CC SR 20220517 07 -Recruitment Incentive Program
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: 05/17/2022
AGENDA REPORT AGENDA HEADING: Regular Business
AGENDA TITLE:
Consideration and possible action to amend the Administrative Instruction Manual to
establish a Recruitment Incentive Program.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
(1) Approve Administrative Instruction Manual No. 2-21 thereby establishing a
Recruitment Incentive Program for difficult-to-recruit positions.
FISCAL IMPACT: Staff have included a request for $60,000 in the FY 2022 -23
preliminary budget for this program.
Amount Budgeted: N/A
Additional Appropriation: N/A
Account Number(s): N/A
ORIGINATED BY: Karina Bañales, Deputy City Manager
REVIEWED BY: Same as above
APPROVED BY: Ara Mihranian, AICP, City Manager
ATTACHED SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS:
A. Administrative Instruction Manual No. 2-21 - Recruitment Incentive Program
(page A-1)
BACKGROUND:
The City of Rancho Palos Verdes, like many other governmental agencies, is
experiencing a diminished pool of well-qualified candidates for positions in all
departments, specifically the Public Works Department. The inability to recruit qualified
employees has caused significant concern throughout the organization as it has impacted
certain services being delivered and overall employee morale.
At the March 23, 2022, City Council Budget Workshop, Staff requested, and the City
Council approved $60,000 in the proposed FY 2022-23 budget for a proposed signing-on
recruitment program that will assist Human Resources (HR) with filling critical positions.
As a result, the City Council directed Staff to return with a program that would memorialize
the criteria and process that would allow the City Manager to approve one -time signing
bonuses for difficult-to-recruit positions. The City Council is now being asked to consider
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CfTYOF RANCHO PALOS VERDES
a Recruitment Incentive Program that, if accep table, would amend the Administrative
Instruction Manual by adding a new section.
DISCUSSION:
The current labor market for public sector jobs is becoming more competitive, especially
when neighboring agencies are pulling from the same (limited) pool of candidates. For
example, the City continues to have difficulty filling one critical vacancy, the Deputy
Director of Public Works, due to the specialized skill set required. Since 2020, two
recruitments have been unsuccessful in finding a person for this position with each
recruitment being open for five months or more. The position remains unfilled to date.
This was due to a limited pool of qualified applicants. As a result, Staff has entered into
an agreement with a professional recruiter, Ralph Andersen & Associates, to facilitate the
recruitment of this Deputy Director of Public Works position.
The City’s HR office strives to attract, hire, and retain the best-qualified and skilled
employees who contribute to the sustainability of the City and overall organization. To
assist with recruiting for those difficult positions, HR wishes to gain a competitive
advantage by establishing a Recruitment Incentive Program that will authorize the City
Manager to utilize specified recruitment tools to attract and retain qualified job candidates
for key hard-to-fill positions.
The City has never implemented such an incentive program and there is no procedure in
place for establishing one. Tonight, the City Council is being asked to establish a
Recruitment Incentive Program, which will enable Staff to implement the program by
amending Section 2, Employee Relations, of the Administrative Instruction Manual.
The proposed Recruitment Incentive Program (Attachment A) could be implemented by
the City Manager or his/her designee only for a position/classification that “must have
demonstratable recruitment difficulty. Recruitment difficulty may be based on any one of
the following: limited applicant pool, recruitment difficulty, and/or a continued high
vacancy rate.” Additionally, the Recruitment Incentive Program could be implemented
only when funding is made available by the City Council during the annual budget cycle.
The Recruitment Incentive Program allows the City Manager to approve incentive tools,
such as one-time signing bonuses in amounts determined by the City Manager based on
the approved budget for the fiscal year. A full-time employee recruited under the program
would be eligible up to 25% of the bonus on their first paycheck, another 25% after
successfully passing the probationary period , and the final 50% after completing 24
months of employment.
Staff believes the proposed program would allow the City an opportunity to incentivize
and secure highly qualified employees for positions that the City has determined to be
difficult to fill with starting salary and benefits alone.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
To Staff's knowledge, no other South Bay cities offer an incentive program for non-public
safety positions. Based on this, Staff has reason to believe that the City will place itself in
a higher competitive position above neighboring agencies if this program is implemented
for difficult-to-fill recruitments.
CONCLUSION:
Staff recommends the City Council approve the proposed Recruitment Incentive
Program, which is intended to incentivize and secure highly qualified employees for
difficult-to-recruit positions, by amending Section 2, Employee Relations, of the
Administrative Instruction Manual.
ALTERNATIVES:
In addition to the Staff recommendations, the following alternatives are available for the
City Council’s consideration:
1. Do not approve the Recruitment Incentive Program.
2. Direct Staff to revise the program to limit positions designated by the City Council.
3. Direct Staff to return to the City Council with an alternative Recruitment Incentive
Program.
4. Take other action, as deemed appropriate.
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CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES
ADMINISTRATIVE INSTRUCTION MANUAL
NUMBER 2-21
SUBJECT: RECRUITMENT INCENTIVE PROGRAM
I. BACKGROUND/ PURPOSE
The City shall make available to appointing authorities a Recruitment Incentive
Program to incentivize and secure highly qualified employees for positions that
the City has determined to be difficult to fill with starting salary and benefits
alone in accordance with the guidelines established herein. This recruitment
incentive program is specific to difficult-to-fill positions when funding is
available.
II. DEFINITIONS
a. APPOINTING AUTHORITIES: City Manager and/or designated Subject
Matter Expert (SME) assigned to the recruitment , inclusive of Human
Resources
b. HARD-TO-RECRUIT POSITIONS: Classification must have
demonstratable recruitment difficulty, which includes limited applicant pool,
recruitment difficulty, or a continued high vacancy rate. Job requirements
such as technical expertise, certifications, licensing and/or advanced
educational requirements may limit the pool of qualified applicants. If two or
more consecutive recruitments have been done, resulting in a limited
applicant pool, the recruitment would be defined as difficult to re cruit. A
continued high vacancy rate is demonstrated through actively recruited
positions that continue to remain vacant.
III. PROGRAM APPLICABILITY
Appointing authorities may request authorization to apply the Recruitment
Incentive to assist in filling difficult-to-recruit positions in their department. To
apply, said position/classification must have demonstratable recruitment
difficulty. Recruitment difficulty may be based on any one of the following:
limited applicant pool, recruitment difficulty, and/or a continued high vacancy
rate. The Human Resources Manager shall have the authority to determine the
applicability to each requested position/classification and shall submit a request
to the City Manager for consideration. The City Manager or his/her designee
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shall approve, deny, or amend the request based on the information provided.
Prior to advertising a position utilizing the Recruitm ent Incentive Program, the
City Manager shall notify the City Council in writing by explaining the reason
for utilizing the program and how it will be implemented and funded.
IV. PROGRAM
A full-time employee hired into a position/classification certified for participation
in the program shall be eligible to receive a recruitment incentive in an amount
set by the City Manager and/or designee based on available funding, as
described below:
a. The full-time incumbent will be eligible for 25% of the incentive on their first
paycheck.
b. After successfully passing the probationary period, the full-time incumbent
will be eligible for a second 25% payment.
c. After completing 24 months of employment, the full-time incumbent will be
eligible for the final 50% incentive payment.
Each incentive payment shall be considered taxable income and subject to
withholdings. The incentive payment shall not be considered in determining the
regular rate of pay for purposes of computing overtime compensation, nor shall
it be considered earnable compensation for purposes of retirement.
V. JOB POSTING
Prior to the posting of vacant positions, the recruitment incentive program
description must be included in the job posting advising applicants they must
meet the eligibility requirements.
VI. LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS
No incentive will be paid for any candidate whose recruitment does not meet
program applicability and has not had applicability certified.
No incentive will be paid to any candidate whose name was placed on the
eligible list for full-time positions in the classification prior to the determination
of program applicability. Similarly, no incentive will be paid to any candidate
whose name was placed on the eligible list for full-time positions or forwarded
to the department for part-time positions, if applicability was not previously
certified by the City Manager and/or designee.
In the event the employee is unable or unwilling to work, is taken off work, or is
on an approved leave of absence, any payments owed shall be delayed the
same amount of time as the employee remains off work.
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In the event the employee resigns, is terminated from employment, or fails to
successfully complete the probationary period with a “meets” o r greater overall
rating, the employee will not be eligible to receive any outstanding payments
owed.
The Recruitment Incentive Program will remain in effect while funds are
available.
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