Safford council adopts promotions cap and safe‑workplace policy, tables personnel‑records update

The Safford City Council approved two personnel items and tabled a third after detailed council discussion.

1) Promotions & transfers policy (Resolution R26‑006): Human Resources proposed adding a 15% cap on promotional wage adjustments to address rare pay‑compression instances when a promoted supervisor would otherwise receive a disproportionately large increase. HR said the cap was intended to cap extreme cases that in one instance previously could have required a 32% increase without a cap. The council adopted the resolution following discussion of budget impacts and manager discretion for exceptions.

2) Safe and violence‑free workplace policy (Resolution R26‑007): Council adopted a revised policy with updated references to Arizona Occupational Safety and Health (ADOSH), clarified reporting and investigation procedures, and broader weapons language. Council added an amendment clarifying that administrative leave would be paid unless an investigation shows gross misconduct; legal counsel Steve Coleman explained the amendment and why the policy should remain sufficiently flexible for management to apply in context.

3) Personnel records policy (Resolution R26‑008): Council reviewed a redlined replacement but found an incorrect version had been presented and raised concerns about notice and file access language. Council voted to table R26‑008 so staff can provide a corrected redline and clarify provisions about employee review and supervisory access.

Votes and implementation: R26‑006 and the amended R26‑007 were approved (votes recorded in the meeting); R26‑008 was tabled pending corrections. Staff will circulate amended language and include the corrected redline when the item returns to council.