HomeMy WebLinkAboutA001 - Memo dated December 18, 1992 to City Council AIVE;
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Bob Kindred, Assistant City Manager '
DATE: December 18, 1992
SUBJECT: Utility Retirement Ordinance--Vocational Rehabilitation Provision
On June 9, 1992, the City Council approved changes to the City's utility re-
tirement ordinance which included an increase in the basic retirement formula
and enactment of an earned income offset. The basic retirement benefit formula
increase was approved contingent upon the development and Council approval of
an acceptable vocational rehabilitation program by January 1, 1993.
Over the last six months, an ad hoc committee composed of Retirement Board
members and City administrative staff have labored to develop a vocational
rehabilitation program for consideration by the Board and City Council.
You may recall that the current ordinance contains no provision for the voca-
tional rehabilitation of disabled employees. As a City administration, our initial
desire was to see a program wherein disabled employees would be required to
participate in a vocational rehabilitation program as a condition of receiving
disability benefits. This made (and still makes) sense, since nearly every
other disability program requires mandatory vocational rehabilitation combined
with much stricter earned income offsets as a safeguard for the system. How-
ever, in recognition of the fact that there has never been any documented
abuse of the current disability system and after exploring this issue in depth,
we agreed as a committee that the attached ordinance would be presented to the
Board and the Council at this time.
This ordinance change would establish a vocational rehabilitation program where-
in any disabled employee (excepting those whose disability is either clearly
temporarily or terminal) would be required to undergo a vocational rehabilitation
evaluation. After that evaluation, however, participation in a vocational reha-
bilitation program would be voluntary on the employee's part. Further, the
Board would only be authorized to offer a rehabilitation program to a disabled
employee if it can be demonstrated that the System's financial investment in the
employee's rehabilitation can reasonably be expected to be returned to the
System through the earned income offset provision.
The proposed ordinance change was approved by the Utility Retirement Board
on December 15. It is presented at this time with the City administration's
recommendation, in recognition of the fact that the System Board has historical-
ly done an excellent job of guarding against abuse under the ordinance's dis-
ability provisions.
i
However, in the event that a case arises wherein an individual is seen to be
"taking advantage" of the System's liberal disability provision, the City
administration will bring this vocational rehabilitation program back to the Board
and Council with a recommendation (1) that participation in the program be
made mandatory, and that (2) other aspects of the disability system be
reconsidered in order to adequately protect the System.
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Enc
c: Steven L. Schainker, City Manager
Jon-Scott Johnson, Risk Manager
John Ringelestein, Utility Retirement Board Chair
Alice Carroll, Utility Retirement Board Secretary
Utility Retirement Board Members