he Human Resources Department is responsible for coordinating the recruitment and hiring of City employees. It also administers such things as the city's retirement system, unemployment compensation and family medical leave programs, and the City's drug and alcohol abuse policy.
The team members and employees of the Human Resources Department are dedicated to providing quality, professional
services for the citizens and employees of the City of Kansas City, Mo. We are committed to exceed the expectations
of residents and employees with diligence, integrity and innovation.
The department is organized as follows:
Director's Office
The Director's Office is responsible for ensuring that the city upholds its merit system under which all departments
may acquire and maintain a representative, efficient work force at a competitive cost and with fair and equitable
treatment. The director supervises and coordinates the numerous functions described below, including the Human
Resources Committee, and the department budget preparation.
Education and Development
Education and Development is a division of the Human Resources Department, charged with providing educational resources to City employees and performance consulting services to Departments. The division also administers the tuition assistance program for City employees.
Employee Relations
The Labor and Associate Relations Division is responsible for employee and union relations between management
and the city's work force. This division also administers unemployment compensation, the New Employee Orientation
Program, and the City's drug and alcohol policy.
These responsibilities are met by participating in grievance and arbitration hearings, training of supervisors
and managers, providing an orientation program for new associates, administering claims for unemployment compensation,
maintaining all associates' personnel records and negotiating the Memorandums of Understanding with Local 42 of
the IAFF and Local 500 of AFSCME.
Employee Benefits
The Benefits Division is responsible for the City's employee benefit plans including health, dental, term life and long term disability insurance in addition to medical and dependent care reimbursement accounts. The staff of three work with employees and insurance vendors to ensure proper enrollment in, administration of and communication about these plans.
The division also handles new employee processing, employee requests for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and sick leave donations.
Compensation Division
The Compensation Division is responsible for the City's classification and compensation plans. The staff of five works closely with departments in the development, maintenance, administration and education for these plans.
The division also handles personal service contract review and provides information and education to departments on this issue. In addition, the division prepares research and analysis on compensation and classification issues.
Recruitment, Certification and Selection
The Recruitment and Selection Division is responsible for staffing all merit system positions. This includes
insuring that all employee recruiting, advertising, testing, certification and applicant record-keeping comply
with legal, professional and merit system standards.
These responsibilities are met by advertising and recruiting, including specialized recruiting for technical,
professional, or other positions that are difficult to fill; reviewing thousands of applications to determine whether
or not the applicants meet position requirements; verifying experience and education when either is required for
new or promoted employees; and establishing, maintaining and certifying eligibility lists for all city departments
that have vacant positions to fill. Also, the staff of this division provides employment assistance to both current
city employees and to applicants seeking employment in our city government.
Retirement
The Retirement Division administers the Employees' Retirement System and the Firefighters' Pension System. These
mandatory participation plans provide a retirement benefit for all full-time city employees and firefighters. The
plans are established by city ordinances enacted by the City Council and strive to provide retirement and survivor
income in the most efficient manner possible. Financing of these systems is provided from employee contributions,
investment earnings and City contributions.
Employees may elect to participate in the city's 457 deferred compensation plan, also administered by the Retirement
Division, which is a voluntary contribution plan that provides a benefit based on accumulated employee contributions
to the plan and any investment gains or losses.
City employees and retirees can now access retiree information online. The site includes facts about the City’s deferred compensation plan, retiree insurance plans, contact information, forms and frequently asked questions.
