Committee recommends employee handbook changes including higher uniform allowance and altered substance-abuse language

The Ways and Means Committee voted to recommend amendments to the employee handbook to the Board of Aldermen on May 7.

Tangela, the staff member who presented the revisions, said the packet replaces an older mayoral letter, updates the list of aldermen and refines page numbering. She said the promotion section (Exhibit A) was expanded “to reflect what was inside of the general orders for police as well as the fire department's book” and that the draft lists promotion requirements for each category.

Tangela described changes to the uniform allowance: the committee agreed to increase the allowance to $1,000 per employee. Tangela said that staff described the cost as an additional amount for the current year covering filled and vacant positions; staff noted there are 33 positions in the police department and 22 in the fire department. The packet also includes an education benefit increase “to go up to $3,500 in FY26.”

On substance-abuse policy (Exhibit C), Tangela said the major change was removal of a subsection that said public-safety employees were ineligible for rehabilitation and that a positive test was grounds for immediate termination. The handbook retains the procedure that any positive test must be confirmed through a physician’s order, she said.

A motion to recommend the handbook amendments was moved and seconded. The committee recorded the motion as carrying by a vote of 3 to 0. Staff said the draft handbook and the proposed mayoral letter will be forwarded to the Board of Aldermen for final action.

The committee asked staff to circulate the revised handbook and the new mayoral letter to board members before the Board of Aldermen meeting.