The Board is to be known as the "Personnel Advisory
Board," hereinafter to be referred to as the "Board."
The Board is to be made up of five members to
be appointed by the Board of Selectmen for staggered three year-terms.
Initially, two members shall be appointed for three years, two members
for two years and one member for one year. Four members of the Board
appointed by the Board of Selectmen shall make application to the
Town Clerk as required for any committee, but shall not be a Town
employee or Town official. One member of the Board shall be appointed
by the Selectmen from eligible full-time employees.
A Chairman and Secretary of the Board shall
be elected by the members from their membership at their first meeting
after each Annual Town Meeting.
All votes by the Board shall be recorded by
the Secretary. All votes shall have a minimum majority of three members'
votes. The minutes of each meeting shall be read at the next meeting
and approved and signed by a majority of the members. The original
copy of the Secretary's minutes of every meeting shall be kept as
a permanent record, excepting matters discussed while in executive
session. These permanent records are to be kept by the Town Clerk
with a copy to the Board of Selectmen.
Any vacancy that occurs on the Board between
annual appointments shall be filled by an alternate approved by the
Board of Selectmen from a list of candidates on file. This alternate
will serve until the vacant term is over.
The members shall serve with no compensation.
The cost of the operation of the Board shall
be paid by the Town of Wells and, where applicable, shall be chargeable
to the department for which the expense may have been incurred.
Expenditures of any moneys appropriated for
the operation of the Board shall be handled by the Town Treasurer.
All bills shall be approved and signed by a majority of the members
before any payment by the Town Treasurer.
[Amended 11-7-2000; 4-27-2007; 1-18-2022]
The Personnel Advisory Board acts in an advisory capacity to the Town Manager in the establishment and administration of personnel policies under this chapter. The Town Manager shall meet with the Board regularly and shall inform the Board of matters arising under these policies. The Board may prepare an annual wage scale as established in §
49-24 of this chapter and review fringe benefits and other personnel issues as requested by the Town Manager or the Board of Selectmen.
[Amended 4-29-1995; 4-26-1996; 4-19-1997; 4-17-1999; 11-7-2000; 1-22-2002; 4-16-2004; 4-28-2006]
The policies in this chapter shall apply to
all municipal employees with the following exceptions:
A. Employees of the Community School District, including
certified employees, are not municipal employees and are not covered
by this chapter.
B. Municipal employees covered by a collective bargaining
agreement shall be covered by the terms of the applicable collective
bargaining agreement, established through the negotiation process.
Therefore, the terms and conditions of employment for employees covered
by this chapter may differ from those for employees covered by a collective
bargaining agreement.
C. The Town Manager shall not be covered by this chapter.
The Manager is responsible to the Board of Selectmen and shall have
the powers, duties and employment terms established by the Board of
Selectmen and applicable Maine law.
D. The hiring process for employees subject to the exceptions in Subsections
A through
C shall not be subject to this policy.
[Amended 9-1-2015; 10-2-2018]
A. Regular full-time employees are eligible for benefits as provided
herein. Regular part-time employees whose normal workweek is at least
20 hours per week on an annual basis are eligible for the benefits
provided on a pro rata basis, except as otherwise provided. Unless
these policies provide otherwise, regular part-time employees whose
normal workweek consists of 30 to 39 hours per week are eligible for
75% of the benefits available to full-time employees, and regular
part-time employees whose normal workweek consists of 20 to 29 hours
per week are eligible for 50% of the benefits available to full-time
employees. Part-time employees whose normal workweek is less than
20 hours per week, temporary employees and seasonal employees are
paid for hours actually worked, including overtime hours when applicable,
but are not eligible for benefits except for workers' compensation,
Social Security and unemployment compensation insurance as required
by law, and as otherwise provided by law.
B. Notwithstanding the employee designations set forth in §
49-12 herein, or the eligibility for benefits standards set forth above, temporary and seasonal employees are not entitled to any benefits provided in this Code or in the Town personnel handbook, regardless of the hours worked or scheduled weekly or annually. Contract employees are eligible for benefits only to the extent specified in the employment contract or as required by law. Definite-term employees are not eligible for any benefits provided in this Code or in the Town personnel handbook, regardless of the hours worked or scheduled weekly or annually, unless such benefits are specifically approved and granted, in writing, signed by the Town Manager at the time of hire or appointment. Upon adoption of this Code provision, the limitations on benefits eligibility set forth herein apply to both current and future employees, as applicable.
[Amended 4-27-2007; 2-3-2015; 11-5-2019; 5-4-2021]
A. Regular, hourly employees covered under this chapter
are entitled to the following vacation benefits:
(1) After one consecutive year of employment, 10 days
of paid vacation (following probation accrued time can be taken).
(2) After three years of consecutive employment, 12 days of paid vacation.
(3) After five years of consecutive employment, 15 days
of paid vacation.
(4) After 10 years of consecutive employment, 18 days of paid vacation.
(5) After 15 years of consecutive employment, 22 days
of paid vacation.
(6) After 20 years of consecutive employment, 25 days of paid vacation.
(7) Eligible regular part-time employees will receive either 75% or 50% of this benefit as described in §
49-13.
B. Regular,
salaried employees covered under this chapter are entitled to the
following vacation benefits:
(1) After
one consecutive year of employment, 15 days of paid vacation (following
probation accrued time can be taken).
(2) After
three years of consecutive employment, 18 days of paid vacation.
(3) After
five years of consecutive employment, 20 days of paid vacation.
(4) After
10 years of consecutive employment, 22 days of paid vacation.
(5) After
20 years of consecutive employment, 25 days of paid vacation.
C. Accrued vacation must be taken within one year after
the anniversary date on which it is accrued, except for the following:
A maximum equaling the annual accrual amount may be carried over from
one year to the next. Carryover days shall not accumulate on a year-to-year
basis. For example: If the employee accrues 10 days of vacation annually,
a maximum of 10 days may be carried over to a new year. If the employee
accrues 15 days of vacation, a maximum of 15 days may be carried over
to a new year, and so on. In extraordinary circumstances, the Town
Manager may approve deviations from this policy in writing.
D. Vacations shall be scheduled at a time mutually agreed
upon between the employee and the appropriate department head or the
employee and the Town Manager. Any vacation day taken without prior
agreement by the parties will be considered an unexcused absence.
E. At the discretion of the Town Manager, a new employee may be credited
with years of service in a similar position for another employer for
the purpose of computing the annual accrual of vacation time.
F. Probationary employees accrue vacation time on a monthly basis. This
time is available for use after the six-month probation period; however,
should the employee leave employment prior to their six-month probation,
accrued vacation time will not be paid to the employee.
G. For employees
in good standing, upon separation from service, after the six-month
probationary period, accrued/unused vacation time, to a maximum of
80 hours, shall be paid to the employee, or in the event of death,
to the last known beneficiary or estate.
H. This policy
will go into effect on July 1, 2021. Any employees impacted by new
accrual rates will begin at the new rate on July 1, 2021, regardless
of date of hire. New accrual rates will not be retroactive to an employee's
date of hire.
[Amended 12-20-2016; 11-5-2019]
A. The premium for individual and family plan subscription
under the Maine Municipal Employee Health Trust Comprehensive Health
Plan or Point of Service Option or a substantially equivalent program
will be paid partially by the Town and partially by eligible employees.
Prior to the annual renewal of the health insurance, the Board of
Selectmen shall determine the Town's contribution for regular full-time
and regular part-time employees and the remaining costs shall be the
responsibility of the participating employee through payroll deductions.
Regular part-time employees whose normal workweek consists of at least
20 hours per week shall be eligible for health insurance, with the
Town paying the share of premium costs specified by the Board of Selectmen.
B. A regular full-time employee who has health insurance
coverage from another source may elect to apply 75% of the premium
cost of the health insurance for a single subscriber to obtain other
forms of insurance available through Town employment or to receive
60% of the premium cost for a single subscriber in cash on an annual
basis. To qualify for this election, the full-time employee must provide
satisfactory proof of health insurance coverage on an annual basis
and must agree to receipt of this payment in accordance with applicable
federal laws and regulations.
A part-time employee: Effective January 1, 2017, a part-time
employee who has health insurance from another source and is otherwise
eligible for benefits with the Town will be offered an employer-funded
Flexible Spending Account (FSA) with funds of $500 per year (to be
prorated based on date of hire during the year).
Pursuant to the Uniformed Services Employment
and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) (39 USC §§ 4301
- 4333), all employees who perform duty, voluntarily or involuntarily,
in the United States Armed Forces, National Guard or Coast Guard will
be granted leave to serve in the uniformed services of the United
States for a period of up to five years (not including certain involuntary
extensions of service). Employees who perform and return from service
in the Armed Forces, the Military Reserves, the National Guard or
certain Public Health Service positions will retain certain rights
with respect to reinstatement, seniority, layoffs, compensation, length
of service, promotions, and length of service pay increases, as required
by applicable federal and state law. The Board of Selectmen is authorized
to adopt a Military Leave Policy consistent with state and federal
law, which shall provide for paid leave for the first three weeks
of military leave for those employees who comply with notice and confirmation
of service requirements and provide an official statement of service
pay as follows: the employee shall receive from the Town the difference
between his/her regular wages and service pay for those first three
weeks of military leave. The Board shall include such other provisions
as may be required by law or deemed appropriate by the Board of Selectmen.
All regular full-time and part-time employees
whose normal workweek consists of at least 20 hours per week shall
be evaluated following the procedure outlined in the Employee Handbook.
Evaluations shall be made part of the employee's personnel file and
be used to assist in determining merit raises.
This chapter may be amended and/or changed by
an article to be voted on at a Town Meeting. Copies of any proposed
amendment and/or changes shall be given to all Town employees covered
by this chapter.
A copy of this chapter and any amendments shall
be provided to all Town employees covered by this chapter.