Council adopts Resolution 25-01 updating personnel manual, changes pay and probation rules

The White House City Council approved Resolution 25-01 on personnel manual amendments after a detailed staff presentation and council questions.

City staff presented multiple changes to the organizational chart, classification and pay plan, probation lengths, and disciplinary and merit rules. Lori, a staff member who led the presentation, said the changes were intended to “make it look a little bit cleaner and a little bit more accurate in how the city actually operates those departments.”

The rewritten provisions include separating some positions into distinct lines on the organizational chart (library youth services, separate building inspections and code enforcement positions, and splitting public works and sanitation). The compensation section formalizes an approach staff described as using three possible calculations for promotional pay: a 5% increase per grade, crediting 50% of an employee’s total years of service with the city toward steps, or placing the employee at step 1 of the new grade — with staff calculating all three and selecting whichever yields the larger monetary benefit for the employee.

Lori told the council the 50% years-of-service credit had been used in practice and is now written into policy for transparency. She also described longevity pay as an annual, budget-approved payment that the city has historically treated outside regular policy so it would not become compensable income for TTRS calculations.

On probation, staff proposed lengthening the standard probationary period from 90 days to six months for most employees. “Three months is a very short period of time … 6 months is a much more adequate way of being able to look at someone’s true skills in their new position,” Lori said. Police officers were proposed to have a 12-month probation to allow completion of field training and academy requirements; firefighters were discussed separately and city staff said they would remain outside the 12-month category based on current training schedules.

The merit and disciplinary language was tightened. Under the new language, employees who receive a suspension, a demotion, two written reprimands, or combinations of repeated reprimands will be ineligible for merit increases during the evaluation period. Lori said she will be involved early in disciplinary processes to ensure correct procedures and charges are applied.

Council discussion focused on how the new rules have been applied in practice, how the compensation committee reviews questionable prior experience for new hires, and how demotion placement would be handled in extreme circumstances. Alderman Arden Matthews asked several clarifying questions about the three promotional calculations and whether those practices had been used previously; staff said the approaches had been used informally and are now being formalized in writing.

Council action: a motion to approve Resolution 25-01 passed by voice vote (recorded as “All in favor? Aye. Opposed? No.”).

The resolution does not specify a separate effective date in the discussion recorded in the meeting; council members approved the measure at the meeting and staff described the provisions as intended to be applied going forward.

The council also heard a brief staff explanation about enhanced carry permits for employees and the role of the compensation committee in reviewing whether prior experience (for example, a certified park ranger) counts toward hiring credit.

The personnel manual amendments were the subject of the meeting’s longest substantive discussion; staff and multiple aldermen asked detailed questions before the motion to adopt was made and approved.