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Consider an Ordinance, including any floor amendments, amending Personnel Policies and Procedures Section 17-1-6-162, Division 17-1-6, Article 17-1, Chapter 17, Lawton City Code, 2015, by granting employees holidays off based partially on the federal holiday schedule, plus the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve; modifying paragraph D of the Section dealing with flexible holidays; providing for severability and establishing an effective date.
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INITIATOR: Craig Akard, Human Resources Director
STAFF INFORMATION SOURCE: Craig Akard, Human Resources Director
BACKGROUND: The proposed amendment changes the current holiday schedule from seven (7) or eight (8) hard holidays, depending on the day of the week Christmas Eve falls, to ten (10) holidays by adding Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and Indigenous People's Day, plus the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. All current flex leave must be taken by June 23, 2024. Going to a holiday schedule based more on a schedule that the federal government uses, this will give the citizens a better understanding of when city offices will be closed and when we will be "open for business". This will make for a more efficient workforce as our employees will be off the same days that federal offices, state offices, and local schools are closed. Due to most other businesses being closed, employees may not need to make arrangements for children or pay for the extra time at a daycare. This will also allow employees to be off for the holidays. This may also help the problem of employees waiting until May or June to take their flex leave, which leaves the city shorthanded at times, which may cause an interruption in city services. Employees will still maintain twenty-four (24) hours of flexible leave to be used throughout the year. Flex Leave will continue to be a use or lose leave. A recommendation of an effective date would be July 1, 2024, the start of Fiscal Year 2025. The Employee Advisor...
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