-4BFA-9167-587106976A9F RESOLUTION NO. 23-54 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA, PROVIDING FOR SUPPLEMENTAL MILITARY PAY AND BENEFITS FOR CITY EMPLOYEES INVOLUNTARILY CALLED TO ACTIVE DUTY WITH THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WHEREAS, in accordance with the provisions of the Military and Veterans Code of the State of California, the City of Tustin currently continues a City employee's full pay and benefits during the first thirty (30) days of Active Duty in the military, up to maximum of thirty (30) days of paid Military Leave per fiscal year, to City employees who serve in the Reserves of the Armed Forces of the United States of America and have been ordered to report to Active Duty; WHEREAS, some City employees may be involuntarily called to Active Duty for a an extended period in excess of thirty (30) days; and WHEREAS, the City of Tustin has a proud history of supporting the Armed Forces of the United States of America; and WHEREAS, the City of Tustin believes it is in the public interest to assist its employees serving in the Reserves of the Armed Forces and to alleviate financial hardships which those employees and their families may experience as a result of the employees being involuntarily called to Active Duty; and WHEREAS, the City of Tustin wishes to provide additional benefits for City employees who have been involuntarily called to Active Duty for greater than thirty (30) days. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT: 1. A City employee who has been called to involuntary active duty with the Armed Forces of the United States of America and who has exhausted their fully paid Military Leave shall be entitled to Supplemental Military Pay for the period of absence on Active Duty in excess of the period covered by fully paid Military Leave. Supplemental Military Pay is defined as the difference in the employee's base salary with the City and the employee's base salary with the military if the employee's base salary with the City is greater than the employee's base salary with the military. 2. The City shall provide continued coverage in the City's group health insurance and supplemental insurance policies to the same extent as the employee had when called to Active Duty. Resolution 23-54 Page 1 of 3 DocuSign Envelope ID: 6EA22186-1 F25-4BFA-9167-587106976A9F 3. For purposes of this Resolution, an employee is "involuntarily" called to Active Duty if the employee is ordered to Active Duty without their consent and without the employee initiating the request to be provided with orders from the military. 4. The Director of Human Resources is hereby authorized and directed to establish policies and procedures necessary to implement the intent of this resolution. The City shall not provide any Supplemental Military Pay or continued insurance coverage until and unless the employee who requests such benefits complies with such policies and procedures. PASSED AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Tustin held on the 7t" day of November 2023. AUSTIN LUMBARD, Mayor ATTEST: ERICA N. YASUDA, City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM: F cuSigned by: Z179 DA $ AKDEI DIG, City Attorney Resolution 23-54 Page 2 of 3 DocuSign Envelope ID: 6EA22186-1 F25-4BFA-9167-587106976A9F STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF ORANGE 1 SS CITY OF TUSTIN I, Erica N. Yasuda, City Clerk and ex-officio Clerk of the City Council of the City of Tustin, California, do hereby certify that the whole number of the members of the City Council of the City of Tustin is five; that the above and foregoing Resolution No. 23-54 was duly passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Tustin City Council, held on the 7t" day of November 2023, by the following vote: COUNCILMEMBER AYES: COUNCILMEMBER NOES: COUNCILMEMBER ABSTAINED: COUNCILMEMBER ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBER RECUSED: ERICA N. YASUDA, City Clerk Resolution 23-54 Page 3 of 3