A truce has been called in the brewing battle over pay for Everett's city employees who take time off for military training, with all sides agreeing to form a committee that will rework the city's outdated policy.
The sensitive issue, recently raised by the city's firefighters union, highlights significant disparities in such policies across the region.
"This is a personnel director's nightmare," said Jim Henderson, who holds that job in Everett.
Recent cuts in the overtime budgets of Everett's Police and Fire departments prompted Fire Chief David Butler to tell staffers who are in the National Guard or in Reserve units that he would no longer be able to pay them when they took time off for monthly drills required by the military. The firefighters union cried foul, and Common Councilor John "Leo" McKinnon, who is a veteran, asked that a committee be formed to sort out the issue.
Everett's current policy for military leave states that for employees who are called to active duty, for instance, in Iraq, the city will pay the difference between their military pay and their municipal salary, which is usually higher. For the annual two-week military training that is typically required of those in the Reserve or National Guard, the city's policy states it will also pay the difference in salary.
But the policy is silent on pay for monthly drills. In that absence, Everett's Police and Fire departments were paying employees for the leave. Then when budgets were recently cut, the Fire Department stopped paying, but the Police Department continued.
City policy also is not clear on the number of days - 14 or 17 - that employees are entitled to for their annual military training, Henderson said. The Police Department was giving 17 days, and the Fire Department was prepared to allow only 14, he said.
Policies addressing military pay for municipal employees can differ significantly from one community to the next.
Danvers, for instance, gives employees their full salary, regardless of whether the leave is for monthly training drills or the required annual two-week training stint. Payment for the annual training is capped at 15 days. The town, however, does not pay the full salary for employees called up to longer-term, active duty; they receive the difference between their military salary and municipal salary.
Up the road in Haverhill, the number of paid military training days is not capped, and the city pays the difference between an employee's military and municipal salary, said human resources technician Denise McClanahan.
Newburyport's policy is unlike those in Haverhill or Danvers. The city's policy is silent on monthly drills, and stipulates annual training payment of "up to two calendar weeks in one calendar year," said Kevin Hunt, veterans services director.
Payment during training, and during call-up to active duty, is the difference between an employee's military and municipal salary. But Newburyport caps the length of time it will pay employees called up to active duty at 18 months, Hunt said.
And in Amesbury, where Mayor Thatcher Kezer III is a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, employees are paid the difference between their military and municipal salaries for all training and active duty, with no time limits, said Amesbury's chief financial officer, Michael Basque.
That policy was put into place long before Kezer took office last year, but the mayor is a big backer of the practice - even though, as an elected official, he does not fall under city employee payment policies.
"I've always advocated in favor of the benefits," Kezer said. "The employee may be away for two weeks, but the training and the leadership skills the person develops on those training tours are a benefit to the employer on their return."
Kay Lazar can be reached at klazar@globe.com.
