Title
From the Director, Department of Human Resources, requesting authorization to amend Milwaukee County General Ordinance 17.09 (1) and (2) as is relates to new appointments and relocation reimbursement policies.
Body
Issue
Milwaukee County competes with other employers in both the public and private sector to recruit for top talent in leadership and difficult-to-fill positions. Reimbursement of relocation expenses is one key compensation area where Milwaukee County is at a significant competitive disadvantage to other motivated employers.
Policy
Many public and private sector employers have successfully employed relocation reimbursement policies to help attract candidates to leadership positions or positions that require extra recruitment efforts. The City of Milwaukee has had such a policy since 1993; the Federal Government adopted its policy in 2000.
The attached draft resolution/ordinance establishes Milwaukee County policy for reimbursing the relocation expenses for FLSA-exempt positions and positions certified by the Director of Human Resources as having limited qualified applicants. Specifically, the draft ordinance allows department heads, with prior approval from Human Resources, to offer reimbursement for reasonable and actual moving expenses up to $15,000.
To be eligible for relocation reimbursement, the appointed candidate must not be a current employee and must be relocating from outside Milwaukee County to a residence within Milwaukee County. Additionally, the appointing authority must establish an agreement with the candidate including the following terms:
(1) The employee shall be required to repay 100% of the reimbursed amounts if the employee voluntarily terminates employment within 24 months from the date of hire.
(2) If the employee is terminated from employment for any reason other than reasonable cause, no repayment will be required; if the employee is terminated for cause repayment will be required according to item (1) of this subsection.
(3) Milwaukee County shall not reimburse for any other moving expenses not listed in the agreed-upon moving estimate.
(4) The parties agree that the relocation reimbursement shall be repaid to Milwaukee County within 30 days of separation as described in (1) and (2) above, and that Milwaukee County may use any legal recourse, including payroll withholding, to ensure full repayment.
Recommended Action
The Department of Human Resources recommends amending Chapter 17.09 of the Milwaukee County Code of General Ordinances as presented in the attached draft to establish a relocation reimbursement policy to better position Milwaukee County to compete with private and public sector employers to recruit top talent to Milwaukee County service.