The Metropolitan King County Council today reformed nearly a generation of labor policy by adopting a comprehensive labor reform package that may mean greater employee contributions to their health and dental benefits, wages tied to regional economic conditions and layoffs based on merit rather than seniority.

In its unanimous adoption of labor reforms, the Committee of the Whole — acting as the council’s Labor Policy Committee — accomplished one of the council’s top priorities in 2010. The reforms will increase transparency in the labor negotiation process while creating a collaborative atmosphere to review and update the single biggest cost driver in the King County general fund budget: labor costs, which represent 60 percent of the 2010 general fund budget.

“Labor is the face of King County and our employees perform many vital and important functions,” said Councilmember Kathy Lambert, who lives in and represents Redmond.

“Our dedicated staff includes doctors, nurses, attorneys, clerks, jail guards, sheriff’s deputies and waste water workers. These people are assets to the citizens of King County and their compensation needs to be fair,” Lambert stated. “The new parameters approved today will bring transparency to the labor negotiation process and will help keep compensation at a level that allows us to retain our employees and to do so within available tax dollars that citizens can afford.”

According to a press release, the details of the adopted policies include:

• Compensation: All changes in wages must be fiscally responsible, fair and reasonable and any policies mandating cost of living or other wage increases have been repealed. In negotiating potential changes in wages, the County Executive will now consider economic conditions, including inflation or deflation in the region, comparable market compensation and the status of county reserves.

Any cost of living adjustments will now be linked to specific Bureau of Labor Statistics Index information. The Executive will also negotiate agreements that allow bargaining to be reopened on total compensation when significant shifts in economic and fiscal conditions occur during the contract.

• Benefits: County employees already make co-payments toward their health and medical benefits. The goal of the adopted labor policy is that these co-payments will be equal to the average of payments made by employers of large public and private sector employers in the Puget Sound area, including Redmond.

• Reductions in force: Layoffs will now, where appropriate, will be based on merit. If two or more employees within a class are of equal merit, county seniority shall determine the order of layoff between those employees. Where there is a contract in place, the order of layoff will be determined by the collective bargaining agreement.

• Overtime: The new adopted policy stresses that overtime should be assigned as needed in response to unforseen circumstances and not as a means to accomplish day-to-day work.

• Use of temporary and part-time employees: To increase efficiency, it will be the county’s policy to have jobs that involve the need for half-time employees filled, when necessary, by full-time employees and to consolidate less than full-time positions whenever possible.