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Council hears staff proposals to create HR business‑partner role, new labor classification and extend parental leave to trainees
Summary
City HR staff presented several pay‑schedule and municipal‑code amendments — creating a 'business partner' HR classification, a non‑driving 'general laborer' role for parks, reclassifying the purchasing agent, and extending paid parental leave to police and fire trainees (policy details to follow). Council did not take final votes on these items at this meeting.
Lincoln city staff on March 9 presented a package of personnel and municipal‑code changes designed to create career pathways, expand hiring pools for parks, and extend parental‑leave protections for public‑safety trainees.
Human Resources Director Barb McIntyre described creating a new 'human resources business partner' classification to provide a lower‑level pathway beneath the senior business partners; McIntyre said the change fills a vacancy and "is not adding FTE" and should yield cost savings by hiring at a lower level rather than replacing a senior hire. Council members asked clarifying questions and were told the change is intended to promote internal talent and not increase head count.
Staff also proposed a "general laborer" classification for parks crews that removes the city‑vehicle driving requirement so people who cannot meet the city's insurability standards (for example, those with certain driving histories) can be hired into non‑driving roles. During discussion, staff explained the city's insurability rules can bar employees from operating city vehicles even if they hold a valid driver's license, and the new classification aims to expand the candidate pool while preserving safety and insurance requirements.
A separate pay‑grade reclassification would move the city's purchasing agent position from MO6 to WO3 and change it from a union‑represented role to an unrepresented senior management class; staff said the reclassification is lateral and carries no immediate pay increase. Council asked whether the change affects exempt status and was told the position remains non‑exempt.
On municipal‑code changes staff recommended codifying current practices for promotion and holidays, expanding paid parental leave to police and fire trainees, and updating outside‑employment processes to a self‑service electronic workflow in Oracle. McIntyre said trainees who are in the academy at the time of a qualifying event could take about "24 hours or 2 days" of paid parental leave so they can meet minimum academy‑hour requirements; the remaining leave would be available intermittently for up to one year after the qualifying event under an HR policy that staff will bring forward. Staff emphasized that the code change allows the policy to apply to trainees but that the full policy details will follow.
None of these items were finalized at the March 9 meeting; staff indicated votes on the code amendments and the farm‑winery text amendment would be scheduled for the next council meeting.
