Agenda - Council - 01/13/2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CONSIDER CHANGE IN CITY HALL OFFICE HOURS Heidi A. Nelson, Asst. City Administrator Background: Currently, City Hall Office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. City staff is requesting Council consideration to change City Hall office hours to 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for a number of reasons. Given the current hours, City l-Iall is open for nine hours every day. This creates significant challenge in providing reception and departmental coverage from 8am until 5pm, given that non-exempt -' employees work an eight hour day with a ½ hour un-paid lunch break. The City ofRamsey AFSCME bargaining unit contract requires that overtime or compensatory time be paid to the employee for hours worked in excess of an eight per day. Given the current office hours of Sam to 5pm, staff members that are required to provide coverage from 8am-5pm take a one-hour lunch break to limit their hours Worked to eight. Providing a one-hour lunch break for each employee creates challenges i'n providing coverage for a full hour for each employee. in addition to the reasons cited above, nearly all surrounding communities City Hall office hours are 8:00am until 4:30pm. Given the availability of fax, e-mail, and internet, there are numerous ways for residents-to access government information without visiting City HalI during office hours. City staff would certainly continue to be flexible in meeting the needs of residents, developers, .and contractors if they needed to meet with staff outside of regular office hours. Staff has searched minutes and other City documents regarding when the cUrrent office hours were established, however we have been unable to find any evidence of a Council action or discussion of the issue. Members of staff who have been employed by the City since the late 80's recall that these office hours may have been established during the mid 90's. Staffis open to Council input on this issue. With Council approval, staff would propose to make the change effective 01/26/04. Staffwould provide information via the website, QCTV, postings at City Hall, and voice mail regarding the change in office hours. S taft' Reco mmen dation: Consider changing City Hall office hours to 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. A resolution in support of the clxange is attached for Council consideration. Council Action: Based upon Council discussion. Reviewed By: City Administrator 01/13/2004 -209-