Staff Association Questions Responses from Julie Ballou and Kelley Hoffman
- Will there be a revising of the performance development procedures?
Specifically, many people on the staff have felt a significant decrease in morale regarding the performance development reviews. We are required to do a monthly, a quarterly, and a yearend review. There was a significant amount of staff time spent agonizing over these reviews since they do affect potential raises. Isn't there a way this can be streamlined? Where does management fit into this? Especially the final review right after a quarterly review. There is much about this process that seems to take an exorbitant amount of time and causes a significant amount of stress. One suggestion is to have our monthly reviews be one or two generic questions, our quarterly reviews stay as they are, and the final review just asks if there is something we'd like to mention that hasn't been mentioned previously.
Leadership Team and the Performance Development Committee will both be meeting to review feedback an analyze the resources required by the new system. We do expect that there will be changes made to adjust the timeline, eliminate redundancy, streamline the process, clarify expectations, and reduce the amount of time required for the process.
- Will Metro reconsider their policy on maternity leave? If not, can we receive staff-wide communication regarding the reasoning behind not providing maternity/paternity leave? While there is sick leave (if you have it) and disability leave, neither of those applies for cases regarding the adoption of a child. Several companies have successful maternity leave programs - is it possible we can study what those companies are doing and if/how we can adopt a similar practice?
In response to staff’s request for paid maternity/paternity leave, the following question was posed in the 2017 Employee Benefits Survey:
Are you willing to accept increased out-of-pocket costs or a reduction in benefits in exchange for paid maternity leave?31.87% responded Yes and 68.13% responded No.
As a governmental entity with funding tied to Ad Valorem taxes, our revenue stream is limited. This makes funding a paid maternity/paternity leave program challenging if we want to continue offering comprehensive services to customers and competitive salaries and benefits for employees.
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) does entitle eligible employees to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons, including the placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care and to bond with the newly placed child within one year of placement.
- Will there be an investigation into what happened with the business office and our personal information? Staff have mentioned that they feel Metro is victim-blaming (blaming staff) that have a presence on LinkedIn. No one has the last four digits of their social security # on LinkedIn, and it seems that is something the Business Office should verify before changing our information or releasing it. Just what is the Business Office's procedures regarding our personal information? What information did the Business Office verify before releasing/changing our information? What is being done in the Business Office to ensure this doesn't happen again?
I believe this question may have come from the cybersecurity training which was assigned to staff. The training is in response to the increase in phishing attempts in general and phishing attempts sent to MLS staff. In these MLS cases, emails were sent by someone outside the organization to a staff member, but the emails appear to be from another staff member. All of the phishing emails we have received lately been attempts to trick someone into sending them MLS funds. We wanted staff to be better prepared to recognize the emails and protect the library system. No personal information was released by any of our departments and none of the emails were an attempt to gain personal information. All were attempts to obtain money.
- There is a concern regarding safety protocols and security. Are their safety protocols or policies regarding workplace violence? Does security have these protocols, and if so, shouldn't we have the information as well? For instance, if there is a fight in the library, what happens? Does security stop it? Do they only tell the librarian? What if someone is stealing from the library? Is there an Active shooter procedure? G4S has a manual, but it does not address these situations. Are there uniform safety/workplace violence protocols throughout the system? It seems that there should be some sort of uniformity across the system, but everyone is on a different page. Can Metro develop action plans/safety protocols for these situations? We all want to feel safe in the workplace, and right now that isn't the case.
The response to a Rules of Conduct Violation in a library may vary depending on the location and the makeup of the staff. Security guards may or may not be available and whether they are even assigned to a library is always based on the number and level of reported incidents at the location. The procedure AL 320.1 Responding to Disruptive Conduct applies to all MLS staff including Security and would cover all incidents. We are also reviewing an option for a Workplace Violence training that we hope to add to required training for the coming year. in addition, the Safety Committee is in the process of updating the emergency operating plan, developed to prepare the library staff for emergencies, including incidents related to civil disorder.
- Are cost of living raises a real possibility, or something that is likely to never happen? The Alignment saw many job descriptions change. For instance, Access workers took on the added responsibility of Collection Maintenance. Access workers also tasked with the job duties of public computer specialists. Access workers were never compensated for these added responsibilities. In fact, after the Singer Group made their recommendations, our ability to earn money went down. We used to be able to earn up to a 5% raise, and now we can only earn up to a 4%. Given the strife surrounding the new performancedevelopment procedures/reviews, it really feels like we're fighting for pennies. And that is extremely demoralizing.
As part of the Compensation and Classification Study, completed in February 2018, The Singer Group assessed all positions based on their post-alignment responsibilities. Overall, the survey findings indicated that MLS positions were ahead of the market at all data points surveyed (actual/average pay and at the minimum and maximums of the salary ranges). Accordingly, the Metropolitan Library Commission did not elect to budget a market adjustment for fiscal year 2019.
Annually, the Human Resources Department compiles and presents an Annual Review of Human Resources-Salaries and Benefits report to the Administration & Personnel and Finance Committees of the Commission. As part of that process, salaries are compared to key labor market indicators. If the comparison indicates that the Library’s salaries are behind the market, the Commission can approve a market increase, as outlined in Library Policy SH 110 Salary Administration:
The market adjustment is the component of the Compensation Plan that is used to insure that the salary structure is adjusted equally across-the-board to reflect changes in the wage index. Two considerations dictate whether or not a market adjustment will be administered: changes in the wage index based upon references such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the budgetary constraints of the library system. Each year, the Commission shall vote on the applicability and the ability to apply a market adjustment to the salary structure. When applicable and when funds are available, a percentage increase will be applied equally to all ranges and will be applied to all eligible employee salaries.
Any changes in job responsibilities for staff as a result of the Alignment were taken into consideration during the Classification and Compensation Study. We are also continuing to review job descriptions and make any changes needed to clarify misunderstandings in job duties such as collection maintenance.
Following are links to the full Classification and Compensation Study report and Frequently Asked Questions:
https://my.metrolibrary.info/drupal/project/classification-and-compensation-study
https://my.metrolibrary.info/drupal/sites/default/files/2-16-2018%20Metro%20FAQs.pdf - Why are the required trainings coming out with short deadline turnarounds? In a case with a smaller department with fewer computer usages, several of the staff was late on one training item, the diversity training. Even the supervisor also missed the date. Because of this, all of us in our department, maybe 7 or 8 of us, will not be able to receive a 3 on the Professional Development section of the rating. We are all not very happy as this will affect all of our raises. Is there some leniency on this?
During the time that the Learning and Development Department was not fully staffed, the Library System fell behind in compliance trainings. To bring all staff up to date on current issues and address some areas of immediate concern (e.g. cybersecurity threats), it was necessary to roll-out trainings quickly and with shorter deadlines. To prepare staff for the required training in 2019, a calendar is being developed so that staff can see the full year of training expectations.
As part of the Professional Development competency, there is a penalty for missed quarterly safety training (one missed training results in a “needs improvement” rating, and two missed trainings result in a “does not meet expectations” ratings). No training other than safety training is specifically identified in the requirements for meeting standards in Professional Development. Safety Training is included because the Library can be fined for not being in compliance with the Oklahoma Occupational Health & Safety Standards Act, which requires quarterly safety training for all staff.
- Does MLS have a plan for addressing sudden changes in staffing requirements at departments and locations? (For example: moving into a larger space, departure of a significant number of staff members, losing so many Access I's and II's at once, etc.)
When there are vacant positions, library moves, or library closings each is addressed on an individual basis. Any increases to the budgeted staff for a location would originate as a budget request and moving into a larger facility would be a good reason for making a request. When we have vacant positions in a library or department different approaches may be used, depending on the situation. In various situations, we have made assignments for interim library managers, interim engagement mangers, and interim access managers depending on the need. Regional directors and library managers have also reached out to nearby locations and asked for assistance with shift coverage and programs and they have also offered staff to work at other locations during closings. EPS has also covered library programs when needed.
- Will MLS consider additional compensation for bilingual staff? (For example, over 30% of customer interactions at CH are done in Spanish. Bilingualism requires considerable time and effort to acquire and maintain.)
Staff bring many unique skills and talents to their work across the Library System. To determine how each position will be compensated many factors are considered, including the essential job functions and minimum qualifications (e.g. education, experience, etc.) needed for the job. Currently, the Library has not identified any positions that should require an individual to speak multiple languages. However, if a need is identified a library or department manager could work with their Leadership Team member to develop a job description and submit it to Human Resources for review and grading. A budget request would be required to add a new position or reallocate funding. All budget requests are subject to approval in the overall budget process.
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