3.75.080 Meeting and conferring.
A. This meet and confer process covers wages, hours, benefits and other conditions of employment, which include: salary or wage rates or other forms of direct monetary compensation and direct cost subjects; paid time off and procedures therefor; leaves of absence; insurance benefits; total hours of work required of an employee on each workday or workweek, including overtime, compensatory time, rest and meal periods and call-in/call-back; health and safety; training; personnel records review; discussions with personnel by group representatives; distribution of information; meet and confer procedures; city-wide uniform procedure for employee grievances; uniform process for employee discipline; rights of the employee organizations and the city; items of concern to the employee organization and the city manager.
B. The following items shall not be included in the meet and confer process: personnel performance evaluations, discipline of employees or hiring, discharging, promotions, demotions, transfers or suspensions. Nonnegotiable items include any fact of the hiring, promotion or transfer of employees, the types of discipline or the grounds for demotion, discharge, suspension or discipline.
C. It is the right of the city to determine the purpose of each of its departments, agencies, boards and commissions, and to set standards of service to be offered to the public and exercise control and discretion over its organization and operations. It is also the right of the city to direct its employees, take disciplinary action, relieve its employees from duty because of lack of work or for other legitimate reasons, determine whether goods or services shall be made, purchased or contracted for, and determine the methods, means, and personnel by which the employer’s operations are to be conducted. The city has the right to take all necessary actions to maintain uninterrupted service to the community. The mayor and city council may, at their option and sole discretion, direct the city manager to consult with the city’s employees, or their authorized representatives, about the direct consequences that decisions on these matters may have on wages, hours, and working conditions. The enumeration of the above rights is illustrative only and is not to be construed as being all-inclusive.
D. The city and the employee organization shall have the duty through appropriate officials or representatives to meet and confer in good faith with respect to wages, hours, benefits and other conditions of employment. It is the intent that all meeting and conferring occur only between the parties’ respective representatives.
E. Once all areas of a proposed memorandum of understanding, including areas still in dispute, have been submitted to the mayor and city council, the mayor, city council, city manager, or employee organization may request representatives from both management and the employee organization to provide information and clarification.
F. Meet and confer shall consist of the following process:
1. Employee organizations may submit proposals regarding wages, hours, benefits and other conditions of employment to the city manager no later than January 5th prior to each fiscal year. Previously agreed upon multiyear memorandum of understanding shall not require a new submittal.
2. All proposals submitted to the city manager must be in writing and in a form that can be incorporated into a memorandum of understanding. Unless otherwise provided in this code and as allowed by law, during the meet and confer process, proposals shall remain confidential except that they shall be available to the city manager, the employee organization representatives, or those designated by the employee group, and others as designated by the city manager.
3. Upon receiving a proposal from an employee organization, the city manager shall submit a written response to the proposal no later than February 5th.
4. Within 10 business days from the receipt of the city manager’s response, representatives of the employee organization and the city manager or designated representative shall begin “meeting and conferring” at mutually agreed upon times and places for the purpose of entering into a written memorandum of understanding relating to the proposals. Meetings shall be at least two hours in duration, unless mutually agreed otherwise. Meetings shall continue weekly, unless mutually agreed otherwise, until an agreement is reached, or impasse is declared by either party. Meeting ground rules shall be mutually agreed on by the city manager and employee group representative, and shall be adhered to while meeting and conferring.
5. The city manager or designee, and the representative of the employee organization, shall initial all areas of agreement. Those areas not in agreement may be withdrawn by either party or shall be outlined as areas in dispute.
a. Both parties shall advise the city council by no later than April 1st that areas of dispute still exist.
b. After the city council is advised by city management of the existence of unresolved issues or areas of dispute, city management and its representatives may meet with the city council to discuss the unresolved or disputed matters and receive further clarification and instruction. Such meetings between the council and city management and its representatives may take place from time to time between the time negotiations commence and the time of the hearing before the city council on the mutually agreed upon proposed memorandum of understanding and/or any unresolved areas of dispute. These meetings between the city council and city management and its representatives shall occur in an executive session pursuant to A.R.S. § 38-431.03.
c. Either party, or both parties, may request that the city council refer the matter to formal mediation.
d. Upon receiving a request for formal mediation from either or both parties, the city council may request that a mediator be assigned forthwith to the case. All costs associated with use of a mediator will be split equally between the city and the employee organization.
6. On or before May 15th, all areas of agreement, areas in dispute and still under consideration, shall be submitted to the mayor and city council for their consideration.
7. The mayor and city council may accept, reject or modify the recommended areas of agreement within the proposed memorandum of understanding and may take whatever action they feel appropriate with regard to any areas in dispute consistent with the city code. Final action by the mayor and city council shall constitute the memorandum of understanding for a fiscal year or other designated period.
8. The parties may mutually agree in writing to extend any deadlines contained in this section and continue negotiations. [Ord. 18-09 § 1; Res. 18-24; Ord. 11-09; Code 2004 § 3-278.]