The hours of work constituting full time regular employment for employees of the City of Tacoma shall be determined for each class of work in each department of General Government and in each division in the Department of Public Utilities by the head of such departments or divisions, subject to the approval of the City Manager or Director of Utilities, as the case may be; provided, however, that the minimum work week for all classes of employment, except Fire Service employees, shall average 40 hours. Effective January 1, 2004, the average minimum work week for Fire Service employees shall be 46.1 hours except for Fire Chief, Deputy Fire Chief, Assistant Fire Chief, Deputy Fire Marshal, Fire Inspector, Fire-Lieutenant Dispatcher, Fire-Captain Dispatcher, Emergency Medical Services Administrator, Deputy Harbor Master and employees when assigned to a unit where the minimum working week shall average 40 hours. When shifts are shortened or lengthened due to daylight savings time change, employees on duty will receive their regular hours of pay at the straight time rate.
(Ord. 16811 § 1, 1961-05-23; Ord. 17727 § 8, 1964-12-08; Ord. 18193 § 2A, 1966-12-20; Ord. 18548 § 1, 1968-04-23; Ord. 18837 § 1, 1969-06-10; Ord. 19364 § 2, 1971-06-08; Ord. 19729 § 4, 1972-12-26; Ord. 20026 § 7, 1973-12-26; Ord. 20698 § 3, 1976-04-13; Ord. 20937 § 8, 1976-12-21; Ord. 22624 § 3, 1982-01-26; Ord. 22847 § 3, 1982-12-28; Ord. 22947 § 2, 1983-06-28; Ord. 23111 § 12, 1984-02-07; Ord. 23324 § 2, 1985-01-08; Ord. 23446 § 3, 1985-08-06; Ord. 27962 § 1, 2010-12-14)
A. 
Meal periods.
1. 
Employees who work more than 4 consecutive hours shall be allowed one unpaid meal period of at least 30 minutes, which commences no less than 2 hours nor more than 5 hours from the beginning of the shift.
2. 
No employee shall be required to work more than 5 consecutive hours without a meal period.
3. 
Employees working 3 or more hours longer than a normal shift shall be allowed at least one unpaid, 30-minute meal period prior to or during the overtime period.
B. 
Rest periods.
1. 
Employees shall be allowed a paid rest period of not less than 15 minutes for each 4 hours of working time.
2. 
No employee shall be required to work more than 3 hours without a rest period.
3. 
Employees working in the field may take their rest periods when convenient so long as the orderly progress of work is not unduly interrupted and subject to approval by management.
4. 
Where the nature of the work allows employees to take intermittent rest periods equivalent to 15 minutes within a 4-hour period, scheduled rest periods are not required.
C. 
The provisions regarding meal and rest periods set forth above may be otherwise modified as provided for in a collective bargaining agreement.
(Ord. 27081 § 1, 2003-05-13)
Employees are paid on a biweekly basis. Effective January 1, 2002, newly hired employees will be required to receive biweekly wages by direct deposit.
(Ord. 26912 § 4, 2001-12-18)
The prescribed rates of pay include payment for all work performed in those classes even though work may be performed in more than one department. Each department shall pay its proportionate share of such services and the total compensation received by such employee shall not exceed the prescribed rate being received by the employee.
(Ord. 15751 § 5.3, 1956-12-17)
The pay rates for all classes of employment as specified in this chapter are gross compensation for full-time employment in the City service. The pay rates for the Police Court Judge and the Police Court Clerk shall include compensation paid by Pierce County as provided by law and the balance of their salaries shall be paid by the City.
(Ord. 16670 § 9, 1960-12-13)
In the event of emergencies or in unforeseen conditions, a greater number of persons than designated in the budget to be employed in any said position may be employed or a new position for which a salary range has not been established may be created by Council action in the form of an amendment to the Compensation Plan; provided, that nothing herein contained shall be construed as requiring the continual employment of all offices or employees designated in said annual budgets, regardless of the actual necessity for their services, but whenever the force of employees in any department can, in the interest of economy and consistent with the public interest, be reduced the City Manager or the Director of Utilities, as the case may be, may take such action as he deems necessary and make such reduction in a manner consistent with the Civil Service and Personnel Rules. Whenever it becomes necessary to increase the number of employees or positions or to create new positions in excess of the number provided for in the applicable annual budgets, separate authority therefor shall be by administrative direction of either the City Manager or the Director of Utilities, subject to limitations of State law relating to budgets. When any changes in the number of positions, the creation of a new position, or the classification or reclassification of the same are required to be made under the provisions of this chapter or under the provisions of Chapter 1.24, by reason of the promotion, transfer, reemployment and the return of an employee after leave of absence or by reason of the classification or reclassification of a position, the creation of a new position, or as a result of a Council approved reorganization of any department of the City, such actions may be accomplished if the compensation required to be paid the employees on account of such changes can lawfully be made from funds appropriated in the current annual budget under the general item of salaries and wages, without exceeding such appropriation.
(Ord. 16940 § 5, 1961-12-19)
A. 
The payroll periods shall be on a biweekly basis.
B. 
When necessary to convert the salary of employees to a biweekly scale the hourly rate shall be multiplied by 80 to obtain such biweekly scale.
C. 
For employees who are members of the Fire Service and not working a 40-hour week, the daily rate shall be computed by multiplying the hourly rate as computed herein, by 12. The hourly rate for the purpose of overtime shall be computed by dividing the biweekly rate by 95 effective January 1, 1983 and by 94 effective January 1, 1984.
The daily and hourly rates above provided for shall be rounded to the next highest tenth of a cent.
D. 
Employees on annual work schedules and having variable working days in the payroll periods and who are paid the biweekly rate of pay each payroll period, shall have any time lost from their work schedule deducted from the biweekly rate in computing the pay for any such payroll period.
(Ord. 16940 § 6, 1961-12-19; Ord. 17227 § 4, 1962-12-18; Ord. 17838 § 3, 1965-05-11; Ord. 18193 § 2B, 1966-12-20; Ord. 18837 § 2, 1969-06-10; Ord. 19318 § 1, 1971-04-06; Ord. 19493 § 3, 1971-12-28; Ord. 19729 § 5, 1972-12-26; Ord. 22876 § 1, 1983-02-22)
The Human Resources Director shall check all payrolls to determine that all persons in the City service have been properly appointed and are being paid in accordance with the provisions of the compensation ordinances of the City. After such determination has been made the Human Resources Director shall certify such fact to the Director of Finance which shall be sufficient authority for the Director of Finance to execute warrants for salaries as provided by ordinance, within limitations of the annual budget.
(Ord. 15751 § 5.7, 1956-12-17; Subst. Ord. 28862 Ex. A, 2022-12-13)
The City hereby adopts the following awards programs in recognition of service by officers and employees of the City in accordance with the following rules and regulations:
A. 
Length of service. An award may be given to an officer or employee who has completed aggregate City service equal to 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 years respectively on or after January 1, 1986. In addition to the recognition award, the officer or employee may be awarded an appropriately worded certificate signed by the Mayor and the City Manager or the Director of Utilities, as the case may be. Awards shall be presented as close as possible to the first of each year.
The administration of this program shall be the responsibility of the Human Resources Director.
B. 
Outstanding service.
1. 
The Human Resources Department may establish programs in recognition of outstanding service by employees and may provide appropriate recognition, including a certificate and/or other items of nominal value, or an employee may be granted up to four incentive days per year. “Incentive day” means a day which is available for use and is administered in the same way as a floating holiday, as set forth in Tacoma Municipal Code Sections 1.12.200 and 1.12.210.
2. 
Expenditures, pursuant to this section, shall constitute additional compensation to the individual recipients of such award over and above that specified elsewhere in this chapter.
C. 
Employee incentive program. The Department of Public Utilities may reward an incentive bonus to its eligible participating employees for their contribution to the achievement of department goals. The bonus would be one incentive day for achieving 51 percent to 65 percent of department goals, two incentive days for 66 percent to 80 percent achievement, three incentive days for 81 percent to 99 percent, and a maximum of four incentive days for meeting all stated goals. The program year will be January 1 through December 31 with reward occurring at the end of January of the following year. For the purposes of this section, the following words shall mean:
“Achievement of department goals”
means the determination by the Director of Utilities after reporting to the Public Utility Board that the strategic plan or other goals that have been promulgated in writing by the Director by March 31 of the program year have been substantially satisfied.
“Eligible participating employee”
means a City employee that:
1. 
Is an employee of or works for the Department of Public Utilities and has been at said status for at least six months prior to December 31 of the program year; and
2. 
Has not had any days of disciplinary suspension during the program year.
“Incentive day”
means a day which is available for use and is administered in the same way as a floating holiday, as set forth in Sections 1.12.200 and 1.12.210, or equivalent cash in lieu thereof.
D. 
Wellness program. Employees may be eligible for financial and/or other incentives for participation and achievement of goals as determined by the Wellness Committee.
(Ord. 23757 § 1, 1986-12-16; Ord. 24822 § 1, 1991-01-22; Ord. 25645 § 13, 1994-12-13; Ord. 26182 § 4, 1997-12-16; Ord. 27033 § 8, 2002-12-17; Ord. 27698 § 2, 2008-03-25; Ord. 28263 Ex. A, 2014-12-09)
A. 
Effective January 1, 1987, and annually thereafter, the City of Tacoma hereby adopts the following program of awards in recognition of the safe operation of City-owned motor vehicles by employees of the City in accordance with the following rules and regulations:
1. 
Safe driving recognized. To be eligible for an award, an employee must have been responsible for the operation of a motor vehicle during at least 50 percent of the working days for 12 consecutive months without a preventable accident.
2. 
Awards. An award shall consist of either a certificate or a pin or alternate item, to be granted for at least 12 months of accident-free driving or for such additional periods of safe driving as may be considered necessary for the development of the fleet safety program by the City Manager.
3. 
Presentation. Awards shall be presented annually to employees entitled thereto.
B. 
The administration of this program shall be the responsibility of the Personnel/Labor Relations Director.
(Ord. 16420 § 1, 1959-09-01; Ord. 23757 § 2, 1986-12-16)