Page 116 - City of Westlake FY20 Budget

Section 2 Financial Analysis
Personnel Summary Processes

Vacancy Adjustments
Not all positions will be filled 52 weeks per year, and so these expected vacancies are addressed in the salary
budgeting process.
• Start Dates - Expected start dates for open positions may vary. Keeping track of those assumptions is
important because a large dollar variance may result when an actual start date differs from the budgeted
date.
• Attrition (Planned Retirements) - Budget consideration should be given for those positions where
employees have indicated specific retirement dates. Payouts need to be budgeted.
• Impact of Inflation - Inflation can have a significant impact on payroll forecasting. Cost-of-living
adjustments often are used when forecasting personnel costs. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), a broad
measure of consumer inflation, is the cost-of-living index used most often for determining salary
increases. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Cost Index might be a better index for this
purpose, as it measures the change in the cost of labor, free from the influence of employment shifts
among occupations and industries.
• Seasonal and Temporary Positions - Some divisions or jurisdictions use part-time or seasonal employees.
Park districts, for example, often adjust staffing levels by season.
• Other Considerations - Some governments make more use of overtime as an option instead of hiring
fulltime workers. The use of retired employees for contractual services is another alternative to adding
headcount.

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
The Fair Labor Standards Act established minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping, and child labor standards and
applies to all full-time and part-time employees. As amended in 1985, the FLSA provides the option for
compensatory time in lieu of overtime compensation for non-exempt employees. Executive, administrative, and
professional employees meeting Department of Labor exemption guidelines are exempt from FLSA overtime
requirements. The Town will comply with the FLSA for all employees.

Personnel Tracking System
Budget payroll projections are based on the estimate of budgeted positions for the year, in order to provide the
correct number of budgeted positions. The system tracks all employees, full-time, part-time, temporary and
permanent.

Non-Exempt Positions
All non-exempt (hourly) positions are eligible for overtime compensation. Bi-weekly wages are based on a 40-hour
work week (2,080 hours per year), equaling one full-time equivalent (FTE) position. There are 26 pay periods per
year. This work schedule applies to all hourly regular, year-round employees, except for Fire/EMS employees.

Non-Exempt Positions (Fire/EMS Department)
Non-exempt (hourly) positions in the Fire/EMS Department are eligible for overtime pay. Pay periods are 15 days in
length, and there are 24 pay periods per year. Full-time employees are scheduled to work five (5) 24-hour shifts per
pay period, totaling 120 hours. Full-time employees are scheduled to work an average of 2,912 hours annually over
24 pay periods.

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