Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Employee Handbook topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
La Verne staff present broad employee handbook revisions; board discusses comp time, remote work and leave donations
Summary
City staff reviewed proposed handbook changes including expanded bereavement definitions, higher comp-time caps for hourly staff and firefighters, a hybrid/remote-work section, and an employee-to-employee leave donation option; the revision was presented as Resolution 2025-01 for board review.
City human-resources staff presented a set of proposed changes to the La Verne employee handbook at the Jan. 30 Board of Mayor and Aldermen workshop, highlighting new language on bereavement, comp time, remote work, leave donations and updates to discrimination and retaliation policies.
Andrew Patton, a city staff member who led the presentation, said the revisions were developed with input from department directors and are being offered as Resolution 2025-01 to amend the employee handbook. "In our definition section for immediate family, we made some changes to include parents-in-law, step-grandparents, stepbrother and stepsister," Patton said. He added that the handbook removes the word "current" from parents and grandparents in order to broaden eligibility for bereavement leave.
Patton described changes to comp-time accrual for hourly employees: the recommended increase raises the maximum comp-time bank from 40 hours to 80 hours. He also said the handbook would add a specific comp-time cap for exempt hourly firefighters on a 48-hour schedule, recommending a maximum of 96 hours. Patton said the comp changes follow a review of peer cities and a period of monitoring the policy.
The proposed handbook adds a section (8.4) addressing hybrid and remote work. Patton said the policy spells out distinctions between temporary remote work (department-level approval) and hybrid schedules (up to three days at home and requiring city-administrator approval). He also described a new section (10.20) allowing employees to make direct, voluntary donations of earned leave to a colleague; the process would be handled confidentially through Dayforce and managed by HR.
Patton said the handbook includes an updated section on Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) bonding leave, clarifying that bonding leave for the birth of a child on the father end does not require medical documentation but must be used continuously. He also said discrimination and harassment language was updated to align with revised federal guidance and that an explicit no-retaliation policy (section 9.3e) is being emphasized.
Board members asked about employee notice of the changes and training. Patton said harassment and discrimination training remains required annually; staff plan to release short videos and require each employee to sign a 2025 acknowledgement form. Several aldermen commented favorably on elements such as expanded comp-time, leave donation and a lower threshold for outdoor-work shorts; one board member asked that supervisors make extra provisions to help staff without computer access view training materials.
The handbook revisions were presented for board review at the workshop (Resolution 2025-01). No vote or final adoption occurred during the workshop; staff said the packet and videos would be available to employees and directors for review ahead of any formal action.
