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ANNEX 10: HUMAN RESOURCES

During an emergency, the mayor may suspend municipal functions that do not contribute directly to response action and may divert those municipal resources, including personnel, to the accomplishment of emergency tasks. During some periods of an emergency, department heads or their designated alternate may be required to remain in the EOC and direct their agencies from that facility.

OPERATIONAL CONCEPTS

A.     Each municipal agency will annually update its roster of essential functions and the positions required to perform those functions. When feasible, agencies will cross-train employees to ensure that essential services can continue to be delivered during an emergency.

B.     All municipal employees are subject to be called for service during a declared emergency and may be required to work extended hours and outside their normal job class to assist disaster response. All requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act will apply and compensation will be in accordance with existing rules and bargaining agreements.

C.     Municipal employees should maintain a family preparedness plan so that they can better respond both to their personal needs and to the Municipality’s needs during a disaster.

D.     Municipal agencies are encouraged to develop policies and procedures that will ensure accommodation of employees’ family needs so they may better perform their public functions during an emergency.

E.      Additional personnel needs may be met by hiring temporary employees or by the use of volunteers.

F.      All personnel actions taken during a disaster, including appointments, assignments, and reassignments will be documented and submitted to the mayor upon request.

G.     The National Guard and other military personnel may be requested through the State Emergency Coordination Center after all other human resources have been committed or if there is an imminent threat to life and property and military personnel are the most appropriate resource.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The responsibilities listed herein are not intended to be departmental checklists. Each agency will develop internal policies and procedures to perform its assigned duties. At the discretion of the incident commander not all functions may be performed and nor all agencies used.

Primary Agencies

Anchorage Office of Emergency Management / Emergency Operations Center

1.      Coordinates overall strategic disaster response during a major emergency or disaster.

2.      Secures additional resources through state and federal agencies as needed.

3.      Coordinates with and supports requests from field agencies during a major emergency or disaster.

4.      Disseminates public information concerning human resource needs.

5.      Assigns a volunteer unit to augment personnel needs and maintain liaison with volunteer organizations.

6.      Maintains and updates a list of relevant human resources as part of the master resource list.

7.      Ensures dissemination of critical emergency information and instructions to municipal personnel in coordination with Employee Relations.

Employee Relations Department

1.      Acts as the lead agency to encourage municipal employees to develop family emergency plans.

2.      Maintains current employee contact information to ensure that municipal employees can be contacted during an emergency.

3.      Develops personnel policies and procedures to ensure that municipal agencies can deliver essential during an emergency that result in periods of reduced staffing.

4.      Acts as lead agency for hiring emergency personnel and coordinating reassignment of municipal employees to meet human resource needs during an emergency.

4.      Assists agencies in identifying employees who can assist in an emergency.

5.      Advises the EOC on the impact of personnel issues related to early employee releases, suspension of non-essential work activities, and altered work assignments created by emergency conditions.

6.      Assists identification of staging areas for coordination and deployment of municipal employees to assist emergency operations.

MUTUAL AID, STATE, OR FEDERAL ASSISTANCE

All state and federal assistance is coordinated through the State Emergency Coordination Center.

REFERENCES

Anchorage Emergency Operations Plan, Annex 12: Volunteer Management

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