Council Update on Program Review Costs and Savings

Thursday, December 01, 2016 - 2:30 PM

The City of St. John’s provided an update today on progress towards achieving savings through program review.
 
In late October, City Council announced a total, net operational savings from three phases of program review of over $13 million per year. This included more than 74 Full time Equivalent (FTE) positions, achieved through a combination of reduced hours of work, vacancies, attrition, layoffs and position eliminations.
 
Seventeen staff have left or are leaving the organization, including five managers/supervisors; two administrative support positions; one custodian; and nine technical/ specialist positions.
 
While all positions in the management classification have already been addressed through the process, reductions to unionized positions were held until the end of phase three to reduce the impact on the organization and its employees. The bumping process is still ongoing therefore, at this time, the total number of employees impacted by program review cannot be determined.
 
“Although we do not yet know the final impacts of program review, we can report on the costs and long-term savings achieved through the elimination of eight union and nine management employees that have left or will leave the organization by the end of the fiscal year,” explained Councillor Jonathan Galgay, Chair of the Standing Committee on Finance and Administration “The City will save over $1.9 million annually as a result of these arrangements.”
 
The total one-time cost for pay in lieu of notice is $1,653,407. This amount is comprised of:

  • $1,322,726 paid to employees; and
  • $330,681 for employer-related costs. 

The value of earned benefits for these positions is an additional $768,199.44 plus employer-related costs of $192,049.86.
 
See attached breakdown of costs.
 
Media Contact:
Kelly Maguire
Media Relations
City of St. John's
709-576-8491
kmaguire@stjohns.ca