§ 114-143. Performance bonus.

(a)

The mayor, city council, and president of council are granted the authority to pay their respective employees an annual performance bonus as follows:

(1)

The payment of bonuses shall be paid from any excess funds in the operating budget allocated to that department and shall be prospective.

(2)

The mayor or designee, council members, and council president shall establish specific guidelines and eligibility criteria to govern the award of bonuses to their respective employees that is based upon a defined benefit to the public for which the bonuses may be awarded. Once the guidelines are established, the mayor or designee, each council member, and the council president shall have the discretion to determine the actual awarding of bonuses and shall disseminate such guidelines to their respective employees in advance of the time frame that any yearly performance or compensation review for such employees takes place.

a.

The guidelines should include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) the criteria under which employees are eligible to receive a bonus; and (2) the specific method in which employees will be selected to be awarded a bonus.

b.

With respect to the employees of the executive branch, performance bonuses may only be awarded to regular full-time city employees.

(3)

No bonus may be awarded to an employee for merely satisfactorily performing the assigned duties that are expected in return for the employee's regular salary. Rather, bonuses may be awarded for exceptional or exemplary service rendered by an employee for service that is outside of and in addition to the normal duties and responsibilities of his or her position.

(4)

The performance bonus shall not be considered in determining an employee's rate of pay or award of overtime.

(5)

No employee may receive more than one performance bonus per year, and no employee may receive a performance bonus payment in a gross amount above ten percent of the employee's annual base salary. Such performance bonuses shall be paid in accordance with normal payroll practices, including appropriate payroll deductions.

(6)

Prior to the award of performance bonuses in a specific department, the chief financial officer shall certify that sufficient funds are available for that department.

(7)

The chief financial officer shall prepare an annual report of all bonus payments.

(8)

This performance bonus shall not be considered in computing an employee's pension entitlement.

(9)

This section is intended to govern the payment of performance bonuses and shall not impact other bonuses otherwise expressly authorized.

( Ord. No. 2019-14(18-O-1470), § 1, 2-12-19 )