Without fanfare, the Plante administration decided to pay a double bonus to the 1,800 executives of the City of Montreal in 2023, in order to retain them in a context of labor shortage.
This largesse, paid in May, represents an additional expense of nearly 6 million, or $3,150 per executive on average. They had already received an average check for $3,700 at the start of the year, their performance bonus for the year 2022.
Municipal executives were deprived of an annual bonus in 2020, “to contribute to a balanced budget” at the start of the pandemic, in exchange for three additional days of leave. In an email, the City’s communications department indicated that the double bonus for 2023 corresponded to this “unpaid bonus”.
But “it’s not really the bonus of 2020,” agreed the president of the executive committee, Dominique Ollivier, in a telephone interview. Executives who have left in the meantime do not receive the bonus and new executives – who lost nothing in 2020 – are entitled to it.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
The Lucien-Saulnier building, where political and democratic activities were transferred during major renovation work at Montreal city hall
“I am one of the executives who tightened their belts at that time and who had no return,” illustrated Mme Ollivier, who was president of the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM) in 2020.
For each executive, the amount of the second bonus corresponds to 85% of the first.
“Ensuring team stability”
If City executives are entitled to a double bonus, it is first and foremost to ensure that they remain in the City, indicated Dominique Ollivier.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Dominique Ollivier, president of the executive committee of the City of Montreal
We wanted to make a gesture to recognize their work. The working conditions of our executives do not always resemble what we offer them in the private sector.
Dominique Ollivier, president of the executive committee of the City of Montreal
“In a context of labor shortage and competitiveness between employers”, such a decision had to be taken to “ensure the stability of teams and the quality of services to citizens”, added the City.
Furthermore, “there is no longer that much of a gap between professionals and executives” in terms of salary, which discourages certain employees from moving up the ranks when the time comes, said Ms.me Oliver.
“They made an effort”
The double bonus also serves as a thank you for the work carried out during the pandemic, without a performance bonus. “We wanted to recognize the fact that they made an effort,” she added. The City highlighted “their contribution in maintaining quality services to citizens during and since the pandemic”.
In 2020, the Plante administration promised to freeze municipal taxes despite a heavy deficit. “The pandemic has a significant impact on the municipal budget,” wrote general manager Serge Lamontagne at the time. This is why the administration has asked all groups of City employees to do their part to contribute to the 2020 balanced budget.”
This week, the Association of Municipal Executives of Montreal (ACMM) did not want to comment on the employer’s largesse. “We inform you that we have no comments to make regarding the situation,” said communications manager Sylvie Audet, by email.
The City of Montreal has 1,873 executive positions, according to the 2023 budget. Their total remuneration amounts to 308 million, or an average of $164,000 per executive.
“The lion’s share” to executives
Robert Gagné is a professor at HEC Montréal. He co-signed a study in 2020 on remuneration in Quebec municipalities.
For equivalent employment, municipal civil servants earn a much better living than employees in other sectors, and managers and foremen “would monopolize the lion’s share of remuneration” in municipalities, the document concludes.
Even though they supervise a larger number of employees, managers and foremen in large cities have a marked salary advantage over their counterparts in smaller municipalities.
Extract from a study published in 2020 on remuneration in Quebec municipalities
In a telephone interview, Mr. Gagné indicated that it was possible that certain Montreal executives were recruited privately, but that we should not lose sight of the general picture: municipal employees are better paid than others. The near-absolute job security a city offers is also difficult to quantify, he added. “These are guaranteed jobs, unless you commit serious mistakes,” he stressed.
As for the small difference in remuneration between professionals and managers, this is a real problem experienced by a large number of organizations.
But such a phenomenon must still be documented and explained before making decisions such as paying a double bonus.
“Do they have data to present on the turnover rate in these positions, do they have many departures or is it just because the managers are complaining a little? he pointed out. Normally, if the City is well managed, there is a diagnosis of the situation. »