Council begins review of holiday and vacation policy for staggered 4/10 and 5/8 schedules

Spring City council members discussed standardizing holiday pay and vacation carryover rules for employees who work different weekly schedules.

Staff raised a personnel-policy question about employees who work four 10-hour days versus those who work five 8-hour days and how holidays and vacation carryover should be handled. Staff said the city currently pays utilities/public-works staff — who typically work four 10-hour days — 10 hours for a holiday while other employees on a five-day schedule receive eight hours. “So it's 4 tens, and then it's come up, like, for holidays, do we pay them for 10 hours, or do we pay them 8 hours? We've gone to 10 hours, but, nothing's, like, set in stone,” staff said.

Staff said vacation payout rules are another related question: the city currently caps vacation carryover at 80 hours, and vacation is paid out on separation, whereas sick leave is not paid out. Staff asked whether the council wants to formalize a consistent policy so employees are treated the same regardless of their shift schedule; staff said the topic will be taken up in the coming month and was not on the next day’s agenda.

Council members discussed alternatives: pay eight hours to all employees (with some requiring two vacation hours to cover the remainder for four-10 staff), continue the current practice of paying 10 hours to four-10 staff, or explicitly codify one approach in policy. Council members asked staff to gather information on what other municipalities do and to return with recommended policy language.

No formal policy change or vote was recorded during the work session; staff said they will prepare proposals for a future meeting.