The Brockton City Ordinance Committee voted Nov. 25 to amend an ordinance on vacation and personal-day accrual for ordinance employees and to send the amended measure favorably to the full City Council.

Dr. Troy Clarkson, the city's chief financial officer, said the change is intended to create parity with unionized employees and improve recruitment by allowing ordinance employees to accrue vacation as they work rather than waiting nearly a year to take leave. He said the proposed changes reflected recent collective-bargaining results and are "in line with what the rest of our employees receive."

Councilor Bauer moved to strike proposed subsection k, which would have granted vacation credit for prior outside experience, arguing it could unfairly give new hires more vacation than existing employees. The motion to strike carried. Councilor Bauer then proposed replacement language giving the mayor authority to grant additional vacation credit for prior service in the City of Brockton as a limited compromise.

Committee members debated eligibility timing for using accrued vacation; staff noted that many union contracts use a 30-week threshold. Councilor Rodriguez moved to amend the ordinance to set 30 weeks as the eligibility point for two weeks of vacation; that amendment carried. The committee then voted to send the ordinance, as amended (section k struck and a 30-week eligibility threshold adopted), favorably to the full City Council.

The transcript records the committee votes to strike section k, to adopt 30 weeks as the eligibility threshold and to forward the amended ordinance; it does not include roll-call tallies for those votes.