The Pine Bluff City Council Ways and Means Committee recommended Tuesday adding an extra pay period for city employees in 2016 because of calendar fluctuations.
Pine Bluff Finance Director Steve Miller said the year 2016 will have 27 pay periods instead of the usual 26 as a result of vagaries of the calendar. City employees are usually paid over a course of 26 pay periods annually. As a result, the aldermen needed to add another pay period.
“The purpose of this meeting is to keep our employees as happy as possible,” Miller said.
With all other factors being the same, department heads and elected officials will be paid the same amount of money in 2016, Miller said. The only change is they will be paid over a period of 27 periods, rather than 26 periods, he said.
Department heads and elected officials are currently not eligible for overtime and will continue not to be eligible for overtime, Miller said.
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Hourly employees are currently paid by the number of hours they work and will continue to be paid on this basis, Miller said. Hourly employees will be paid an additional 3.8 percent in 2016 due to the additional pay period, he said.
As a result, Miller estimated the council needs to appropriate about $503,000 for this reason.
Ways and Means Committee Aldermen Bill Brumett, George Stepps and Glen Brown Jr. endorsed setting aside $429,000 from the Pine Bluff Street Department fund toward this $503,000. Glen Brown Jr. suggested starting an additional fund of $70,000 but he did not put this idea in a motion.
City department heads discussed how to streamline payroll operations especially in light of the calendar. Brumett said he wants city staff to research payroll software to save time and ensure accuracy.
Miller said he needs time to research the positives and negatives associated with changing the pay periods from once in two weeks to twice per month. The last time Pine Bluff had 27 pay periods in a calendar year was 2003, Miller said.
The ways and means committee also recommended city staff evaluate and implement a time and attendance software similar to that offered by payroll provider ADP.