To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Fritz Sprague, Deputy Town Manager
Title
Ordinance Amending Section 2.06.010.B of the Castle Rock Municipal Code to Include the Day After Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve as Legal Holidays (Second Reading - Approved on First Reading on September 5, 2017 by a vote of 6-0)
Body
________________________________________________________________________________
Executive Summary
The First Reading was approved with no changes by a vote of 6 to 0 at the September 5, 2017 Council meeting.
A recommendation was made to Town Council on September 5, 2017 to amend the Municipal Code to include the day after Thanksgiving and a half day on Christmas Eve (when it falls on a Monday through Friday) as legal holidays. It is further recommended to implement this proposal in 2017.
Discussion
The recommendation was made following feedback from an employee survey conducted by Mountain States Employers Council (MSEC) in November of 2016 to evaluate how staff viewed working for the Town. One organizational theme that emerged from the survey was an evaluation of Town holidays to bring them more in line with what was customary in other jurisdictions.
Currently, the Town has established nine legal holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Veteran’s Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
Benchmark jurisdictions were surveyed and 18 out of 19 provide the day after Thanksgiving off to employees and close general government. From the same 19 benchmarks, six designate the entire day of Christmas Eve as a holiday and close on this day, six close at noon on this day, and seven remain open. Benchmark data clearly supports authorizing the day after Thanksgiving off as a Town holiday. Benchmark data also supports authorizing a half day off for Christmas Eve as a Town holiday.
Budget Considerations and Council Questions
Given that minimal business is conducted on these two days, closing general government would cause little disruption to customers. The cost lies in holiday pay for employees on duty during the holiday, namely public safety and some employees that would be on working in recreation and potentially golf, weather permitting. There might be some cost in Public Works and Water if staff is called in on a holiday for work purposes.
Based upon real costs from previous holidays, the cost for one day of closure in 2017 would be an estimated $63,000 and the cost for a half day closure would be $31,500. This is due to paying those employees who have to work on the holiday due to the nature of their business (Police, Fire and some Recreation).
Council made a few inquiries regarding this proposal and the following is in response to those questions:
Would organizational leadership be available during this holiday?
Yes, organizational leadership manages coverage for every Town holiday. It is the expectation that executives plan for sufficient coverage if there is an emergency or issue requiring executive level attention. This is the expectation for any time a holiday occurs or while on vacation.
How are holidays paid?
The Town simplified this and created the most equitable approach for legal holidays by paying every full time employee eight hours holiday pay (12 hours for Fire line staff) for each full day holiday, whether the employee gets the day off or is required to work. For example, if an employee is not required to work on the holiday, they simply receive holiday pay. If they are required to work (such as Police, Fire, Recreation, etc.) they are paid for their time worked and also receive the holiday pay. (Holiday pay does not count toward overtime - overtime is only paid based on actual hours worked).
Since the Town provides so many services and shifts vary due to the variety of work, here are some examples of how holidays are paid.
Examples of how holidays work in different holidays are as follows:
• Firefighters working a 24 hour shift are paid for that 24 hour shift. They are also paid 12 hours holiday pay because of the nature of their shift.
• Police Officers working four, ten hour shifts are paid for 10 hours worked. They are also paid eight hours of holiday pay.
• A General Employee working eight hours will receive pay for eight hours worked, in addition to the holiday pay.
What holidays are the Recreation Center and Mac Closed?
The MAC and Recreation Center are closed on: New Year’s Day, Easter Sunday, July 4, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
The MAC and Recreation Center close earlier at 2 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, Memorial Day, Labor Day and Christmas Eve.
I hope the aforementioned responses to Council questions are helpful.
Staff Recommendation
We recommend implementing the day off after Thanksgiving starting in 2017. We further recommend implementing a half day off on Christmas Eve and having this holiday observed when it falls on a Monday through Friday. Since Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday in 2017, it will not be observed as a Town holiday and would be of no cost to the Town this year.
Proposed Motion
“I move to approve Ordinance 2017-026 amending section 2.06.010.B of the Castle Rock Municipal Code to include the day after Thanksgiving and a half day on Christmas Eve as legal holidays, on second reading.”
Attachments
Attachment A: Ordinance
Attachment B: Benchmark data