City of Merrill
MERRILL, WI (WSAU) — The Merrill City Council has voted to implement new policies regarding employee benefits in an attempt to recruit and retain workers.
Vacation time will now accrue at a rate of 80 hours per year for those with one to five years of continuous service to the city. Those numbers will go up to 160 hours for ten consecutive years and 208 hours for 15 consecutive years.
New hires to the city will get one week of paid time off initially, but any time off used in the first six months of employment will be deducted from their accrual.
As for sick leave, employees will now be able to take those days upon accrual. Previously, employees weren’t allowed to take sick days until after six months of continuous employment.
The new longevity bonus pay policy will award employees $2.50 for each month of employment, paid out after their sixth anniversary. That amounts to a $150 bonus for 60-months of employment.
That bonus check would increase by $2.50 per month ($30 yearly) for each subsequent month of employment and would continue to be paid out on an annual basis.
Details of the policies were shared with the media by City Administrator David Johnson as part of a press release following Tuesday’s meeting. Johnson notes that vacation time is a major factor in recruiting and retaining employees, and the new policy combined with the return of longevity pay should make the city more attractive to new employees, especially younger ones.
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