All municipal employees who responded to the wildfire between May 1 and the end of the State of Local Emergency will be compensated for the overtime hours they worked regardless of whether they are covered by a collective agreements or would normally be exempt from overtime because of their salaried status.
This after council approved a motion from Councillor Sheldon Germain that asks administration to make sure these employees are either paid fairly for their time or given the opportunity to take time off in lieu instead. The motion covers every person employed by the RMWB, including the executive leadership, thanks to an amending motion presented by Mayor Melissa Blake.
In arguing for the motion to be approved Germain asked council to consider that the motion would speak to how council wants to treat its employees.
“And how we want to treat the team that we need to be working hard to help people get home and helping us recover,” he said. “Quite frankly, we need the best people and we need those best people motivated and, quite frankly, if they’re working long hours in the state of emergency you need them to be compensated for that.”
He said the motion was both the right thing to do and the smart thing to do for the employees themselves and for the future of the municipality.
“This motion will set the stage for us to treat our staff fairly, will allow us to recover any overtime from the province’s Disaster Recovery Program, also this will minimize the financial impact on Wood Buffalo’s tax payers,” said Germain.
That’s because the cost of the overtime hours would be covered through the combined federal and provincial disaster recovery program while time in lieu would not be.
The motion requests that administration fairly compensate all employees according to their collective agreements or, if they have none, pay the employees equal to their hourly rate for every hour worked between 35 and 44 hours a week and equal to 1.5 times their hourly rate for every hour above 44 hours a week.
The employees will also have the option to take time off in lieu of overtime pay. All payment and lieu time would have to be taken by or accounted for by October 6, 2016.
The director of HR told council that before the motion was presented to council, Marcel Ulliac, the Chief Administrative Officer, had developed five blocks of overtime pay to distinguish categories for the number of hours worked by an employee in ranges, since most salaried employees didn’t keep track of their exact hours worked, given they were not anticipating being paid for their overtime and simply continued working regardless to get the job done.
Councillor Jane Stroud asked why that scheme for compensation couldn’t be followed and Germain said the CAO had asked that council step in to provide policy oversight on the issue given the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the fire and the time worked.
His motion asks administration to create a policy that will be in place for all future events involving a state of local emergency and a response of any similar magnitude.
The creation of the policy alone was enough for Mayor Melissa Blake to voice her support for the motion, though she did make the amendment to include all staff and let administration work out how that would apply to executive leadership.
Blake echoed Germain’s comments about the importance of all municipal employees knowing the value of their work and their contribution to the municipality, taking time to recognize they are the ones who put into action the decisions made by the members of council.
“My ultimate dream and hope and goal is that every employee in this organization understands just how much that we value the work that they do because it’s their work that carry out the will of council,” said Blake.
The motion passed 8-1 with Stroud the only vote opposed.
“Human resources, with the approval of the CAO, made up a compensation package for staff. This is why I feel this motion undermines the authority of the CAO, who is appointed to operate the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, including staff and their compensation,” Stroud said. “Compensation for the wildfire rests with the CAO. It appears that the CAO has followed the process that is in place for compensation and as long as we as councillors are satisfied that the CAO has followed appropriate processes in designing this compensation package it is not the role of council to intervene.”
The creation of a new policy as approved as part of the motion will prevent a future council having to make these kinds of decisions.
Land use by-law wildfire overlay
Council approved the first reading of a wildfire overlay to the land use by-law that would clarify what kinds of developments can and cannot be built in all communities damaged in the fire, most particularly in Abasand and Beacon Hill and in Waterways when a solution has been found for flood mitigation in that neighbourhood.
Before the overlay would take effect there have to be second and third readings of the by-law and a public hearing, all of which will be held at the September 27 meeting of RMWB council.
The intent of the overlay is to provide some clarity for homeowners, many of whom have delayed demolition and rebuilding because they are uncertain as to what they will be allowed to build on the land where they lost their homes because of the way the by-law is currently written.
It would allow people whose homes were larger than what is currently allowed to rebuild, it would allow people with duplexes to build stand-alone homes, it would allow changes to footprints to encourage beautification in the community and other improvements to homes.
“It sends the clear message that those who wish to rebuild on exactly the same building footprint as before the fire and will not adversely impact others in doing so will have the green light from the municipality,” said Bob Couture. “This is critical since most homeowners do not have insurance coverage to rebuild anything significantly different than what they previously had and many do not have the financial resources to make up the difference.
“Knowing that a like for like rebuild will meet the land planning requirements will free these owners and their insurers to make rebuilding decisions sooner.”
The overlay would also encourage outside-the-box thinking for situations where neighbours are unable or unwilling to rebuild one half of a duplex or a portion of a row of town homes. Couture said the idea is to facilitate approvals when you have a group of like-minded individuals presenting a solution to a problem.
“Administration believes this may lead to creative new proposals for rebuilding damaged communities on a block-by-block basis to be more attractive and liveable than they were before the wildfire,” said Couture.
If the overlay is approved it would provide assurance to residents that they both can and will rebuild in their communities, regardless of the unique circumstances they may find themselves in with the RMWB aiming to work with them to amend permits and by-laws as needed to accommodate the extraordinary circumstances the fire has presented.
The overlay was developed in partnership with the Abasand Rebuild Committee, a group of residents from Abasand that lobbied the RMWB to ensure all residents had fair opportunities to rebuild.
Notice of Motion
Councillor Sheldon Germain also served notice of a motion to be heard at the September 13 meeting of council that he said would complete unfinished business.
It reads as follows:
THAT Administration review the municipal fee structure relating to residential development and building permits and all fees associated therein, specific to the properties destroyed or damaged by wildfire of May, 2016, and report back to Council with recommendations for possible free amendments no later than September 27, 2016.
