The current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the City of Riviera Beach (The City) and the Police Benevolent Association (PBA) expired on September 30, 2019. The parties began negotiations for a successor three-year CBA on October 9, 2019. Negotiations concluded on February 6, 2020. The three-year CBA governing Sworn Police Officers (Police Officers) and Police Sergeants (Sergeants) contains thirty-six (36) articles, all of which were tentatively agreed upon and subject to final approval by the PBA members and City Council.
The City and the PBA negotiated several articles in the CBA; however, modifications were to five (5) articles and two (2) new articles were added. Those articles were Article 9 Holidays, Article 11 Vacation, Article 13 Workweek and Overtime, Article 19 Field Training Officer, Article 20 Special Assignment Pay, Article 25 Wages, and Article 36 Education Incentive. Of the seven (7) articles, Article 24 Wages and Article 36 Education Incentive, were the most important articles negotiated by the PBA and The City. Agreement on these two (2) articles required a significant financial commitment by The City to achieve a three-year CBA, which placed The City in a very competitive hiring position, significantly enhanced Police Officers' and Sergeants' salaries, and will achieve, once ratified, the Council and City Manager’s goal to have well-paid and educated Police Officers and Sergeants interacting with the community.
Article 9 Holidays, contains minor alterations from the prior contract. The City will recognize an employee’s birthday on Good Friday, and the following language was added after the overtime calculation language: "for regularly scheduled hours." The first change results in efficiency in the administration of the contract for the Human Resources Department and the Finance Department. The second change "for regularly scheduled hours" provides clarity as to how the overtime is to be calculated.
Article 11 Vacation, changes the accrual rate for paid vacation, increasing the maximal accrual from 12 days to 13 days per year. The extra day replaces the Good Cause Day that all employees received in the prior CBA. See Section A, Article 11. This change added to the efficiency in, and administration of, the contract by the Finance Department.
Article 11 Vacation, Section C, contains a phase-out of vacation and sick leave buyback. This change results in significant savings and brings the PBA buyback provision in line with other legal agreements, which do not provide for the sick and vacation buyback. In the first year of the CBA, an employee can cash-out 80 hours of sick and vacation. In the second year of the CBA, the employee is permitted to cash-out 40 hours. In the third year, the sick/vacation cash-out provision ends. Similar language appears in Article 12 Sick Time, Section J. These changes will result in a savings to The City.
Article 11, Section K eliminates Good Cause Day from the employee donation provision.
Article 13 Workweek and Overtime, Section 1, adds a provision that allows the Police Chief to adjust the schedules of Police Officers and Sergeants assigned to specialized units with a 4-day notice (instead of a 10-day notice provided in the prior agreement), to address trends in criminal activity or significant community safety issues. This change provides considerable flexibility to The City in meeting and responding to spikes in crime and community safety issues.
Article 13 Workweek and Overtime, Critical Incidents/Special Response Team Assignment provision, eliminates compensatory time, or the accrual of compensatory time effective October 1, 2020. This change gives management additional tools to deploy personnel to meet changing workforce demands required to enhance community safety.
Article 19 Field Training Officer, maintains that Police Officers receiving the five percent (5%) compensation before the effective date of the CBA will continue to receive the same. The change in the article eliminates the five percent (5%) compensation continuing in an employee’s salary after the completion of the assigned duty.
Article 20 Special Assignment, states that certain Police Officers selected and assigned to positions of detective, canine, traffic, marine patrol, and S.W.A.T., will receive percent (5%) of their regular (base) pay.
Article 25 Wages and Article 36 Education Incentive, should be viewed in tandem with one another. These two provisions achieve the City Council's goal to compensate Police Officers and Sergeants in the top tier of compensation compared to cohort cities (Delray Beach, Lake Worth Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach, Jupiter); and achieves the City Manager's and City Council’s shared vision to have well-paid and educated Police Officers and Sergeants interacting with the community. These articles do not require a Police Officer or a Sergeant to obtain an Associate’s Degree or above. However, using a two-tier wage scale, Police Officers and Sergeants are incentivized to pursue an Associate’s Degree or above. Enhanced skills, such as writing, communication, and research, help a Police Officer and Sergeant connect with Riviera Beach's broad and diverse community. The academic expertise supports specific job functions in dealing with probable cause, reasonable suspicion, search and seizure, arrest laws, and criminal investigation.
The two-tier wage scale consists of Scale A and Scale B. Scale A sets the wages for a Police Officer or Sergeant with an Associate’s Degree or less, and Scale B sets the wages for a Police Officer and Sergeant with a Bachelor’s Degree or above.
A starting Police Officer with an Associate’s Degree or less earns $58,200. A starting Police Officer with a Bachelor’s Degree or better earns $64,020. A Sergeant with an Associate’s Degree or less earns $81,866.25. A Sergeant with a Bachelor’s Degree or better earns $90,052.88. See Appendix 1, CBA.
The Education Incentive Article requires The City to advance tuition and fees, and to seek recovery of those fees if the employee does not obtain a passing grade or leaves the employment of The City before two years of service with The City. Currently, 46 Police Officers and Sergeants have a Bachelor’s or Associate’s Degree.
A major point of contention in the negotiation was the future compensation of the nineteen (19) equity Police Officers. These Police Officers and Sergeants received a one-time equity adjustment in the old contract. The current CBA wage article increases the pay of the nineteen (19) equity Police Officers hired before October 1, 2007 to $78,696.93 compared to their annual salary of $63,295 under the old contract. The 19 equity Police Officers with a Bachelor’s Degree or above earn $82,631.78 compared to their salary of $63,295 under the old contract.
The starting pay of a Sergeant with an Associate’s Degree or less is $81,866.25. The starting pay of a Sergeant with a Bachelor’s Degree or better is $90,052.88. The starting pay of a Sergeant with an Associate’s Degree or less remains on Scale A plus one step and is $84,731.57, assuming the Sergeant is at Step 1. The starting pay of a Sergeant with a Bachelor’s Degree or better proceeds to Scale B plus one step and is $93,204.73, assuming the Sergeant is at Step 1.
Sergeants who are currently at "top out" will move to Step 7 on Scale A and earn $105,073.67. Sergeants who "top out" with a Bachelor’s Degree or above will proceed to Step 7 on Scale B and receive $115,581.03. (The term "top out" here refers to pay at the end of a contract year.)
Article 33 Pension contains an FRS provision that allows employees to elect to join the FRS. The pay raises provided in Article 24 Wages, are delayed until such time as an affirmative vote acceptable to the FRS/State of Florida by the union's membership and all other eligible personnel.
The PBA held a two-day ratification vote. The PBA bargaining unit members casted ballots on March 12, 2020 and March 13, 2020. Sixty-eight (68) members voted in favor of the CBA and four (4) voted against the CBA. (See the attached PBA March 16, 2020 Email).
On April 30, 2020 and May 1, 2020, The City held the initial referendum vote among the participants of the Riviera Beach Police Pension Trust Fund (“the 185 Plan”) contemplated by Florida Statute, Section 121.021(34). At the time of the referendum the 185 Plan had 110 members eligible to vote in the referendum. Eighty-one (81) members affirmatively voted in favor of FRS, which represents a majority of the participants. The affirmative vote means the wage increase provided in Article 25 may be distributed to the PBA’s bargaining unit of Police Officers and Sergeants upon The City’s ratification of the CBA. Article 25 stipulates the first full payroll cycle after April 1, 2020 or ratification by the City Council, whichever occurs later, as the implementation date of the new step plan. Due to the extenuating circumstances of the pandemic and the requirement and complication of the FRS vote, the step plan will be implemented for the first full cycle after April 1, 2020.
The City Manager requests the City Council to approve the Resolution to ratify the attached PBA Collective Bargaining Agreement based upon the PBA’s bargaining unit members’ ratification of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the affirmative vote of participants in the 185 Plan allowing the PBA members to join the FRS.