CONDUCTING CONSULTANT STUDY

The City Manager recommends that the Council hire a consultant to perform a job evaluation which will be used to establish the basis for assessing the time contribution of the job. To avoid insufficient cooperation between the clerk, judge and other constitutional officers, I recommend that a consultant be used to provide an impartial review and analysis of the employee pay change request by conducting a study and classification analysis, write a job description, and make recommendations.
Job evaluation is not based on the credentials of, or contribution made by the person holding the position, but is seen as the systematic process of assessing the value of each job in relation to other jobs within an organization. The goal is to establish a ranking or hierarchy of worth within the organization. Job evaluation involves four steps: Job analysis, job documentation, job rating and creating a job hierarchy.
Job analysis is very important because it provides context to the organization in understanding the job duties that should be included in the position. The job duties provide the basis for determining the appropriate salary level for the position. It provides a legal basis for the minimum requirements (education and/or experience) for screening applicants. It provides the basis for Interview questions and related selection tests/instruments (e.g., written tests; oral tests; job simulations). It provides a legal basis for applicant appraisal/evaluation and related orientation materials for applicants/new hires.
The Court Clerk has presented a job summary in her memo to the Judge which indicates the essential duties of a court clerk.
The municipal court clerk is responsible for performing a variety of essential clerical and administrative support duties for the Municipal Court. The work involves pre-court, courtroom and post court activities; preparing the adult and juvenile court calendars and coordinating court matters with the municipal judge, defendant, defense counsel, prosecutor and police department; attending court sessions and recording pleas and sentences, recording trials and collecting forfeitures; taking appropriate followup actions - including completing citations, issuing pretrial notices or notices to appear, maintaining case files and payment records.
The position is currently a part time, salaried and exempt employee that is regularly scheduled to work sixteen (16) hours per week. Part-time employees receive no benefits, except legally mandated benefits, but are subject to all of the expectations and regulations expressed in the Employee Handbook. “Salary” is a regularly paid amount of money, constituting all or part of an employee’s wages, paid on a weekly or less frequent basis that is not subject to reduction due to the quality or quantity of work performed. This is the general definition in federal law (29 CFR 541.118). Since Wisconsin’s overtime law does not define “salary,” and since Wisconsin’s overtime exemptions are interpreted in a manner consistent with federal interpretation, this is the applicable definition. Exempt Employees are employees who are not required, in accordance with applicable federal wage and hours laws, to be paid overtime for work performed beyond forty (40) hours in a work week.
The current salary for the position is $11,315.20 and the total with benefits is $17,886.12. Based on a sixteen hour work week, the hourly pay rate is roughly $13.60 and would become $13.74 based on the budgeted adjustment. The City currently pays social security, retirement and a percentage of the health insurance plan. The proposed change would be from $17,886.12 to $22,342.74 and would add $4,456.62 to this year’s budget. The base salary would increase in 2011 if the budgeted increase is approved to $18,266.19 and the proposed change would increase that amount to $30,484.90 for a budget increase of $12,218.71 in the 2011 budget. The most significant cost increases coming from health insurance related to the change in employment status. The Court Clerk status will change to a part-time regular employee that is regularly scheduled to work twenty (20) or more hours per week, but less than forty (40) hours per week. Part-time Regular employees, depending on the number of hours they are regularly scheduled to work, may accrue prorated benefits (sick days, holidays, and vacation) and may also be covered by health insurance paid in part by the City.
The Municipal Court website indicates that the Office is open on Mondays and Thursdays from 8 am to 12 pm and 1 pm 4:30 pm.
The Council may direct the solicitation of quotes or direct the preparation and advertisement of a Request for Proposals. The estimated cost is $3,500 to $5,000 and this would be paid from the Council contingency fund. The consultants would do a workload analysis and a comparison with other like municipal courts based on volume of tickets, the number of court sessions per month, the use of “in-take” versus trial nights, etc. to determine a realistic range of hours to keep up with current workloads.