Without much fanfare, the Plante government decided to pay a double bonus to the city of Montreal’s 1,800 managers in 2023 to retain them amid labor shortages.
Published at 12:55 am. Updated at 05:00.
This generous donation, which will be distributed in May, represents an additional outlay of nearly $6 million, or an average of $3,150 per executive. They had already received an average check of $3,700 at the start of the year, their performance bonus for 2022.
Municipal executives were stripped of an annual bonus in 2020 “to help balance the budget” at the start of the pandemic in exchange for three additional days of vacation. The city’s communications department noted in an email that double the 2023 bonus corresponds to this “unpaid bonus.”
But “that’s not really the bonus of 2020,” agreed Executive Committee President Dominique Ollivier in a telephone interview. Managers who have left in the meantime will not receive the bonus and new managers who have not lost anything in 2020 are entitled to it.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
The Lucien Saulnier Building, where political and democratic activities were moved during major renovations at Montreal City Hall
“I am one of the leaders who tightened their belts and had no way back,” explained Ms. Ollivier, who served as president of the Office de Consultation Publique de Montréal (OCPM) in 2020.
For each manager, the amount of the second bonus is 85% of the first.
“Ensuring team stability”
If City managers are entitled to a double bonus, the main aim is to ensure that they stay in the City, explained Dominique Ollivier.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
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 managers do not always correspond to those that we offer them in the private sector.
Dominique Ollivier, President of the Executive Committee of the City of Montreal
“Given the labor shortage and competition between employers,” such a decision had to be made to “ensure the stability of teams and the quality of services to citizens,” the city added.
In addition, “there is no longer such a big gap between professionals and managers in terms of salary,” which discourages certain employees from moving up when the time comes, Ms. Ollivier said.
“You made an effort”
The double bonus also serves as a thank you for the work done during the pandemic, without a performance bonus. “We wanted to acknowledge the fact that they made an effort,” she added. The city emphasized “its contribution to maintaining high-quality services for citizens during and after the pandemic.”
In 2020, the Plante government promised to freeze municipal taxes despite a large deficit. “The pandemic is having a significant impact on the municipal budget,” wrote General Director Serge Lamontagne at the time. For this reason, the administration has asked all employee groups in the city to contribute their part to the balanced budget for 2020.”
This week, the Association of Municipal Executives of Montreal (ACMM) declined to comment on the employer’s generosity. “We inform you that we have no comments on the situation,” communications manager Sylvie Audet said via email.
The City of Montreal has 1,873 management positions, according to the 2023 budget. Their total compensation is $308 million, or an average of $164,000 per executive.
“The lion’s share” of managers
Robert Gagné is a professor at HEC Montréal. In 2020, he co-signed a study on compensation in Quebec municipalities.
Given equivalent employment, municipal officials earn a much better living than employees in other sectors, and managers and foremen in municipalities “monopolize the lion’s share of pay,” the document says.
Despite overseeing larger numbers of employees, managers and foremen in large cities have a significant salary advantage over their counterparts in smaller communities.
Excerpt from a study published in 2020 on compensation in municipalities in Quebec
In a telephone interview, Mr. Gagné pointed out that it is possible that certain executives in Montreal were hired privately, but that we should not lose sight of the bigger picture: municipal employees are paid better than others. The near-absolute job security that a city offers is also difficult to quantify, he added. “These are guaranteed jobs unless you make serious mistakes,” he emphasized.
As for the small difference in compensation between professionals and managers, this is a real problem that many organizations face.
Nevertheless, such a phenomenon needs to be documented and explained before making decisions such as paying out a double bonus.
“Do they have data on the turnover rate in these positions, are there a lot of departures or is it just because the managers are complaining a little?” he pointed out. If the city is well managed, a diagnosis of the situation is usually made. »