The City’s workforce is divided into seven salary groups: (1) those covered by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 1554 (AFSCME) bargaining unit; (2) those covered by the Communications Workers of America, Local 3178 (CWA) bargaining unit; (3) those covered by the Government Supervisors Association of Florida/OPEIU, Local 100 (GSA) bargaining unit; (4) those covered by the Fraternal Order of Police, William Nichols Lodge No. 8 (FOP) bargaining unit; (5) those covered by the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 1510 (IAFF) bargaining unit; (6) Unclassified; and (7) “Others” (classified service employees not represented by a bargaining unit).

Provisions in the October 1, 2009 – September 30, 2012, contracts resulted in savings to the City of over $15 million between Fiscal Years (FY) 2009/2010 and 2010/2011. Similar contributions from the unclassified and others salary groups increased the savings to $20 million. Many of these concessions were changes to the Miami Beach Employees’ Retirement Plan (MBERP) that resulted in reducing the City’s pension contribution both short and long-term.

During the October 1, 2012 – September 30, 2015 contract period, the fire and police unions agreed to significant pension reform, which yielded a reduction of $145 million to the City's ARC over a 3O-year period (2013 net present value). The savings attributed to the 2013 pension reform have aided in the short and long-term sustainability of the plan.

On September 30, 2015, the 2012-2015 collective bargaining agreement between the City and the FOP expired. The parties began negotiating a successor agreement on July 7, 2015. After twelve (12) formal negotiation sessions, on July 12, 2016, the City and the FOP leadership reached a tentative three-year agreement for October 1, 2015, through September 30, 2018.

The following is a summary of the newly negotiated terms between the parties:

Management Rights

3.8, Probationary Period: Probation changed from 18 months to FTO period plus 12 months thereafter for Police Officer; probation extended from nine months to Supervisor FTO period plus nine months thereafter for Sergeants and Lieutenants (not to exceed 11 months).

6, Police Equipment: Provides the Chief of Police with the ability to require the wearing of body armor at any time in response to specific events or threats. Also, number of uniforms and rates for replacement of bullet proof vests increased.

7.4, Weekly Overtime: Adoption of a modified “7(k) plan” (Section 207(k), FLSA), wherein sick leave (non-FMLA) and leave without pay do not count as hours worked for overtime calculation purposes. Court sick, only after employee worked at least 16 consecutive hours, shall continue to be considered as time worked for overtime calculation purposes.

7.5, Distribution of Overtime Opportunity: Provides more equitable distribution of overtime through expiration of overtime roster prior to restarting at top of list.

7.6, No Pyramiding: Elimination of “no pyramiding” exemptions, except for court time guarantee when court time does not overlap entirely with shift.

8.2, Police Vehicle Policy: Employees assigned a take-home vehicle will be required to purchase auto insurance coverage in the amount of at least $100,000, at their own expense; effective upon ratification.

8.15(a), Call-in Pay: Call-in guarantee made subject to Section 7.4, Overtime.

8.15(b), Investigative Supervisor Availability Pay (ISAP) (New Section): Provides investigative supervisors, designated by the Chief of Police, two hours of overtime per week of ISAP; any additional time worked is paid minute per minute. Eliminates current practice of paying two hours of overtime for each call. Effective upon ratification.

8.15(c), Telephone Calls (New Section): Establishes minimum guarantee of 30 minutes of pay for the first off-duty call received from a supervisor regarding a matter that pertains to an investigation requiring action or an incident arising from an employee’s most recent (last) work shift, anything thereafter paid minute for minute (actual time). Eliminates current practice of paying two hours of overtime for each call. Effective upon ratification.

8.27, CJSTC Police Instructor Incentive Pay: Provides the Chief of Police with the ability to remove instructors for refusal to train or poor performance after the second instance.

11.12, Incorporation of Personnel Rules: Incorporates all personnel rules into agreement, except when in conflict with contract provisions.

14, Drug and Alcohol Testing: Substances (drugs) tested for increased from ten to 11; also, provides for alcohol testing, as well as blood testing if the employee is unable to provide a breath sample; effective upon ratification.

16, Promotions: Effective upon ratification, provides for employee to be bypassed for promotion if relieved of duty pending investigation. If exonerated, employee will be made whole. If employee is suspended without pay, or greater discipline is imposed, the employee will be removed from the promotional list. Also, provides for promotional similar to that in IAFF labor agreement (i.e. providing for a majority vote in the resolution of test challenges).

19, Compensatory Time (New Article): Places a 150-hour annual accrual cap for compensatory time, effective upon ratification. 240-hour cap on compensatory time bank remains unchanged.

Pension

8.23, Pension:

Pension changes new hires (after ratification):
• Increase normal retirement age from 50 to 52
• No retiree COLA (soft zeros) during first four years in DROP

Pension changes for current employees:
• DROP entry on or before 9/30/2015: six-year maximum DROP participation period
• DROP entry on or after 10/1/2015: eight-year maximum DROP participation period
• No retiree COLA (soft zeros) while in DROP years six, seven and eight, effective upon ratification
• Overtime capped at 11% for any employee who self-demotes; affects members with carve-out above 11% in the 2012-2015 CBA.

Cost-Of-Living Adjustments (COLA)

8.1, Wage Increases:

• 1% 4/1/2016
• 3% 7/1/2017
• 3% 7/1/2018

Other Economic Items

8.4, Step and Longevity Increases: Additional pay step (Step I) added to the Detention Officer pay scale, effective 10/1/2015. Recently promoted employees who were inadvertently affected by the salary disparity resulting from the previous addition of Step I (Sergeants and Lieutenants) will have salary adjusted prospectively, effective upon ratification.

8.6, Hazardous Duty Pay: Increases hazardous duty pay from $100 to $125 biweekly, effective 10/1/2017; remains non-pensionable.

8.10, Sick Leave Sell Back Program: Continue sick leave sell back program, adding a provision that employees with 20 or more years of service may sell back an additional 40 hours; effective 10/1/2016.

8.11, Bereavement: Paid bereavement leave extended from two to four days off. Employees also eligible for two additional consecutive days off utilizing accrued leave. Provides up to $20,000 in funeral expenses for employees killed in the line of duty. Effective upon ratification.

8.13, Out of Classification Pay: Out of class pay increased from $2 to $3 per hour, effective 10/1/2016.

8.16, Sunglasses and Prescription Glasses: Increases reimbursement for damaged glasses from $60 to $150, effective upon ratification.

8.17, Field Training Officer (FTO): FTO assignment pay increased from $114.94 biweekly to 5% of base pay, effective 10/1/2016.

8.19, Special Assignment Allowance: Provides assignment pay equal to 5% of base for employees assigned to Training Unit; effective 10/1/2016.

8.28, Arson Investigator Pay (New Section): Arson Investigators (certified), assigned by the Chief, shall receive assignment pay equal to 5% of base pay, effective 10/1/2016. Arson Investigator Trainees (non-certified) shall receive assignment pay equal to 2.5% of base pay, effective 10/1/2016.

8.29, Drug Recognition Expert Pay (New Section): Drug Recognition Experts (certified), assigned by the Chief, shall receive assignment pay equal to 5% of base pay, effective 10/1/2016.

8.30, Second Language Pay (New Article): Employees who are conversationally proficient in a second language and pass a test, shall receive a second language supplement equal to 2.5% of their base pay, effective 10/1/2017; non-pensionable.

9.10, Post Employee Health Program (PEHP): Employee contribution amount to PEHP will be determined by the Union; no City contribution or cost.

10, Educational Leave and Tuition Refund: Tuition reimbursement rates increased to the levels recently implemented for unclassified and “other” employees, effective upon ratification; non-pensionable.

11.1, Safety and Health: Physical fitness incentive pay reduced from $500 quarterly to $50 per pay period. Also, provides more reasonable testing standards to be agreed upon by the Chief and Union President. Effective 4/1/2016; remains non-pensionable.

Miscellaneous Items

8.8, Vacation Benefits: Employees shall be allowed to take vacation time off after completion of FTO period.

8.9, Sick and Vacation Leave Accrual & Payment on Termination: Employees shall be allowed to carry vacation overage until March of the following year.

9.1, FOP Health Trust: Frequency of payment to health trust changed to a reimbursement basis.

11.5, Disclosure of Records: Requires Employees notified when personnel or IA files are requested.

11.8, Negotiation Sessions: Increases the maximum number of union representatives at negotiation sessions from three to six.

11.9, Job Descriptions: Provides that any changes to bargaining unit job descriptions will be sent via electronic mail to the FOP President.

The terms and conditions of the proposed three-year labor agreement between the City and FOP results in an estimated impact of $321,410 for FY 2015/16; $417,384 for FY 2016/17; $2,068,198 for FY 2017/18. The total estimated three-year impact is $2,806,991. The pension reform attained will yield future savings to the Fire and Police Pension Plan, thereby contributing to the long-term sustainability of the plan. The estimated pension savings are based on the projections provided by the actuary.

The Administration finds the provisions of this contract fair to the employees and fiscally responsible for the City. Therefore, adoption of this resolution is recommended. Exhibit A to the resolution is a copy of the proposed labor agreement.

The City’s outside labor counsel has reviewed and approved the contract language.