HomeMy Public PortalAbout02) 4A Staff Report_Admin Leave - COVID-19AGENDA
ITEM 4.A.
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DEPARTMENT
MEMORANDUM
DATE: March 31, 2020
TO: The Honorable City Council
FROM: Bryan Cook, City Manager
SUBJECT: OVERVIEW OF TEMPORARY EMERGENCY ACTION RELATED TO
CONTINUITY OF CITY SERVICES AND PERSONNEL AND REQUEST
FOR DIRECTION
RECOMMENDATION:
The City Council is recommended to provide direction as to how the City Manager, as the
Director of Emergency Services, is to proceed regarding certain personnel status for City
staff and the budgetary considerations associated with such status in the time period after
his emergency authority expires on April 2, 2020.
BACKGROUND:
1. On January 21, 2020, the first case of the Novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) was
reported.
2. On March 4, 2020, the Health Officer of Los Angeles County declared a local health
emergency regarding COVID-19 and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
concurrently proclaimed the existence of a local emer gency for the County of Los
Angeles.
3. On March 4, 2020, Governor Newsom of the State of California declared a State of
Emergency in response to the COVID-19.
4. On March 12, 2020, Governor Newsom of the State of California issued Executive
Order N-25-20 in a further effort to confront and contain COVID-19 that among other
things suspended certain provisions of the Ralph M. Brown Act providing local
agencies with greater flexibility to hold meetings via teleconferencing.
City Council
March 31, 2020
Page 2
5. On March 13, 2020, the President of the United States declared a national state of
emergency regarding COVID-19. On this same day, the City Council adopted
Resolution No. 20-5457, declaring a local state of emergency which gave authority
to the City Manager in his role as Director of Emergency Services to implement
measures in line with state and county health officials’ recommendations to slow the
spread of COVID-19 while not impacting critical services.
6. On March 18, 2020, in an abundance of caution for the health and safety of City staff
and patrons, the City indefinitely closed City buildings to the public and modified
services. On the same day, the United States Senate passed the Families First
Coronavirus Response Act (the Act) with President Trump signing the bill into law
shortly thereafter.
7. On March 19, 2020, to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, state and county officials
ordered residents to stay home or at their place of residence. On the same day, with
the authorization granted by the declaration of local emergency, the City Manager
ordered some staff to work from home, though essential office workers are to come
to the office if needed and if sufficient distancing is maintainable, and essential field
staff are to practice all safety and social distancing related to such work in the field.
ANALYSIS:
Resolution No. 20-5457, declaring a local emergency by the Council on March 13, 2020,
allows the Director of Emergency Services (the City Manager) to, among other things:
Mobilize local resources;
Coordinate interagency response;
Make or issue rules and regulations reasonably related to the protection
of life and property; and
Require emergency services of any city employee.
To help to control the spread of COVID-19, the City Manager invoked his emergency
authority from March 20, 2020 to April 2, 2020, a period of 14 days, in implementing the
state and county stay at home orders by:
Directing most City staff to work from home, if and when possible;
Directing only those staff who were determined to perform “essential
duties” to continue reporting to work at the City;
Directing staff performing essential duties to adhere to the measures
implemented by the City for social distancing and other similar
precautions and to discuss working from home if distancing could not be
maintained;
Providing for limited-term paid administrative leave, to the extent it is not
feasible to assign sufficient work to specific employees to cover their full
City Council
March 31, 2020
Page 3
expected weekly hours (40 for full-time employees; the weekly individual
average for part-time employees).
Before the expiration of the 14-day period, the City Manager is seeking direction from the
Council regarding those members of staff who fall into the category of receiving paid
administrative leave. Paid administrative leave is a tool that permits the City to temporarily
compensate an employee who is ready and able to work but whom the City has directed
to remain away from the workplace in the City’s interest. It is not a tool with its genesis in
statute, but rather one that has been developed over time and recognized by the courts.
This report provides the City Council with several key areas of analysis including: payroll
costs of the administrative leave, preliminary financial analysis of the immediate term of
this event, and lastly an overview of relevant and new legal considerations, including the
availability of paid leave for some employees under the Families First Coronavirus Relief
Act (“FFCRA”) that takes effect on April 1, 2020.
Financial Considerations
Immediate Payroll Costs of Administrative Leave
The estimated costs for the administrative leave for the following periods are:
Periods: Source of Parameter
Est. Cost:
March 20 to April 2, 2020 City Manager Authority under Declaration
of Local Emergency
$ 29,600
April 3 to April 19, 2020 Additional time until Governor Newsom
Executive Order N-33-20 and County of
Los Angeles Department of Public Health
Order Deadline
$ 36,200
April 20 to May 1, 2020 Additional time until anticipated end of
County of Los Angeles Office of
Education recommended closure
$ 39,500
Total Est. Salary Costs-Admin. Leave $105,300
Please note that these costs are budgeted in the current fiscal year (FY) 2019-2020 in
the form of regular employee compensation. Hence, no additional appropriation is
required at this time.
Also, as will be discussed further below, the City is now legally obligated to provide at
least partially-compensated leave under the new Families First Coronavirus Response
Act (FFCRA) to eligible employees for qualifying reasons such as school and daycare
closures for a period of up to 12 work weeks, commencing on April 1, 2020. The
interplay between the City’s duties under this new Federal law and the option to provide
administrative leave is fluid at this time due to the lack of Federal regulations
interpreting the law. These regulations are anticipated to be issued in early April.
City Council
March 31, 2020
Page 4
Revenue Reductions
The City will inevitably see revenue reductions due to the orders directly related to
COVID-19. It is difficult at this time to determine the size of the impact. However, as stated
in the Mid-Year staff report on March 17, 2020, the estimated FY 2019-2020 surplus is
$523,270 with the Council approved adjustments. Nevertheless, the revenues will be
closely monitored and should significant adjustments arise, Council will be notified
immediately.
City Financial Stability – Planning for an Emergency
The third area involves the fiscal health of the City and the potential impact if the above
revenue losses were to last several months. Because of the fiscally prudent and
conservative steps taken by the City over the last decade, the City’s General Fund
reserves are in good standing as the City has been able to set aside $50,000 in
Emergency/Disasters as well as $1,450,000 in Local Economic Uncertainty. Therefore,
even if the City were to experience additional revenue reductions that would result in a
deficit for FY 2019-2020, the General Fund reserve is able to handle the temporary
setback.
New Relevant Legal Issues
On April 1, 2020, the federal FFCRA takes effect and will require the City to provide two
types of leave to eligible employees who request to use leave for qualifying reasons:
expanded Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave and emergency paid sick leave.
Leave Due to School or Daycare Closure
In its current form, the expanded FMLA applies to provide up to 12 work weeks of at
least partially-paid time off to employees who are unable to work due to a need to care
for their child(ren) whose school(s) or daycare(s) are closed due to COVID-19-related
reasons. The expanded FMLA is available to all employees who have worked for the
City at least 30 days, whether they are part-time or full-time.
Emergency Paid Sick Leave
The emergency paid sick leave under FFCRA can be used for the same reason,
although there is no minimum length of employment required for employees to be
eligible. Emergency paid sick leave consists of up to 80 hours over a two-week period
(with the amount available to part-time employees determined on a pro-rated basis.)
Employees Subject to Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation order related
to COVID-19
FFCRA will also require the City to provide up to 80 hours of paid emergency sick leave
if an employee is “subject to a Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation order
City Council
March 31, 2020
Page 5
related to COVID-19.” Although neither “quarantine” or “isolation order” are defined in
the FFCRA, and the anticipated regulations from the Department of Labor may use a
narrower definition, there is good reason to conclude that Governor Newsom’s
Executive Order N-33-20 would constitute a “quarantine order.” Accordingly,
employees who are not “essential” and for whom the City has not identified feasible
remote work (and who are not using the 80 hours due to daycare/school closure,) likely
qualify to receive paid leave regardless of the City’s position on administrative leave.
The City cannot force an eligible employee to take leave under the FFCRA; however, an
employee may choose to do so, and may want to do so if the alternative is either unpaid
time or use of their available accrued paid leaves.
Practical Considerations in Implementing Administrative Leave
Placement of an employee on paid administrative leave requires that the employee be
on-call and able to respond to work if directed to do so. If employees are not
teleworking and are unable to respond to work in person, then they are not eligible for
paid administrative leave. As a rule, paid administrative leave should only be
implemented for employees who are “essential” but for whom the City does not have
sufficient workload because of COVID-19 shutdowns.
If an employee’s inability to perform work is due to childcare issues resulting from
school/daycare closure related to COVID-19, or because that employee is non-essential
and subject to a quarantine order, or another qualifying reason for paid emergency sick
leave, then the employee must either use available accrued leave time or go unpaid, if
they choose not to use any of the newly-available financial safety nets in FFCRA.
Alternatives to Use of Current Administrative Leave
Three alternate options outside the use of Administrative Leave are available. These
options would still need to consider any rights employees have under FFCRA:
1. Decline to pay for non-working hours and require staff to use accrued
leave balances to receive a normal pay during this period (40 hours, or
average hours for part-time employees);
2. For part-timers, reduce work hours; or
3. Impose furlough.
Use of Accrued Leave
Staff could be required to use their accrued leave balances to offset unpaid non-work
hours to make their paychecks whole. One or more individual staff members might not
have enough accrued leave to last several weeks, and there could be an impact on the
health insurance status of staff members if they are only being considered part -time
employees.
City Council
March 31, 2020
Page 6
Reduction in Work Hours
The City could pay staff based on hours worked, thus creating a significant reduction in
work hours. This would apply primarily to part-time staff. However, the affected staff
would be able to file unemployment with the State Employment Development Department
(EDD). Eligible staff can receive benefits that range from $40-$450 per week which is
calculated at about 46% to 50% of their normal pay. The City would be invoiced by EDD
for all payments made to City employees. As such, the cost savings in taking this route
may be minimal.
Implementation of Furloughs
A factor to weigh in considering furloughs is the period after the State and County
terminate their stay-at-home orders and the City restarts its programs. With furloughs,
the City would have lost a significant portion of its part-time workforce which could create
difficulties in running the programs and mobilizing for potential adjustments of needed
services.
CONCLUSION
Given the fluid and rapidly-changing situation, the City continues to monitor the impacts
of COVID-19 and implement recommendations of State and County health officials. This
is an evolving situation that staff is responding to quickly with the safety and well-being of
the community and City employees as its priority while keeping an eye on the City’s long-
term financial health.
The City Council is asked to consider directing the City Manager to implement paid
administrative leave for either the period April 3 to April 19, 2020 or the period April 3 to
May 1, 2020, or to direct the City Manager to implement an alternative approach to
addressing the impact of City employees not working or working from home. No matter
the approach, the City will be bound by FFCRA and the financial implications thereof .
CITY STRATEGIC GOALS:
Actions contained in this report align with the City’s strategic goal of Good Governance.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There are no additional appropriations recommended at this time.