A Richmond city councillor is calling on the city to stop giving gift cards to its employees.
A motion at next week’s committee meeting, put forward by Coun. Kash Heed, is asking the city’s chief administrative officer to “immediately withdraw” the practice of giving out gift cards to employees, implement recognition programs that “prioritize fairness and meaningful appreciation,” take stock of any current gift card inventory and donate them to charity.
Global News reported last week that its freedom of information request revealed the City of Richmond had bought almost $450,000 worth of gift cards over three years.
“While giving gift cards to employees can be a thoughtful gesture, several problematic practices have emerged that challenge the fairness and integrity of this approach,” Heed wrote in his motion.
Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie told the Richmond News the city is in a “review and research phase” on how gift cards have been used at the city.
“Yes, I do think the cards have been problematic and we should discontinue their use,” he told the News when asked whether he generally agreed with the motion to stop using them.
While they’ve been used for “valid” reasons, such as recognizing excellence, recognizing volunteers during volunteer week and as a gift when an employee is retiring after long service with the city, Brodie said it’s a practice that should be “very tightly monitored and controlled.”
As for language used in Heed’s motion about the gift card use, such as “problematic practices,” “may encourage unethical behaviour” and “a subtle means to influence employee behaviour,” Brodie said he doesn’t think “every use fits into that category.”
He added that there will be much more discussion about the gift card usage to come.
Heed said in his motion that the “misuse” of gift cards for recognizing employees “has compromised their original intent.”
“Rather than being meaningful rewards, they have often turned into instruments of favouritism or hollow praise,” the motion reads.
“While giving gift cards to employees can be a thoughtful gesture, several problematic practices have emerged that challenge the fairness and integrity of this approach.”
While the city's books are audited every year, Brodie said the "materiality" threshold is around $8-10 million.
The motion is on the agenda for Tuesday's general purposes committee meeting.
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