At a special meeting Friday afternoon, the Utility Service Board approved a severance package for the 29 generating plant employees affected by the plant’s closing. According to Superintendent Paul Hartman, if every employee accepts the package, the cost to LMU would be upwards of $900,000.
Under the terms of the agreement, the employees would receive a wage severance A wage severance equal to the employee’s weekly earnings (40 hours at regular rate of pay with no overtime) x 2 x the number of completed years of continuous employment; sick day pay in the amount of $65 per accumulated and unused sick days, up to 30 days and 8 hours of pay at the regular pay rate for accumulated and unused sick days over 30 days, along with 2016 vacation pay.
By signing the agreement, the employee agrees that if his employment terminates on or before April 1, 2016, prior years of employment with LMU cannot be a factor on which the employee can base any grievance or other claim for entitlement or advantage in securing such employment. The board explained, after a question from an employee, that employees would lose all seniority if they returned to LMU’s employment in the future, after accepting the severance.
Once they receive individual paperwork, each employee would have 45 days to sign, followed by a 7 day period in which they could revoke their signature. After that, they’d receive their severance pay on the next pay period following a five day window. The money would come from LMU’s budget for depreciation and replacement, and the total amount could not exceed the 2016 LMU electric generating budget.
Employees are not required to accept the severance package, but unless they secure another employment position with LMU, their employment will be terminated April 1, 2016 at the latest. The attorney who helped LMU to put the package together called it a “very generous package,” “over and above anything that the employee was otherwise entitled to receive.”
There are 7 salaried and 22 hourly generating plant employees eligible for the severance package. The agreement affects only the generating plant employees and not employees in any of LMU’s other departments. LMU employs a total of 117 employees, including the 29 generating plant employees.
USB president Dan Slusser said the board is looking forward to working with the mayor and the city council to address LMU’s power needs for the future. Following the closure of the generating plant at the end of January, LMU now purchases all of the power it sells to its customers. The change does not affect service to LMU customers.
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