Subject: OPL Management Group -
Economic Increase 2009
Prepared by: Monique
Désormeaux, Division Manager, Planning & Governance
Prepared for: Ottawa
Public Library Board
Meeting of: June
15, 2009
Date of preparation: May
15, 2009
Recommendation:
That the OPL Board
authorize a 1.5% economic increase for the Library’s Management Group,
retroactive to January 1, 2009.
References
1. Doc. 04-IC-004, OPL Management Group – Cost of
Living (Economic) Increase 2004
Shortly after amalgamation,
the Library Board approved that the Library’s Management Group be linked to the
City of Ottawa MPE compensation in terms of Job Evaluation, Pay Equity and
Terms and Conditions of Employment.
Since then, the Library’s Management Group has received the same
economic increases as that of the City MPE group. The Library’s Management
Group also continues to benefit from the same Terms and Conditions of
Employment as the City Of Ottawa MPE group.
City Council approved the
following approach to determining Management Professional Exempt Group (MPE)
economic increases at the City of Ottawa:
“This approach will see the economic increase based
on CPI be awarded annually to this group effective the 1st of
January each year. The quantum of the
increase will be based on the forecast of the Ottawa CPI for the effective
year, and any differences between the forecast and actual CPI will be taken
into account when setting the following year’s increase.”
The approach was approved
on a go-forward basis for the City of Ottawa Management Group.
While the Library Board
agreed with the approach Council took, it did not want to bind future library
boards to this commitment. As such, at
its April 2005 meeting, the Library Board requested that the percentage economic
increase for the Library Management Group be brought forward to the Board on an
annual basis.
In January, the
2009 CPI forecast was 2.1%. The application of the Council approved approach
for the MPE economic increase, would have resulted in a 2.2% increase for
2009. However, on March 31st,
the Conference Board of Canada released a revised 2009 CPI forecast for
Ottawa/Gatineau of 0.5%, which resulted in a significantly reduced projected
MPE economic increase of 0.6%.
During the 2009 budget deliberations, Council passed
an Omnibus Motion that reduced the overall budget provision for the economic
increase to 1.5% for all groups including MPE (excluding the Police Services
Board and the Library Board).
At is meeting of
May 13, 2009, Ottawa City Council approved the Executive Management
Committee’s recommendation that the economic increase for City of Ottawa MPE be
based on Council’s Omnibus Motion, resulting in a 1.5% increase, rather
than applying the existing policy which would have resulted in a 0.6% increase.
It is recommended that the
OPL Board approve a 1.5% increase for the Library MPE group.
The Library currently
employs 26 MPE employees (including the City Librarian). A 1.5% economic increase represents
approximately $49,000 on the Library’s compensation budget for MPE
employees. Financial implications
calculated at a corporate level and presented as information to City Council on
May 13, 2009, included the adjustments for the Library’s Management Group. As such, the money has already been factored
into the Library’s 2009 budget.
Should the Board approve
the 1.5% economic increase, payment of the increase, including all retroactive
pay going back to January 1, 2009 will be remitted by the beginning of July
2009.