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Home My WebLink About4071 ORDINANCE NO. ? / AN ORDINANCE establishing an employee suggestion awards program, and repealing Ordinance #364]. THE CITY OF BREMERTON DOES ORDAIN: SECTION 1: ESTABLISHMENT AND INTENT - There is hereby established an employee suggestion award program in o£der to stimulate suggestions from city employees which will be of benefit to the City of Bremerton. SECTION 2: DEFINITIONS - As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise: (1) "Board" means the employee suggestion awards board. (2) "Program" means the program developed under this chapter. (3) "Employee" is any person employed by the City of Bremerton and occupying an authorized budget position but not including management personnel or officers of the City, except as provided at Section 6, infra. (4) "Agency" means and includes every subdivision of the legislative, judicial and executive branches of the City government. (5) "Eligible suggestions" are those which fulfill the criteria for submission and have been submitted in conformance to procedures for submission herein established. (6) "Business days" shall mean the normal office hours and day~ oi,tne Director of Admini.~trative Services/City Clerk (as elsewhere defi~ed by Bremerton MUni~[pal Code §2.40.010. SECTION 3~ AD~4INISTRATION - Suggestion Award Board - (1) There shall be created a Suggestion Award Board composed of five members, as follows: The Director of Administrative Services/City Clerk, ~re C~ief, CSty En§~neer, U~e (]) Non-Uniformed Employee Representative and one (l) Uniiiormed Employee representative. The administration of the program is vested in this Board. (~i), The 6oar~isnall elect an,~ually a Chairperson~fron~-among its~ ,n~abers. The Board shall mee~ in regular session at least-oil, ce each quarter. Aoditional meetings may De called by the- Chairperson. . 1 A majority of the members of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of all business; provided, however, a majority vote of the members of the Board shall be necessary in order to adopt any motion or resolution with reference to the making of awards. The Chairperson shall keep minutes of Board meetings and other such records as the Board may deem necessary for its proper function. (3) The Board shall prepare an annual report covering the preceding calendar year. This report shall be submitted to both the City Council and the Mayor, and shall include: (a) Information concerning suggestions approved for monetary and commendatory awards; (b) Total amounts awarded; (c) Administrative costs of the program; (d) Measurable savings to the City; and (e) Other information and statistical data deemed pertinent by the Board. (4) The Board shall establish a means by which suggestions may be submitted, during business days, directly to it for consideration. This method of submission shall be announced to all department or agency heads and shall be in addition to the transmittal of suggestion by the department heads as described elsewhere in this chapter. SECTION 4: CRITERIA FOR SUBMISSION OF SUGGESTIONS - Participation in the program shall be limited to those employees who submit a suggestion in accordance with the following regulations: (1) To be eligible for a money award, a suggestion must make possible an extension of public service commensurate with the expense involved or an elimination or reduction of City expenditures without substantially impairing such servJce~ or provide a desirable safety factor. (2) Employees shall nat be eligible for an award fo~ suggestions pertaining to subjects assigned for research or development or to problems assigned for solution or which such employee would normally be expected to offer in line of duty. (3) The suggestion must propose a change which was not under active consideration by the City agency affected at the time the suggestion was made. (4) Employees shall not be eligible for an award for suggestions pertaining to subjects in which the suggestor, either directly or indirectly, has a proprietary interest. (5) If duplicate suggestions are submitted, only the first received by the Board shall be eligible for an award. SECTION 5: PROCEDURE FOR MAKING AND CONSIDERING SUGGESTIONS - The following procedure for making and consideration of suggestions is established: (1) Suggestions may be submitted to the individual employee's department or agency head for transferral to the Board or by any other method established by the Board pursuant to this chapter. (2) Suggestions shall be submitted in a legible form and shall include: (a) A specific state~ent of what is suggested and how it can be accompl~shsd! (b) A brief statement describing the present methods, practices or problem; and (c) A statement of the potential of the savings, improved services or benefits which will occur from the adoption of the suggestion. (3) Suggestions must be signed and each suggestor shall execute the following agreement: "In consideration of my participation in the Suggestion Award Program, I hereby agree that the use by the City of Bremerton of my suggestion concerning ... shall not be the basis of a claim of a~]y nature against the City of Bremerton by me, my heirs, executor or assigns." (4) The Board shall record and acknowledge receipt of eligible suggestions; shall advise the suggestors of any undue delay in the consideration thereof, and shall notify the suggestor of action taken as soon as final consideration has been had. (5) Eligible suggestions may be referred for consideration to the city agency cr departments affected, which shall within sixty days thereafter, report its findings and recommendations to the Board. The departmental repart shall indicate whether or nat a suggestion has been adopted and the actual or estimated reduction of expenditures or the value thereof to the City. (6) The Board shall evaluate each eligible suggestion, taking into consideration departmental or agency action and the intent of the program; and it shall formulate and transmit to the City Council an official recommendation covering the justifications of each suggestion that merits an award and the type and amount thereof. A suggestion which has been put into effect by the City agency concerned must be submitted to the Board for award consideration. (7) The City Council, upon approval of a recommendation of the Board, may authorize a money award or an appropriate commendation. (8) A suggestor may file a written request to the City Council for reconsideration of an adopted suggestion which had been rejected by the Board. Other unadopted rejected suggestions subsequently adopted may be resubmitted to the Board in the regular manner. (9) The City Council may request of the City Auditor, through the Audit Committee, a cost benefit analysis of the program or a specific award. SECTION 6: CERTIFICATES OF MERIT - The Board may issue certificates of merit in such form and manner as they determine. Such certificates may be in addition to or in lieu of cash awards. Management personnel of the City of Bremerton shall not be eligible for cash awards from the employee suggestion award program but are~at the discretion of the Board, eligible for certificates of merit. SECTION 7: CASH AWARDS - AMOUNT - No cash award shall be for less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) or for more than the maximum amount of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), and shall be calculated as follows: (1) Awards for suggestions which will result in demonstrable savings of money shall be approximately ten percent of the estimated value to the City of the suggestion during the first year following its adoption, as determined by the Board. (2) Suggestions which will result in non-cost savings improvements, such as benefits in safety, health and welfare may be granted cash awards in amounts to be determined by the Board. The Board shall, insofar as possible, make such awards commensurate with the benefits anticipated from the suggestion, but in no event not less than twenty-five dollars nor greater than two hundred and fifty dollars. SECTION 8: PRIOR ORDINANCES REPEALED - Ordinance No. 3641 is hereby repealed. APPROVED by the City Council on the first reading this c~- day of t~~~ , 1986. PASSED by the City Council of the City of Bremerton, signed by the Mayor and attested to by the City Clerk in authentication of such passage this ~7~-~day of ~z-~,~;~ , 1986. ~E LOBE, Mayor ATTEST: KATHLEEN L. McCLUSKEY, Clefk 5