City of Franklin, NH Compensation Plan

The City Manager shall be responsible for making up a uniform and equitable Compensation Plan for the classified service which shall consist of a minimum and maximum rate of pay for each class of position and other in-between rates as he or she considers necessary or equitable. Salary ranges shall be tied to the Classification Plan and will be determined with due regard to ranges of pay for other classes, prevailing rates of pay for comparable work and other public and private employment in the area, suggestions of department heads and other benefits received by employees, the financial policy of the City and other economic considerations. An independent evaluation of the Classification and/or Compensation Plans (salary study) shall be completed periodically as determined by the City Manager. Cost-of-living factors shall be over and above all salary ranges.

The Compensation Plan shall be submitted by the City Manager to the City Council for adoption. After adoption by the Council, no position shall be assigned a higher salary than the maximum or lower than the minimum salary provided for the class of position unless the salary schedule for the class is changed with City Council approval.

Employees in the classified service who are receiving less than the minimum rate for the class position which they hold, on the effective date of the Compensation Plan, shall be increased to the minimum rate of the Compensation Plan. Employees whose salaries are in excess of the maximum rate assigned to the class at which their positions are allocated shall thereafter receive the same rate but will not be eligible to receive any further increase until they come into a position which has a higher maximum rate. If such a rate is other than an established step of the range it shall be increased to the next established step.

Amendments to the Compensation Plan will be recommended to the Council by the City Manager when changes in responsibility or work of classes, rates of pay, the City's financial position and policies or other information warrant such action. Cost-of-living adjustments will be subject to Council action on an annual basis.

A.

Appointment rates. The minimum rate of pay for a class shall normally be paid upon appointment to a position within the class. Appointment rates above the minimum rate may be paid with the approval of the City Manager. Justification for approval will be limited to recognition of qualification and experience beyond entry level position of the appointee or the lack of the ability to attract qualified persons at the minimum rate.

B.

Wage/salary increases.

(1)

Salary adjustments within established ranges in the approved budget shall not be automatic but shall be based upon the merit system as recommended by the department head and approved by the City Manager.

(2)

Subject to approved fiscal year funding in an approved budget, all City full-time employees and regularly scheduled part-time employees may be awarded merit pay raises in the form of steps (normally one) within the appropriate labor grade, which shall primarily be based upon the performance evaluation for the preceding anniversary year. Rarely, the Manager may award one additional step to employees demonstrating truly exceptional merit above their peers.

(3)

Merit increases shall be effective on the first Sunday following the hire date anniversary of employees. For employees who are promoted to a position on a higher labor grade, the promotion anniversary date shall be used for pay purposes rather than the hire date anniversary.

(4)

Promotions from one job classification to another may be made by the Manager at any time, provided that an approved, funded vacancy exists. Promoted employees shall be subject to a six-month performance probation period, during which time unsatisfactory performance may be grounds for demotion or termination of employees.

(5)

Employee performance appraisals shall be completed annually immediately prior to the hire date (or promotion date) anniversary for every employee. Newly appointed employees shall be reviewed prior to the six-month anniversary and annually thereafter.

C.

Overtime payment.

(1)

Nonexempt employees.

(a)

All employees not exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) shall be paid at 1.5 times their normal hourly rates for each hour or portion thereof actually worked in excess of 40 hours worked in a workweek. In the Fire Department, for rotating shift personnel working the forty-two-hour average week on an eight-week cycle, hours worked outside of the scheduled or assigned work shift shall be considered overtime. The City's workweek is defined as from 12:01 a.m. Sunday morning to 12:00 midnight Saturday. A workday is defined as from 12:01 a.m. until 12:00 midnight. For the purpose of overtime pay calculation, all paid holidays, bereavement leave and all absences charged against an employee's accrued leave balances shall be counted as hours worked. Absences not charged to accrued leave balances, such as administrative leave or leave without pay, shall not count as hours worked in a week. Hours paid at the overtime rate shall not be counted as hours worked for the purpose of qualifying for any additional overtime pay.

(b)

Overtime is not authorized unless approved in advance by the employee's immediate supervisor. Any overtime worked without such advance approval shall not be paid. Supervisors may, at their discretion, issue blanket advance approval for certain specific frequently reoccurring situations. (Example: Whenever one inch of snow has accumulated, employees required to clear walkways around municipal buildings may begin such work without contacting the supervisor.) Employees are prohibited from working off the clock.

(c)

Callback pay. Employees subject to the FLSA (nonexempt employees) who have left their normal places of work at the end of their regularly scheduled shifts but who are called back to duty with no advance notice prior to the start of their next regularly scheduled shift shall be paid a minimum of two hours of pay at the rate of 1.5 times their normal hourly rates. Callback work in excess of two hours shall be paid at the rate of 1.5 times normal hourly rate times actual hours worked (to the nearest 10th of an hour). Employees called back twice or more within the initial two hours will be paid only one two-hour minimum. This policy applies only to unscheduled, emergency callbacks. Regular overtime scheduled before employees have left their place of duty shall be paid as regular overtime, even if the employees left their place of duty before returning to perform the overtime. [NOTE: This policy is applicable to those for whom callbacks are not a normal part of the job description. In departments where callbacks are part of the normal job, such as the Fire Department, departmental overtime policies apply.]

(d)

Compensatory time. The City's normal practice is to pay cash overtime. At the employee's request, department heads may authorize compensatory time off in lieu of cash payment for overtime. Compensatory time for nonexempt employees shall be paid at the same rate as cash overtime. Each hour of overtime worked is compensated by 1 1/2 hours of paid absence from work. Compensatory time may be accrued up to 20 hours; any overtime thereafter worked shall be paid in cash until the compensatory time balance has been reduced below 20 hours. With the department head's permission, compensatory time may be used in conjunction with other paid absences. When supervisors have agreed to pay compensatory time, employees' time sheets must be clearly marked to show that the overtime is to be paid as compensatory time. When compensatory time has been taken, the time sheet shall indicate the number of hours taken on the appropriate date.

(e)

Witness fees. Any off-duty police officer who must physically appear in court for matters arising out of his or her duties, including conferences with prosecution officials, hearings and complaints, depositions, parole or probation hearings, and motor vehicle hearings, or any other approved meeting location directed by or approved by his or her supervisors, shall be compensated by a minimum of three consecutive hours of the employee's overtime rate. In no event shall any more than a single three-hour premium pay period be paid to an employee for any single calendar date, regardless of the number of court appearances on any given date. However, should an officer be required to make an appearance outside of the three consecutive hours of the first appearance, which is contiguous in time, the officer shall receive overtime pay for the actual time worked. Such payment shall not apply to civil cases privately brought or similar matters where the Franklin Police Department is not an active party to the matter. In such cases, officers shall be compensated in accordance with state law, the rules of court or other applicable regulation by the outside party requesting their presence and/or participation.

(2)

Exempt employees.

(a)

Exempt employees are paid on a salary basis, and no formal workweek is established for the performance of their duties. [NOTE: All exempt employees are salaried, but not all salaried employees are necessarily exempt from the FLSA.] All elected officials are exempt from the FLSA. In addition, the positions listed below are judged to be exempt from the law under Section 13 of the FLSA. One basis for exemption is listed, but others may also apply. Any City position not listed must be considered to be a nonexempt position, and the provisions of the FLSA will apply to that position.

	Position	Exemption Basis
	City Manager Finance Director	Executive Administrative
	Planning Director	Administrative
	Assessor	Administrative
	City Clerk/Tax Collector	Administrative
	Fire Chief	Executive
	Deputy Fire Chief	Administrative
	Library Director	Executive
	Municipal Services Director	Executive
	Operations Superintendent	Administrative
	Parks and Recreation Director	Executive
	Police Chief	Executive
	Patrol Lieutenant	Administrative
	Prosecutor	Administrative

(b)

No formal overtime policies apply to exempt employees. Exempt employees are expected to be available whenever the operational control of their departments or other demands of their positions dictate their presence.

D.

Longevity benefit.

(1)

On the appropriate hire date anniversary, regular (full-time) employees shall be moved to the corresponding Longevity Pay Table. Employees moved to a Longevity Pay Table will occupy the same labor grade and step as on the previous table. The longevity pay series (2000 and 3000) award longevity payments on an hourly basis which equate to annual payments as shown below:

	Anniversary	Annual Longevity Pay
	New hire	Series 1000 (regular pay table)
	10th anniversary (120 months)	Series 2000 (annual increase of $500)
	20th anniversary (240 months)	Series 3000 (additional annual increase of $500)

E.

FLSA safe harbor. The City prohibits improper payroll deductions. In the event that an employee believes improper deduction(s) were taken from his/her paycheck, the employee should notify his or her respective department head or the City Finance Director immediately. The City will resolve and rectify, if applicable, any improper payroll deduction by the next City payday and will make every effort to ensure that any such improper deduction does not occur in the future.