BREA, Calif.—The City of Brea unanimously supported a memorandum Nov. 2 to approve salary increases and relaxed sick leave for its police department.
The contracts, which are set to cost over $470,000 over 3.5 years, will allow the city to attract more qualified applicants when hiring new officers and other employees, according to a report by Brea city manager Bill Gallardo.
“These contract adjustments are needed for the City to stay competitive in the current labor market if Brea is going to continue to attract and maintain quality public safety management employees,” Gallardo wrote.
As part of the memorandum of understanding, Brea police officers will maintain their current salaries the first year of the contract, then get a 5 percent bump the second year, followed by a 2 percent “cost of living” increase in the third year, with another 2 percent increase during the final six months of the 3.5 year contract ending Dec. 2023.
In addition to the salary increases, the new contract increased from 80 to 96 hours the maximum annual sick leave available to each department employee per fiscal year, for them to deal with personal medical/dental needs or that of their immediate family members.
Another proposal also regards paid leave as hours worked, for purposes of calculating federally mandated overtime payments.
“These two items will help us remain competitive in the labor market as these benefits are standard in comparable jurisdictions,” Gallardo wrote.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the city’s labor contracts that expired in June 2020 had not been updated for over a year. Public health orders have allowed for more in-person meetings to take place since then.
The city’s negotiation team met with employee unions to discuss new labor contracts, with considerable progress being made quickly, according to Gallardo.
