Special Incentives
Bilingual Compensation
The City of Mesa recognizes the importance of having bilingual
employees to communicate with the citizens of Mesa in order to
meet their needs. Further, the City believes it is appropriate
to compensate employees who have demonstrated their knowledge,
skill and ability in speaking Spanish or using sign language to
the extent that they meet the requirements provided in this
policy. This policy may accommodate compensation for
additional languages should the need arise in the future.
Basic Level Certification - Basic level certification requires
proficient communication skills which prove the employee has the
ability to obtain and communicate basic information with
citizens and includes such skills as using and understanding
simple greetings, introductions, numbers, addresses, money, days
of the week, months of the year, members of the family,
interrogative words, pronouncing and using names correctly, and
giving and following general directions in the second language.
Employees certified at the basic level receive an additional
$0.29 per hour ($0.207 per hour for 56-hour firefighters), which
is approximately $50 per month depending on the number of hours
worked.
Intermediate Level Certification - In addition to the
requirements of the basic level, the intermediate level requires
an individual to be able to communicate with a higher level of
proficiency, which may include communication of technical
language and instructions. Employees certified at the
intermediate level should be able to read and write in the
second language, or communicate with hearing impaired persons at
a more detailed and complex level with little or no difficulty.
Employees certified at the intermediate level receive an
additional $0.58 per hour ($0.414 per hour for 56-hour
firefighters), which is approximately $100 per month depending
on the number of hours worked.
Bus Passes
The City of Mesa has a 100% subsidized bus pass program
available to its employees. Ride a bus to work....it helps
reduce pollution, it's easy and it's a great way to meet new
people. Best of all, it's FREE to ride! Check out
Valley Metro's
Web site for a bus route near you.
Call-Out & Stand-By Pay
Stand-by pay is payment received by an employee to compensate
the employee for being required to be available to provide
emergency services during a specified period.
Call-out pay is pay received by an employee for actually working
during a time the employee is not normally scheduled to work, in
response to an emergency. Employees who are called out to
work after their regular shift ends and are required to work
through what would normally be hours of sleep, will be allowed
the same amount of unpaid sleep time as call-out time worked
during that twenty-four (24) hour period. In lieu of
unpaid sleep time, accrued vacation or compensatory time may be
used.
Compensatory Time
The City's objective is to provide the highest level of service
to its citizens at all times. Accordingly, there are occasions
when employees are required to work beyond a normal, scheduled
workday. To provide quality service and control costs, the City
provides a compensatory time program for overtime worked by
nonexempt full-time employees.
Compensatory time for nonexempt employees is accrued at the same
rate as overtime; that is, for each hour of overtime worked, one
and one-half hours of the compensatory time is granted.
Employees may accumulate a maximum of 100 hours compensatory
time (66.6 hours of overtime worked, 100 hours of compensatory
time).
Mileage Reimbursement
Effective January 1, 2011, the current rate for mileage is 51 cents per mile when using a personal vehicle for City business.
Temporary agency workers are not eligible for this reimbursement
as they are not allowed to drive personal vehicles.
Overtime
All classified employees, except executive, administrative, or
professional employees who meet the criteria established in the
federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as amended, are exempt
from overtime pay are eligible to receive overtime pay when
earned.
Overtime Schedules: All classified Human Resources except those
identified above shall be eligible to receive overtime
compensation for hours worked in excess of forty (40) hours
during any work week, fifty-six hours (56) for firefighters. For
purposes of calculating overtime, paid leave is considered time
worked.
Eligible employees, when authorized to work overtime, shall be
compensated at one and one-half (1-1/2) times the hourly rate
for each hour of overtime worked.
Shift Differential
Shift differential is paid to eligible employees on a night
shift. A night shift is a shift of eight (8) or more hours
which starts after 10:00 a.m. Eligible employees will
receive shift differential for all work performed from 3:30 pm
to 8:00 am. Part-time employees (benefited or
non-benefited) in eligible classifications will receive shift
differential if working an eight (8) hour shift for all work
performed from 3:30 pm to 8:00 am.
Uniform Allowance
Specifically identified positions at the City of Mesa
participate in a uniform allowance or uniform provision program.
Sworn Human Resources (Police and Fire) have an allowance for
their uniform purchases; the City will provide uniforms to
employees in non-sworn position classifications when it is
required that the employee wear a uniform on the job.