Council considers changes to longevity bonuses, vacations for new employees

Columbus City Council considered a change to the city’s pay and benefits last night that could make it easier to rehire former employees and retain those with experience.

The ordinance change would raise the level of pay for faithful service. It would provide a pay bonus for employees after 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 years of service. The bonuses would start at $500 for the first five years, going up to $2,500 for 25 years of service.

The proposal would also allow for additional vacation days for mid-career employees who start working for the city. Some new employees could receive up to five weeks of vacation time, if they had more than 20 years of employment in their field of expertise.

Arlette Tinsley, the city’s human resources director, said that the city has lost some potential employees because they would lose the longer vacation time they enjoyed at their previous job.

As proposed, the changes would not be retroactive for existing city employees.

The changes would take effect on January 1st, but could be implemented earlier in some cases.

Council gave its first approval to the changes to the personnel policies.